Enok

What a cutie! for those who weren't there, a few minutes after he learned he could climb up and play the piano by himself, he also learned he could stand on top of the piano! Jarek saw him standing on the keys, and simply said to Bret, "dad, I think you need to see this", to which Bret said something like 'in a minute'.
I don't know how Tevia is going to keep him from climbing up there and 'playing' the piano all the time....

Christmas 2007

I wanted to see who had the time, desire, and guts to blog about Christmas. I started to blog, and was interrupted by an Aquire game. by the time I got back, I see Tevia has already blogged about it on the other site.
cute pics, Tev.
I agree with the stinky adjective, literally. It was actually surprising to me to see this virus take us all out one at a time. I really didn't think we would all get it.
But- for the good parts:
- the singing! oh how I love to hear all of you singing together. It is remarkably uplifting to me, and brings the spirit so strong. I thank you for keeping the Christmas eve tradition of reading the story and singing. I love it.
-Being together, whether sick and tired, or just sick or tired... a mother can just sit in a room and see all of her kids and their precious spouses, and a boyfriend, and watch them and feel such joy. Thank you all for making the sacrifices to come together, through the snow, with other travel plans pending, being pregnant, all the gas and time and efforts are noted and appreciated.
-I know we didn't get to go many places, or play many games, or even each all the much hooplad food and treats, so, kind of like in the Grinch, we can say, "it came without presents, it came without bows, it came without......" of course, we did have presents and bows, (btw, thank you Tevia for all the wrapping paper and bows!), but even these were note the emphasis of what made us all happy this Christmas. we will look back on this year and see Enok's smiling face, Cari's little tummy and Jacob being so kind to her, Jimmy playing with the kids, Jarek getting older, Malik laughing, the boys entranced with Tom's air ball thingy, the chalk drawings, the walks, the hikes, the talks, the smiles, the love.
- thank you to all for the gifts. Tevia, you gave so much! the stuff from Hong Kong is great! the ornaments, the little boxes, the coasters, etc. and I know what I am going to get with my gift certificate. Kathy, I love my calendar. Tom, I can't wait to read my book. Santa, thanks for filling the stockings.
-I am glad we didn't focus on food or stuff. sorry Tev to leave you with so much leftover food.
- I have many great memories to keep me warmed and filled with love of you guys. I can't wait to see you all again, and I hope it is soon.
Maybe we should make a 5 year plan to all be in the same area by then. We will watch what Bret does, and then go from there.
a Happy New Year to all of you. it will be an interesting 2008!

Exercise Ball

Jacob told me that I could blog about pretty much anything and not only for cool amazing stories or events. So, here goes!! :)

I got a big exercise ball for Christmas from my parents. It came with a DVD with some exercise routines. Now, I love working out but just haven't had the time to do it for a long time. Especially with a little baby crawling around. So, this morning I tried it out while the baby was taking a nap. The routine was ok, I've had better. But it felt so good to work out and stretch all my muscles. It was way fun. I'm going to be better at exercising more and lose those last 5 prego pounds!!

Settlers two days after Christmas!!!

Tonight Bret, Tommy and I played Settlers. The first game I was positioned on a nine wheat and a nine ore. Oh yeah baby. And nines were rolled like crazy!!! So I pretty much kicked butt that first game. The second game I figured there was no way I could win because I didn't have my settlements on anything really that great. However, it was my super lucky night. I was on double threes for brick and built cities on them, then a settlement on a 2:1 brick port then turned that into a city. Now it wouldn't seem that threes would get rolled that often, but they were HOT!! I won again! Every time a three got shook, I picked up six brick. It was awesome!!! What an amazing Settlers night for me! I guess that was my prize for all the laundry I did today!! hehe.

In Vancouver

So, it is my first time in Vancouver. From the windows it looks beautiful. I am here waiting for my last leg of my flight back to Phoenix. Getting here proved a trial. I left my apartment at around 11:15 as the cleaning lady came in and I felt akward with her there. I arrived at the airport express after substantial traffic and I was worried the airport would be packed. Upon arriving at the gate the lady told me that the flight had been delayed 5 HOURS! Of course, that meant that I would miss my flight to Phoenix. She was very nice as she said that it was okay and they would get me a flight the next day and have me stay in a hotel in Vancouver.

