An exhausting and crazy weekend!

Good morning!  To most of my readers anyway.  I hope you are all doing well!  I am in my favorite spot.... yes you guessed it on my balcony with the windows open listening to the busy traffic of the city below.  Tonight though I have a whole different view.  I am looking the I'Park mall straight on, seeing a much broader view of the city and high rises and on a clear day/evening I can see the 63 building, which glows when the sun goes down.  It's really weird how a shift in view can change the way life feels in general. I knew by looking out the window before that I was living in a city but now I can see the bridge traffic of two bridges, a school playground, a passenger train and so many more high rises that it really feels like the city now.  I feel like I am surrounded in it so much more than I was before moving to this apartment.  It is exciting. 

As most of you know, and if you couldn't tell from the above, the family moved this weekend.  We we were living on the 10th floor but we have moved down to the 9th.  My elevator friend, yes I have an elevator friend, laughed at me when I told her we were moving to the 9th floor.  She couldn't believe we were moving down.  "Most people move up, " She said while shaking her head in disbelief.  And it is true.  If your going to move in a high rise you certainly don't move down, well unless your crazy Americans like us!

The move went relatively smooth except for a few hiccups but what move doesn't have though.  However ours was a little weird.  Friday Collin had a group of guys lined up to come over and help him move and only 1 work related friend showed up and that was Tom!  Being his best friend however counts as a friend and not a work relation so forget I even said that.  There was another soldier who came but Collin knows him as a friend and doesn't work anywhere with him.  The last person who showed was his son Mike!  Anyway a friend on mine headed off to a 31 party that another friend was hosting so the boys started the heavy lifting.  All was going pretty well I guessed because I never got a phone call and a text.  It was when I was sitting on the floor filling out my order form and my daughter becoming very cranky and tired that I heard my friend on the phone with her husband.  When she hung up I heard her say, "Call your husband!"  I looked at my phone and sure enough I missed 2 calls at this point!  I called him back and he began to tell me that Security went up to the apartment and walked him down to the main office.  Apparently because we were moving and using the elevator we needed to pay 100,000Won, after much discussion about how we were only using the elevator for the major things and using the stairs as much as we could because we were only 1 floor down they lowered it to 50,000Won.  Ummm a little strange if you ask me.  I guess people were getting pretty annoyed that we were using up the elevator so much for our move and they had important things to do.  Oh well.  This incident was really the biggest one we had so far all weekend. 
Today was a pretty awesome day as well.  Everyone helped out with Audrey a TON and we got a lot done.  Both bathrooms, Audrey's play room, most of her bedroom (prior to her wanting to go to bed) and most of the office/workout room.  Tomorrow I look forward to finishing both of those rooms, getting my closet and vanity set up along with starting our bedroom.  I say starting because looking at it tonight I have to cringe and hope that we can have it done before Collin goes back to work on Tuesday!  For those of you NOT on Facebook, please enjoy the following!

 The Play room (now has ABC and 123 Mats!

 Guest/Audrey's bathroom

 I might not be able to have my jetted tub but I will take a spa like shower!

 We have a pantry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It makes up for not having a single drawer in the kitchen!

 A huge laundry room for a Korean apartment!

And our DVD's have a new home.... the first time since we started living here like 8 months ago (15 months for Collin).

Tonight is just the kind of night I love after a long day.  Audrey is already in bed, I am in my favorite spot and Collin and Tom are out in the living room playing Football on the PS3.  What a fun weekend!
Happy Memorial Day family and friends and remember this weekend isn't just about the cookouts and long weekends.... its about those who have died fighting for Americans freedom!  Thank you to all who have served and continue to serve.  And thank you to all the Spouses and families who put up with it and love it ;)

America VS South Korea!

Tonight I would like to point out a few of the many differences between the USA and the Republic of Korea!

So with living in South Korea, specifically Seoul, I have learned that things are done differently then back in the states and the people are way different.  The most obvious is the living arrangements.  Back in the states the majority of homes are houses here they are apartments then there are the difference with what is in the home or going on in the home.  I have come to learn that the land of tiny people don't believe in carpeting, you do not walk into a home with your shoes on, and you don't have a washer and a dryer.  In fact you have an all in one!  A friend of mine has this machine that washes your clothes and then dries them.  Pretty fancy right?   WRONG!  This method for 1 load will take you 4-6 hours.  Could you imagine waiting that long to do laundry?  The next time I want to complain about the dryer taking so long I will remember how it could be worse.  We are lucky enough to not have an apartment that came with this contraption and so we needed to borrow one from military housing!  We have a washer and dryer.  Very nice but very little room for both machines. 
Another is transportation.  Many people drive in this city but traffic laws don't really mean anything here, if your not making an illegal U turn, running a red light, blocking an ambulance, riding your motorcycle on the sidewalk (if you are a motorcycle owner), cutting someone off for NO REASON except you want to be a car link or two ahead, or going on the yellow/red light and having to stop in the middle of the intersection and blocking the oncoming traffic than you don't need to be driving in South Korea.  You need to just take public transportation, because if you are a careful driver and believe in letting people get in front of you because they need to get in the other lane, stopping on yellow lights or obey any other traffic law you will probably get in an accident your first week here.  Yes transportation if driving, is a dangerous adventure here.  However, I have learned to love the idea of public transportation, however again if you are nice and don't look out for yourself you will get ran over or left not making it on the subway.  We have waited for an elevator before with the stroller and somehow 2 elevator trips later we still were not on the elevator.  WHY?  Because we were not looking out for us and everyone push their way past the stroller and into the elevator until there was no room left. 

