i was made for sunny days.

to escape the dreary winter in our city, we headed down south to thailand to get some sun and relax during the spring festival holiday! we started off with a conference with other students studying here in east asia. our hotel, the courtyard marriott, was INCREDIBLE. and everyone's room had an ocean view! we were so spoiled!

 (they even had a water slide. how fun is that?!?!)

my birthday also fell during this week! so i got to celebrate with my china family. it was really special. the hotel even sent me a birthday cake and flowers! and many of my friends went to dinner at an italian restaurant which was really yum!

not only did i get calls from all over the world (grace in india, anna in nashville, laura and miller in auburn, anna in daytona beach, kyle in london, and sara beth in montgomery), sara beth sent me e-mails of pictures of my best friends spelling out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGA!"

this is sb's, for example!

i felt SO loved. i am so thankful.

what a fun week!

celebrate.

our winter in china was full of things to celebrate. of course, christmastime was sweet and really christ-focused as we celebrated together as a crew and with lots of our friends. 

we got to celebrate the chinese culture with a free trip to watch sichuan opera! our favorite scene was the men with masks that changed colors in an instant! and all of the costumes were so beautiful and intricate.

one of most famous landmarks of our city is an opera house located on the yangtze river. we had the chance to go watch an ABBA cover band perform there right before new year's (honestly, we thought it was going to be the broadway show mamma mia, but we were misled by the advertisement/language barrier...haha). either way, we chalked it all up to a fun experience and a way to celebrate our city and all the curve balls that come our way as foreigners living in the orient!

on christmas day, my roommate and good friend lauren got engaged! that was really something to celebrate! (and i get to be one of her bridesmaids on august 4th!!) we were so excited. when we went to her fiancé harrison's city for new year's, we had the chance to throw them an engagement party at a yummy mexican restuarant! it was so fun!

 

 

"celebrate we will, because life is short but sweet for certain." (dave matthews band)

word of the week: fei zhu liu + kelsey's birthday

this week's word of the week is fei zhu liu [pronounced fei (as in tina fey); zhu (sounds like jew); liu (sounds like leo)] -- which is a slang term used mostly by the post-90s generation. in general, it means something that is strange and odd...not necessarily in a bad way -- just different from the norm.

my friends love using this term, and if i throw it into any conversation, the crowd goes wild! fei zhu liu is used mostly about a person's style (i.e. clothing,  hair), so for kelsey's birthday, we dressed in true fei zhu liu fashion -- i'm talking glasses without lenses, big bows, mismatched patterns and sparkles.

zhu ni shengri, kelsey! wo ai ni!

a little turkey & a little traveling.

this thanksgiving, we really went all out! beth, anne marie, and cat decorated the "dining room" really pretty and our table was so chic and beautiful! we had so. much. food. including (drum roll please...) TURKEY! (fun fact: did you know that china does not have turkey? so that's a big deal that we had it this year.) we had a very yummy day. thankful for a great family here, though i miss spending the day in warner robins with the terry/cretors' family! (love y'all!)

the day after thanksgiving, we had a conference and the annual turkey bowl in our home away from home in china. it was a great couple of days with other china friends from around our region. this year, the SEC and the ACC tied. it's not a W, but we'll take it...especially considering a player on the other team got his tooth knocked out! bless his heart! (he's doing ok...thank goodness!)

lots to be thankful for this month and always. :)

an autumn outing.

this semester, our crew got to go on a retreat for some time of bonding and sight-seeing! we travelled only an hour by plane to a city most famous for the terra cotta soldiers! and that was our first stop! 

my favorite thing we did was bike around the ancient city walls! we biked six miles on really rickety bikes, on really uneven bricks...and it was hysterical! 

we ate at...(drum roll, please)...DUNKIN' DONUTS!

and we saw BEAUTIFUL autumn leaves!

it was a really fun weekend! i'm glad we got a chance to get away and spend time together!

maddox turns one!

the littlest member of our family here just turned the BIG o-n-e!!

 and we LOVED fussing over him on his big day!

it was so. much. fun.

 the cake.

the decor.

the birthday boy.

the gift.  

( an IKEA tunnel his aunties gave him. :)

the balloon banner! 

LOVE that boy and soooo thankful for his sweet life!

read more about his party at his mom's blog here!

there's a snake in my boot!

After much deliberation, our crew finally decided that TOY STORY would be our theme for Halloween! We went into the city with our other friends for a fun night with Tex-Mex food!

Will as Woody

Kelsey as Jessie

Hughes as Buzz Lightyear

Anne Marie as Barbie

Chris as Ken

Me as Bo Peep

(Check out my HOOP SKIRT!! 

Me and Kelsey made it from scratch with a hula hoop! Who's proud??)

Chelsey as an Alien

Anna as Mrs. Potato Head

Tyler as Etch A Sketch

Our other friends in the city were the characters from the video game, Mario Kart. 

So hilarious.

My favorite costumes of the night were Barbie and Ken! Chris and Anne Marie rented their outfits from a costume store close to our apartments. 

 I loved Will's pull string, too! So clever!

We had such a fun time making our costumes and spending time with our friends from around the city! Any excuse to be together is fine by us!