I tried very nice - as I don't like to get angry - to explain that staying in Vancouver would not work. I had family coming in and they needed me there. So we spent about 30 mins looking for other options and none really came up. In the end she said I could "try" to get on the Cathay Pacific flight an hour later and then I would still have time to catch my Phoenix flight. But she said she could not confirm that over the phone and that I had to go to the airport to do it. So I hopped on the MTR to the airport and called Air Canada. They were very nice but once again said that Cathay can only do it at the airport. So I prayed a lot. And Tevia prayed a lot.

At the airport I went to the Air Canada desk and the woman - Sonia - was very nice. She went through the same scenarios and then said the same thing: that I would have to check at Cathay. She assigned me a "guy" whose job was to accompany me to Cathay and try to get me on business class there. Cathay put me on stand by and told me to come back in an hour to see. I hoped and hoped. I really didn't want to delay getting home by a night. An hour later my "guy" from Air Canada met me at the Cathay desk and we got a ticket. I was so excited.

Upon entering the plane I was even more excited as the plane - a 747 - had just redone the interior. This meant that the business class was set up like suites where you each get your own little "cabin" where you can't even see the guy next to you. Each could like down entirely flat to sleep. And each had a 15" television screen to watch movies, etc. I know for a fact I would not have gotten that on Air Canada. So my luck paid out on this trip. The flight went quickly. I didn't really sleep - but I'll try on the way to Phoenix. I finally got to see the Bourne Ultimatum. It was good. I also watched a Hong Kong movie called "Flashpoint" which I liked. It even had a scene in it that showed the Mormon church in Wanchai. It was cool.

So thanks Air Canada for delaying your flight. I got to fly a much better airline. The only thing is I'm not sure I'll get the miles - but it'd be worth it anyway. One funny note. The guy across the aisle from me was very odd. He must have had some mental issues or some sort of health issue as he could not sit still - even when he was sleeping. I think he annoyed the nice stewartesses. But he made it okay. Let's cross my fingers for the next leg.

Last night in HK in 2007

I had wanted to go to Stanley on my last night here to do some last minute shopping, but I ended up staying later at work than I wanted. So instead I hopped on the 40 minibus and headed home. I ate at Spices on my last night in 2007 - Singapore Noodles. It was great. Now I'm just chillin' until tomorrow. I can't wait to get home and be with family. I am excited.

We Miss Bret

I am glad you are having fun, but we miss you!!!! And even though I enjoy reading about your fun trips, I am sad that i can't go with you. :(

At church today Malik asked why we were always waiting for you and couldn't we just go find you. I said that it would be a long way to get daddy in Hong Kong. We are all looking forward to you coming home. We miss you and love you!

A Day Trip to Macau

After debating for a few days I decided to go to Macau yesterday. I had to do some laundry first in the morning, but then I grabbed my passport and a backpack and headed down to the pier. I bought my ticket and got on board the ferry which is a Turbojet boat that takes about 1 hour to get to Macau.


Macau is the oldest European settlement in Asia and was settled by the Portuguese back in the 16th century. It remained under Portuguese rule until a few years ago when, like Hong Kong, it was given back to China in 1999 and is now a Special Administration Region (SAR) for China (just like Hong Kong). It is a small "country" but since it is an SAR for China they have their own immigration, etc. As a US citizen I don't need a visa and could just get in using my passport. Let me just say quickly here how wonderful Hong Kong is with its immigration as to get in and out of Hong Kong I don't have to go through the immigration line. With my Hong Kong Identification (HKID) card I just stick it in the machine, put my thumb on the reader and go through. Why can't the US do this? It is so quick and easy. I love it.

Macau was appealing to me because since it was a Portuguese colony the official language was Portuguese (like HK was English) though most people speak Cantonese. But all signs and buildings have Portuguese names which was fun. It is very interesting being in a place where you are surrounded by Chinese people, but everything is in Portuguese. It seems like the ideal place for me as I speak Portuguese and a little Chinese. :-)

Upon arrival I had decided to follow a walking tour outlined in my National Geographic traveller book. It takes you to about 15 of Macau's places of interest and is all done on foot. I grabbed a taxi at the pier and had him drop me off at the Leal Senado (Senate building). Immediately I was amazed at how European (and Brazilian) it looked. The architecture and even the black and white tile streets/walkways reminded me so much of Brazil. A very interesting thing to see in Asia.