With all this rule breaking and rudeness I have found 2 things lately that surprised me.  So this past weekend we went to a baseball game. There was 4 of us and 1 of us had a last minute ticket and was not sitting in the same row.  So our friend Tommi took that ticket and bounced around in seats until he was moved out of every single one of those seats.  No problem, he was just hanging out as long as possible and figured he would lose out in the end and have to sit in his assigned seat.  Well at one point I came back from the restroom and found him sitting in an empty row of 4 seats.  Instead of asking everyone to move I just sat down beside him.  This was 1 row below my seat so I figured worst case scenario I would  just hop the seat to get back to mine.  In America you see people who stand on a seat and move back to their row to avoid having to ask for the whole row to get up just so the traveling person could get to their seat.  Well wouldn't you know the correct seat owner had shown up (in the 4th or 5th inning) so I hopped on the seat and jumped back to mine.  BIG MISTAKE!  I not only got chewed out in Korean but there was a big scene of this girl needing to get a wipe/towel of some type to wipe her seat off and I am not talking brushing off whatever I left on the seat I am talking cleaning the seat!  WE ARE AT A BASEBALL GAME!  Then there are slits in the back of the seats.  Why they would do this in seats that are in a stadium I don't know but there are these slits and if you place your foot in the slit you will kick the person sitting in that seat.  Well Tom or Collin happened to place their foot in the slit of the mother of the paranoid seat wiper and she along with her husband made sure to turn around with dirty looks and to let (they figured it was Tom) Tom know they didn't appreciate him kicker her. AGAIN WE ARE AT A BASEBALL GAME!  Things happen no one was trying to kick anyone.  It would have been the same as bumping into someone by accident on the sidewalk.  Tom and Collin apologized in Korean, and in America this would have been returned with an it's ok, or a nod/smile of acknowledgement, they however just received the dirty looks. The second big thing I learned was that you do NOT leave ANY trash in your seating area at the end of the game.  You will pick up everything around your seat even if it blew in your area.  No empty cups, nacho trays, wrappers or straws better be laying around your area when you exit.  We had two young girls quickly correct us on the mistake of not having ALL of our trash.  Although it is amazing how much cleaner the sidewalks and streets are from having this kind of obedience. 

Lastly I would like to touch on mourning.  Now for anyone who may read this in the South Korea area I am not being disrespectful in anyway I am simply acknowledging the differences between America and here.  As many of you know there was a ferry disaster here about a month ago.  I am sure many of my American friends and family saw this and had deep sorrow for the families but in all honesty didn't think much more about it.  Just like the mudslides that happened around the same time in Washington.  Deep sorrow I am sure was felt but if you were not related or knew anyone in that accident you did not feel the need to mourn those loses other than feeling sad.  I am sure some of you sent up prayers for the families, some of you sent positive vibes towards those families, some said "prayers for the families" but never really prayed.  I get it, it is how Western society works.  Now, let's look at an American disaster.  Colorado (along with other States) have suffered some major natural disasters with all the fires. Many families mourned the losses of homes and and some the loss of a loved one.  People all around Colorado watched for days to see if their home would be in danger.  To see the destruction the fires were causing.  However it did not stop America, it didn't even stop Colorado from moving forward, many of the families said that they just want to move on to start over and to deal with the pain they way they have to.  Colorado everywhere lowered the flags, we stood together in helping families, supplying the fire fighters with what they needed, but we still celebrated we still moved on.  I am not saying it wasn't a big deal just that America keeps moving on.  Well here in South Korea they stop EVERY form of celebrating.  They shut down the water show that shoots out from the bridge, they take away DJ's at a US military ball, they stop cheerleaders, all music and the mascots at baseball games, in fact I believe I heard that the whole Country will stay in mourning for 2 months after the ferry indecent.  At first I thought it was pretty amazing how the Country as a whole mourned for the loss.  It was tragic and it still effects all of us that lives here.  I still get sick to my stomach every time I hear the news talk about it, but here they believe that if some are suffering everybody should suffer.  It is so much different from America.  It amazing to me the length they go to, to remind people of the suffering.  I mean they shut off a water show that takes place for a half hour at night because it shows signs of happiness and celebration.  I know this can be a very controversial topic that I just spoke of but I must say when it comes to tragedies I am so proud to be an American and the way we deal with them.

