N: Growing Sands

Our first couple months in China back in 2005 we went on a little trip not far outside of our city of Yinchuan.  We rode camels into the desert, played in the dunes, camped overnight, and had a good time with friends.

 

Featured weeks ago in a ZGBriefs, this presentation on the desertification (things becoming a sandy mess, not things becoming sugary and delicious) of Western China has captured realistic images of some things we have seen for ourselves in Ningxia.  The segment involving Ningxia starts at 10:35 on the video counter.

I am not able to insert the video onto the blog so you will have to go to an outside link.  Worth it, I promise. Link is at the end of the post.

I recommend watching the whole presentation which also includes the neighboring provinces.  It is only 13 minutes and gives excellent photos of something that we see nearly everyday while in China.

Growing Sands

N: Our daughter will now be named Clover

There is a fair bit of coffee in my life. A pound a week is just one of the benefits of working at starbucks. At this point, K and I are saving what we can to bring back with us to China. There are even a couple other employees at my store that have also donated to us. On our last trip in February, they donated over 20 lbs to give to other foreign workers in Yinchuan. I was like a coffee Santa Claus passing out small packages of joy.

Not too long ago on one of my days off, K and I drove down to Georgetown for one reason. To get a cup of coffee. Not just any cup of coffee though. After our trip I would tell, and have told friends, family, and perfect strangers that it was the best cup of coffee I had ever had. So without futher ado, I present to you…….the Clover.

I considered creating my own description and trying to describe it to you in some way that would do it justice, but then figured a video report would be best.



As for the shop we enjoyed our Clover coffee at, it no longer exists. We had the coffee on a Friday and at closer of business on Saturday, the place would no longer be unlocking its doors for business. The Clover machine, along with other fixtures and items in the store, were sold on Craigslist. The used Clover machine sold for about $11,000.

I was fortunate enough to get behind the counter and fiddle with the machine. The worker there was kind enough to even snap my picture.

N: July

Oh. my. gosh.  Where has the year gone?!?  This last year in the states has really flown by.  We only have until August 18 (47 days)and then we are off to China again.  Awesome.  Truly awesome.  But then again, we have a bunch to do still before we leave.  We need to be at 100% support, have all my medical supplies for the year, have Shepherd's clothes for a year, our language books ordered, take trips to San Antonio, Dallas, and anywhere else, quit my job.....the list just seems to go on!  Isn't it exciting!

While we were in Colorado we had some pictures done up in Fort Collins with a company called Photo De Novo.  The photographer is the sister of a former roommate of mine while in undergrad at CCU.  Her pictures of families totally inspired me and I hoped that she would be able to take some great pictures.  And she did.  Not only that, but she released the photos to us so that we could use them for a new photocard with ELIC, family pictures, and whatever as long as it was just our use.  

 

She did more than black & whites.  We'll do a color one for our next photocard with ELIC.

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With the heat of Texas and a family membership at the nearest YMCA, K and Shepherd spend some good time at the pool.  And when the YMCA is just a little too far away, he has his own pool in the back yard.