I stopped at a street shop and ordered a ham and grilled cheese sandwich and some passion fruit slush. It was dirt cheap and wonderful. The local currency is different, but they also accept Hong Kong Dollars, so I never even used the local currency. I walked up and down to the different places. The first really cool place was the Ruinas de Sao Paulo (Saint Paul Ruins). This is an old facade of one of the oldest churches/cathedrals built in Asia in the 1600s. It is beautiful and has a sense of awe about it. I can't upload my pics, but here is one from the web. When I am able to post my pics you can see some cool things. One is at the top it has carvings of the sun, the moon and the stars. The sun looks very similar to the sunstones on the Nauvoo temple. This was really cool to see a big symbol of Christianity in Asia. From there I went to Fortaleza do Monte (Fort of the Mountain) and some other churches and cemeteries. It was most enjoyable. I also went by the Lou Lim Ioc Gardens which were beautiful. Then Sun Yat-Sen's house and finally Guia Forte which is the setting of the oldest lighthouse in China.



By this time it was nearly dinner time so I hopped on a bus and decided to stop by a place I had seen upon arrival. It was called Fisherman's Wharf. Let me sotp and say that Macau has recently become the Las Vegas of the East. They have opened numerous casinos and most people come here to gamble and do other Las Vegas-like things (e.g. prostitution is legal). I avoided the hotels, though I have been curious to visit the new casino that opened a couple of months ago called The Venetian. It is a huge casino with water all around it and you can take gandola rides, etc. One of the new places they have built is called Fisherman's Wharf and it has a bunch of international places built up. For example there are places that look like China, Germany, Rome, etc. There is a huge Roman Colloseum and a big Volcano that apparently erupts each night. It was quite beautiful. There was also a part not complete yet called Tang Dynasty which was a huge Chinese building that is amazing to see. I am curious to see what is inside of it when completed.



While looking through these buildings I saw a place that looked like a bunch of African huts and smelled divine. It was an African BBQ place called Afrikana. It was an all you can eat buffet type place like a Brazilian churrascaria. Though I am not a huge meat fan nor eat a lot, I thought I would splurge and try it out. I had only spent about $3.00 USD since arriving and felt like I could fork out the $20 to eat there. It was good. They had some weird meats that I tried - some of them were awful. One of them was crocodile but I couldn't remember which one or if I liked it. The best was the roast lamb. In the end it was okay, but fun to try things. It seemed to reinforce that I am not a big carnivore. The best thing I had was from their dessert area which was a peach cobbler type of thing. :-)



I then walked back to the pier (remember Macau is fairly small) and got back on the ferry to head back to HK. I was back in my apartment by 10 PM. I definitely would consider going back - but I'm glad we didn't take the kids. It wasn't very child friendly and not much they would like to see. Maybe when Tevia comes back we can stay a night at the Venetian and check out some more of Macau. When I was leaving was when everyone was coming from HK. Almost all of their tourists come from either Hong Kong or Guangzhou (China). It was a quick, but pleasant trip. I most enjoyed reading the Portuguese everywhere and also seeing some of the differences between Brazilian Portuguese. I think the highlight of the day was sipping my passion fruit smoothie while sitting on a bench looking up at the Ruinas de Sao Paulo and feeling almost like I was in Brazil.

Ellery vs The Stairs

Ellery has been doing this the last week or so... we just wanted to share the fun with everyone! Hopefully I'll be able to log on a bit more for the next two weeks... till classes start up again at least!

Beowolf and Karaoke

The last two nights I have been looking for things to do to pass the time and do things that I normally wouldn't get to do if I were in the US or the family was here. Thursday I decided I would go see a movie. I was trying to decided on three movies: I Am Legend, The Warlords, or Beowolf. In the end I decided to go see Beowolf as it was being shown on an IMAX 3-D screen over in MegaBox. MegaBox is a mall on the Kowloon side (Kowloon Bay) which is really cool looking. It looks like a big "box" as you can imagine. I wish I had taken a picture. To get there you have to take the blue line MTR to the purple line to the green line. So at this point I have been on every MTR route in Hong Kong.