These are just a few of many differences living here but they are some of the biggest I have found.  With all that being said, If you ever have a chance to visit here, it is pretty stinking awesome and a great life experience!  With the hubby taking some leave time and the 4 day weekend I am definitely looking forward to our 6 day family vacation even if most of those days are working hard on the move :)  I CANNOT WAIT TO SHOW YOU ALL PICTURES OF OUR NEW APARTMENT!

So much to tell

HELLO EVERYBODY AND A VERY HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL THE MOMMY'S OUT THERE!!!!!!!!
So I really wanted to get this post out last week, obviously that did not happen.  However,  now I am back in my zone!  My mothers day gift, for those who haven't seen, was patio furniture.  No I don't have a patio but I have a closed in balcony and I love coming out here to do my work or just to relax.  There is nothing like the window open on a spring/fall early morning or night and hearing the city traffic and the city life either wake up or slow down.  I love it and though I miss the simpleness of living in a town where I can drive anywhere and everywhere I am totally going to miss this when I leave.  I love it and it makes me calm myself on bad days and makes me a happy person! Plus now when I get back to the states I have a patio furniture that seats 2! 

 Daddy's little helper!

So last Friday we had our Culture night dinner!  It was free and fun!  It started out that they had my husband down as PFC Shorey (he is not a Private First Class) and they did not have me on the list.  So that was a little annoying but they got us seated and we ended up sitting with some young enlisted members and so Collin was in  his element.  He felt like he was able to mentor a little bit with every question they asked him.  There wasn't all the toasts associated with the military balls so that was nice!  The entertainment was pretty good too.  We had a performance by a University and they did some traditional Korean routines to traditional Korean music.  During dinner they also had a couple Oprah like singers which were pretty amazing a man and a woman and they traded off every other song.  The food was fantastic, and again free and really who doesn't like free!  It was so good that I ate shrimp!  I don't eat shrimp, anyone who knows me knows I don't eat anything that used to live in the water.  I thought it was orange glaze chicken but it wasn't... I won't be eating shrimp anytime soon but truth be told it wasn't half bad.  They had amazing prizes as well that consisted of, bikes, i pads, and CARS!  Yes they even gave away 2 cars, and no we didn't win.  All in all it was a fantastic night and did I mention it was free!  Korea's know how to do it right!  They are fantastic hosts!

This week has been fun.  We went to the Children's zoo and that is free (can you tell I love free!)  The zoo was not that great but for free it was super!  The elephant and the polar bear both seemed to have something wrong with them (a messed up ear and a crooked nose) but we are thinking there is a reason those they were at the free zoo.  They also have an amusement park there, a small one but I was still excited.  However as walking towards the entrance we found it closed which made me sad, but they had a few playgrounds and it was a fun day.  We had some friends join us and things are always better with friends.

 A toy that she still can't figure out how to walk with

 Watching the seals

A water show

Another thing that Koreans do well is celebrating holidays!  When I came here September of 2013 they were celebrating Chusok, basically Thanksgiving.  Well they got 3 full days off of work.  I am talking restaurants shut down, stores closed down, heck I couldn't even activate my cell phone until Monday!  We got here on a Tuesday night and I got my phone on Wednesday!  Well this past week was Children's Day, Buddha's Birthday, and Parents day and so when most people went home last Friday from work they didn't return until Wednesday or Thursday.  A friend wanted to take me and another friend to a Korean restaurant on Monday, Children's day but they were all shut down!  We ended up with pizza. CHILDREN'S DAY!  THEY GET THE DAY OFF FOR CHILDREN'S DAY! 
However in light of Buddha's birthday we did go to the Lateran festival!   As always it was absolutely amazing and I always find it interesting when I get a peak at another religion or get to learn a bit about it.  I got to get a good peak inside the Buddhist temple and found it fascinating.  So many questions pop in my head, I even saw many participants of the Buddhist faith bring a monk many gifts.  To see these followers bow and become so humble standing in front of this man and give him bags of treasures made me wonder, what could possibly be in those bags?!  I mean really what gift could you possible wrap up to give to someone so mighty that you must bow to him? 