At MegaBox I ran into a missionary couple from Oregon and talked to them for a while. They had been here for 2 months. I then grabbed something quick to eat at MOSBurger, a Japanese burger joint that I learned to like in Singapore. I then headed up to the theater. The theater wasn't very full, which was strange for Hong Kong. I think that is probably because the movie has been out for a while. I grabbed my 3D glasses and went to my seat which I had purchased online prior. I had just seen "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in 3D a few weeks ago, so I expected something like that. But this was MUCH different. The IMAX screen was awesome, of course, but the 3D was amazing. It was 3D the whole movie, not just in a few scenes. It was very cool. The odd thing was that the 3D kinda made the people look fake - almost like computer-generated faces. But once you got used to that it was really cool. The movie itself was OK. The best part, to be honest, was seeing Angelina Jolie all golden on a huge screen. :-) I enjoyed the movie. During the end of the movie my Blackberry started buzzing like crazy. I turned it off after a minute. Afterwards I found out it was my pops trying to contact me. Sorry pops. I then called my mom and talked to her for a while on my way home.

Last night I went with a few people from work to do Karaoke. They have karaoke "stores" where you go in and you get a room that has a TV and some microphones. You then choose your songs and have fun. You can also order food and play games. You can even play Wii with friends or other things. It was a lot of fun. It is very fancy karaoke so you sound really good when you sing as it adjusts for bad tone, etc. We stayed for nearly 4 hours. Sometimes people stay all night long. We also played a dice game which I guess a lot of people play while doing karaoke. It was the dice game from Pirates of the Carribean. Who knew that was a real game? If you lose you have to drink. Since I don't drink they made me do push-ups. But I only lost a couple of rounds. We sang songs from Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls" to "Hot Summer Nights" to mandarin songs. Some of the mandarin songs have pinyin so I was able to sing them, too, since I really can only recognize a few dozen characters. I had a lot of fun. I then made my way home and was once again amazed at how crowded some places in Hong Kong are even late at night. It really is such a unique place.

desert trip and spring 2008

we did it! we went ahead and got tickets for Utah! we are hoping the weather holds out, and that some of you will want to go. we are coming in on March 19, a wednesday, and leave the next wednesday. if the weather is too cold for a desert trip, we can all find some other fun thing to do. we can drive all the way down to Zion, or we could go skiing. we will be flexible. we used frequent flyers, so we can always change them. I still plan on going out also after the baby is born, maybe early June, depending on when Jacob and Cari want me to come, and the blessing, and when Kathy and Tom come home, and if they need help driving our car back, etc. We understand that no one else will know if they are going on the desert trip for awhile, but we found a good ticket and took it. we have a big storm coming in tomorrow. I feel so bad for the Cangelosi's. We had all kinds of fun plans for tomorrow, and now everything is getting cancelled. They already cancelled
R S, and she wanted to go see everyone there in one place, like Ilene Angel, Lucky Edmonds, etc. too bad. I hope I still get to spend some time with her before the snow starts to fall.

Losing my mind - IKEA and Tokio Hotel

The last day or so two things have happened that make me think I am losing my mind. The first was yesterday during I lunch I thought I would walk over to IKEA and get an ice cream cone. I've been there a few times and it is like 5 -10 minutes from my office. 40 minutes later (say it in spongebob narrator voice) I was still walking around Causeway Bay and could not find it for the life of me. I couldn't believe it. I went back to my office so frustrated (you know I need my ice cream!) that I looked it up on Google Maps and it was right where I thought it was. I'm not sure if I went through a void or they moved it that day or what, but I could not find IKEA.

Then today something else made me scratch my head. Here in Hong Kong the music we get exposed to is different than in the USA. One group that is fairly big here that I have started to like is a German group called Tokio Hotel. They recently released an English album and I like a couple of their songs. Funny thing is that for the last few weeks I totally thought the group was a bunch of girls. To my surprise, they are all MEN! I couldn't believe it. I've seen a few of their videos and even listening to their voices I would have sworn they were girls. I do recall the first time I saw the video I looked hard to make sure it was a girl, but by the end I was sure. But I was wrong. I think that is so crazy. Are we at a point in society where we can't even tell who is a girl and who is a boy?

You can check out Tokio Hotel on Youtube. You can watch their video "Monsoon" and tell me what you think. :-)

Our Christmas Tree

Jacob and Tommy were ever to kind to go out and get a real Christmas tree this year. After about 45 minutes of driving around Provo Canyon, we found that very cute and small little tree that Jacob cut down with his saw and we brought home. Having never actually gone out to get a tree, this was pretty exciting for me. It might be a little on the Charlie Brown side, but it makes me happy. :-)

Sunday - Deep Water Bay - Romney's Speach

Church was lonely today without the family, especially after church as I headed up the stairs and passed the second floor where I usually go to pick up the boys. Not this week. Instead I went to get set apart and tell them I will most likely be leaving in January. Brother Collins in his Scottish accent said that wouldn't get me out of the setting apart. He gave me a great blessing and blessed me understanding to get through this time of choices and opportunities with my career. He also blessed me to remember my priorities of my wife and children. It was a great blessing. He then shook my hand and winked and said he hoped we would stay. He said you never know what happens and that he'd be pulling for my company to change their mind. :-)

This afternoon I decided I would take a walk along the ocean over to Deep Water Bay. I have passed that bay and beach many times on my way to and from work, but had never really gone there. It was a cool, overcast day and so I headed out and walked along the "seaside promenade" from Repulse Bay to Deep Water Bay. It was a gorgeous walk and a beautiful day. It was probably a little over a mile or so and I continued past Deep Water Bay to go as far as I could go until I ran into Ocean Park. On my way back I took off my shoes in Deep Water Bay and walked in the waves. The water was still quite warm and refreshing. By the time I made it back it was nearly dinner time so I heated up my Thai Red Curry in the microwave and ate. It was such a contrast to my day yesterday which was spent in the hustle and bustle of the city. Here it was like taking a walk at a resort with families and kids riding bikes and people walking their dogs. I wish we had taken the boys down here before. I'm sad that they missed out on this neat walk.

It is very interesting to see so much attention on the church due to Mitt's campaign. I think it has done a lot of good, but it will also cause a lot of backlash if his candidacy continues to be successful. I have tried hard over the past few months to like Mitt Romney. I find at times he seems great, but at other times I have disagreed with his stances and responses. I was excited to see his speech this week. Upon watching I think it came off very well. I agree with the WSJ article (link below) that the first few minutes seemed a little stiff, but he got into his own and more comfortable. I think it was a well-written speech and it would appear that most of the media embraced it. I thought his story about the founding fathers praying together was a great touch at the end. I must say that he won respect in my eyes after this speech. There have been numerous articles discussing his speech. I have linked a couple interesting ones here. They are what you would expect: a conservative response from the Wall Street Journal and a more liberal response by the Times. But both good.

I am excited to return to the States and get more involved in politics at a local level and to see how the Presidential campaign goes. It looks to be a fun race.

WSJ Article here.
NY Times here.

Saturday Alone

So what do you do on a Saturday in Hong Kong by yourself? Well, today I got up and made a plan. I decided to wait around until I knew Tevia and the boys got in safe, which they did, and then head out. I was so happy to talk with Tevia. She seemed happy, though it sounds like Canada Air isn't all that great. I guess I'll get my chance to try in two weeks. Sorry honey!

I got on the bus and headed down to Admiralty. I went through Statue Square where the "black man" statue is. It is some British guy. I then headed for the escalator. This is the world's longest escalator. It was built to help all the people that live in the Mid-Levels which are up the hill from Central. It goes down during the morning and then goes up the rest of the day. I was a little disappointed to find out it actually is not one big, long escalator. It is a combination of many escalators. But it was interesting. My plan was to head up the escalators and then head over to the zoological park.

I had heard that the zoo wasn't all that great and it was true. The kids and Tevia didn't miss out on much here. Certainly nothing like the Singapore Zoo. But it was neat having a large park in the middle of all of the buildings. From there I headed back to the escalator to eat at Taco Loco's which is one of the few Mexican restaurants here in Hong Kong. They weren't open yet so I had to linger around until the opened a little after noon. I ordered a barbacoa burrito and refried beans. It was a little like Chipotle but not quite so fast foody and not as tasty. It was good, though. It was unique hearing Mexican music in Hong Kong. The refried beans weren't really refried, but they were still good. The lime juice was fantastic. It was a good lunch.

From there I headed down the stairs (remember the escalator only goes up after the morning) to the MTR station to catch a train to Mong Kong. I shopped around looking for some little things. I bought a few things, but not nearly as many things as I expected. I did find my shoes that I was looking for, though, so that was worth the whole trip. They have a whole section next to the Ladies' Market that is just stores full of sneakers. I spent most of my time there even though 90% of the shoes are the same in each store. It's hard to understand how they all stay in business next to each other. But it was fun.

After that I headed back to Hong Kong island and decided to take a tram ride to Causeway Bay. Our family had done a tram ride last week, but it was short and at night. I thought I'd try a longer ride and during the day. It was fun as I got the front seat on the top level and got to see a lot. It took quite a while - so the trams downtown aren't nearly as efficient due to traffic. From there I got on my mini bus (#40) back to Repulse Bay. It was dinner time and I bought some food, which buying for one person is more expensive than just eating out downtown. But that's okay.

Now I am blogging and listening to some new music. I really like Simple Plan's new song (Untitled). It is sad. I also very much enjoy most of Britney's new album. Surprising. I tried to watch some shows on the computer using Tevia's one site - but I am too impatient. After 15 minutes and not being downloaded I just give up. I was very tempted to download BSG Razor, but I didn't! I'll wait til I get home. :-)

Until tomorrow.

Christmas Party - Hong Kong

Last night was our office Christmas party. The ironic part of it is that in the US our office is not allowed to have Christmas parties or even "end of year" parties for fear people might think it is a Christmas party. So here in a country where Christianity isn't very big we can have a party and sing Christmas carols about the Savior. In our own Christian USA we can't even have a party. Very odd. There is something odd about being in a bar and seeing 30 or so people singing Silent Night while they hold tequilas in their hands and are drunk beyond recognition.

It was a fun party. I left fairly early (10ish) as it was Tevia's last night and I couldn't rationalize staying out late on her last night. Many people, including our President and the Executive VP were out past 2 AM in Lan Kwai Fang doing jello shots and partying. For one of the few times in my life I actually felt a little uncomfortable not drinking. I think it is just such a part of the culture here. There were about 3 of us that didn't drink, but so many people kept trying to get me to drink. I think in the US people aren't quite so pushy - maybe because we have so many alcoholics that don't drink. We did some dancing (I was one of the few people to dance in the circle) and watched people act like idiots. Sometimes this is funny, but usually not. The odd thing was that the people that were the craziest tended to be non-Asian. They were the caucasions from Australia, Europe, or the USA. Most of the local Hong Kong employees just watched and laughed and took pictures. It was the first time in Hong Kong that I felt like maybe this isn't a town I would do well in. I mean, I could live here easily, but I am not a partier and it is such a big part of this town.

Tevia and the boys left today. I missed them the moment I walked out the door this morning (we were able to start work late today since most people were so drunk it was hard to get in early). I really don't like being alone. There are some things that I'll be able to do since they are not here, but the reality is I would rather have them here. Tomorrow I am going to do some shopping looking for the Adidas I should have bought last month but can't find now. It is pretty lonely here in the big apartment by myself. Maybe I'll go to a movie or something, too. I am just hoping the next two weeks go by quickly. I think they will. Work is much less motivating and so the days have dragged a little, but for the most part I am busy.

Oh, I also won the song contest at our party. We had to guess songs from lyrics and then sing some songs. Of course, most people wouldn't even participate since you had to sing, but I'm not shy. In the end we had to sing Christmas Carols. :-) I won, but they couldn't give me the prize since I am management. LOL.

Flying Home

Today I get to undertake a large task. I get to fly home, by myself, with three small children, halfway across the world. Am I crazy, perhaps a little. If I weren't just a tad touched in the head I would never be able to do this. I am so, so, so , so infinitely grateful that we are flying business class rather than coach. We will get to utilize the business class lounges and have attendants help the kids and I while flying. I think my biggest worry will be when we land in Vancouver and having to maneuver all the luggage(6 check on, two carry on, stroller and car seat) through customs. That will be a challenge, but I have four hours in which to accomplish this task since that is the amount of time for our layover there.

I will definitely not be too proud to ask for help, and I am sure I will need it. I have prayed mightily that my kids will be on their very best behavior and be very helpful. I have faith that all will go well. I don't feel nervous, just excited and anxious.

I was sad to have to say good-bye to Bret this morning. We all traipsed down to the apartment lobby with him to bid him farewell, and then I stood on the balcony and waved good-bye to him until he got on the bus. I know he will be sad and lonely because he will be all alone. I will have the kids and then someone with me at least until the 17th. So I will be fine.

I can't wait to see my sister at the airport. My heart leaps with anxiety just waiting to see her there waiting for us. I will get to see my family and then all of you guys (except for jake and millie boohoo, sniff sniff) in the very same month. I am so lucky!

Well, here is to seeing you all on the flip side. Much love to all of you...

My December

It is hard to believe it is December. The year has gone way too fast, and even worse, our time in Hong Kong has seemed to fly. It is crazy that Tevia and the boys already leave this week. Then two weeks later I will be back in AZ for Christmas. After that, who knows. It has been somewhat frustrating dealing with my company the past few weeks. As I work in the relocation industry, I am very much aware of the issues that arise with international assignments. The truth is, a large percentage of people leave their company within a year or less upon returning from an assignment. The reasons are varied, but the biggest reason is that while they are on assignment they tend to be given larger responsibilities and opportunities. Upon returning to the their home country they tend to go back to a job they may not even want and certainly have less responsibility. That seems to be exactly what is happening with me. Here in Hong Kong I have had much more responsibility than in Phoenix. Now that my time to return is approaching, the thoughts of where to put me begin to come up. It is amazing that companies are willing to spend so much money on an international assignment and then don't manage the repatriation. My coming here was a huge advantage to my company. I was able to bring stability and leadership in a time of major unrest and distrust. But while I was away there were many changes that took place in Phoenix. Opportunities that may have presented themselves for my future development in Phoenix have come and gone while I didn't even have a chance to apply for them. The company didn't know what to do with me as they had an idea that maybe I would stay in Asia. The reality is that I would love to have stayed here, but not as a local hire. With three kids that would be way too expensive. So when coming up with something for me to do when I get back to Phoenix my name comes up for many projects that need some leadership and experience. The problem is that these are not ideal career paths and may further disrupt my growth at my current company. And so, like many expats returning to their home, I feel unwanted, forgotten and uncared-for. It isn't true - I know that many people do care about me and do want to see me grow in the company. But so much of growth in a company comes from timing - and by being away for 6 months I have missed out on some of those opportunities.

That isn't to say I haven't had opportunities. This assignment in Hong Kong has given me great chances to learn new skills and things that I would never have learned in Phoenix. It will look awesome on my resume and truly be representative of a great growing opportunity. And it was something I wanted. I asked for this - and was fortunate to receive it. So isn't it ironic that after having received this great opportunity and my company investing so much in me that I now wonder about my future with them? As a relocation company this should have been handled so much better. I mean, I still don't know when I will be going back! I thought I did, but then all of the sudden some things came up relating to my next project in Phoenix where they are now asking that I go back sooner. I remain patient but it becomes ever more frustrating as I am unable to make plans for my return. And so now I may be working on an exciting project, but at the same time not taking of my best skills which is motivating and leading people. It is amazing how often this takes place.

So hopefully we will find out more this week. But I am not optimistic. And for the first time in my career with this company I feel like it might be time to move on. Once again, I find it ironic as I love this company and have enjoyed the people so much. But at the same time I need to look out for my career and make sure that I am doing what I like and being rewarded for what I can bring to a company. I would love to make that happen with my current company, but if not then I will make the jump. It has been a crazy ride lately. 6 months ago I had no idea I would be living in Hong Kong at this point. And certainly had no idea that in 9 months I would most likely be back in Phoenix doing something altogether different. Hopefully it will all work out.

I will miss much of Hong Kong. It really is a great place to live and work. I love my employees here and the work I am involved in. I enjoy many aspects of life here. I love the church here. The one thing I really miss is basketball and working out. I'm sure if we stayed here longer I would find ways to play basketball or develop habits of playing other sports, but for now I just seem to work and eat and that combination is not good for a waistline. In that respect I do look forward to Phoenix.

Snowing! and Christmas Around the World

Well, it's snowing in Provo. :) It's not the first snow of the winter, but it looks like it'll be the first snow that sticks. And it seems fitting somehow to wake up to snow on the 1st of December. And now, if only I could sleep in past 8 am on a Saturday. Ugh.

Jacob and I went on a date last night. Novel, I know. We got tickets for the BYU Folk Dance Show, Christmas Around the World. This was one show we'd never been to before, but we really enjoyed it. They did dances from about 12 different countries. I think the ones I liked the most were the dances from the Philippines and Slovakia. Really cool. Jacob LOVED the band they had playing for most of the songs. They were extremely talented. Made me want to play an instrument again. Probably not enough to actually start playing again :) , but it was still really cool.