 This guy actually created the Korean language

A temple lantern

 Inside the temple

 The monk carrying out some of his gifts

Let's see what else has taken place..... oh yes!  Many of you know we got our list for new duty stations.  Well it was a horrible list and we are not looking forward to anywhere the military wants to send us next however....... I WILL MAKE THE MOST OUT OF WHEREVER THEY SEND US!  That being said, and yes my parents and immediate family are aware, we very well could be staying in Korea until early 2016.  We have not gotten orders yet and we have not been directly told yet but that is now a very real possibility.  Prior to finding this out I have been wanting a bigger apartment.  I have been wanting a bigger apartment especially now that I have met people and everyone seems to have bigger and better.  Collin got this apartment before we moved here and so many people say they were trying to get into our specific apartments.  Yes we are in an amazing location but we have some things lacking for us.  First off we have have a pretty small 3 bedroom apartment.  Just not enough room for stuff.  I do think that it is because I moved from such a big house.  However, I have been to at least 4 other apartments and all of them are bigger or newer.  My second issue is play area's for Audrey.  It seems like everyone else has a lot more and a lot better playgrounds and inside play rooms in and around their complex.  In fact a buddy of our who just moved here got a 4 bedroom in a gated community and very new and nice.  The down fall is that his location is not as great as ours and his dryer is in his kitchen. I believe that when looking out his living room window I see a splash pad for kids 10 floors down.  Ummmm Audrey needs that!!!!  Needless to say Collin heard about how great his apartment was compared to ours the majority of the time.  Although on the way home to our apartment I admitted that where we live is just fine and the location is great.  I told him that I realize the grass is always greener on the other side and no matter where I lived somewhere else would always have something more.  So for fun Collin asked our realtor if they had anything bigger but in the same area.  In less than 24 hours we were looking at a bigger nicer apartment.  Best part about it, is that it is in the same exact building and one floor below us!  So I get all the wonderful amenities that I already have, close to base, close to the subway, several convenient stores right outside the apartment doors if we ever need something in a hurry, a taxi stand just around the corner, and plenty of coffee shops connect to the building.  Oh yeah and that huge burger I took a picture of that lasted me 2 meals..... just a crossed the street hahaha!  I get to keep all that and get a bigger nicer apartment by the end of May! The only thing that makes me sad is the play area's for Audrey.  That is what friends are for right?  Our buddy who lives in the really nice apartment but not so great location.... I think he will get plenty of company this summer :)

The insanely huge burger!

Well I appreciate you stopping by today!  I must get my butt to bed now as I have church in the morning.  For any of you who are my wonderful Scentsy customers I am sorry for not getting this months items out.  I usually have it out already but this month has been busy!
I hope everyone has a great weekend and a very HAPPY MOTHERS DAY if you are indeed a mom!

Military Balls in Korea

Well hello everyone and happy Monday to most of you.  I thought I would share the on goings on the MI ball that was held last week!

Military balls are a time of beauty, a time for the woman of the military and the female spouses to get pampered.  You go shopping for the prettiest ball gown that fits your style, you find the shoes, the purse and figure out the hair.  Friday before the ball I went and got my nails done and a massage.  The french wrap is lovely and the massage ruined me.  It was my first Korean massage and let me tell you IT HURT!  I didn't realize just how much it hurt until the next morning Collin rubbed my back and I winced of pain and quickly ran to the mirror to make sure I wasn't bruised for the big evening.  Thankfully I was not.  I had never had such a horrible massage and it makes me miss Brenda from the Springs sooooooooooooo much!  She gives the best massages ever and I wish I could pay her a visit and talk about our kids together.  They are only 3 weeks apart.... anyway I digress.  Saturday was a day of fun....  I had my eyebrows and lip waxed, my makeup done and then my feet and hair.  It was tons of fun!  Because they did my feet and hair at the same time I got done about an hour sooner then I wanted too and had about an hour to sit around the house and hope my makeup didn't sweat off and my hair stayed in place. 

Finally 540 came.  Collin, Tom, and I were all ready to roll!  We headed downstairs to catch a cab and we were on our way to the ball.  Now most people love the final stage of the ball, including myself, because that is when all the official stuff is over and the DJ starts the dancing and they usually start off with the famous electric slide within the first few songs to get everyone moving.... Not the case for us that evening, no not a single dance.  Korea is still in a time of mourning and as long as that is happening certain elements of fun are prohibited.  So no DJ for us.  However the night was very nice and probably the most upscale military ball I will EVER attend.  The hotel had an enormous social area, a ball room for pictures and socializing.  There were BMW's on display along with ice sculptures.  The main lobby was filled with fancy stores with beautiful clothes and expensive time pieces.  There were some of the most beautiful dresses I have ever seen worn in person.  We were called into dinner area which was another enormous ball room.  Once seated with stood for the colors and for the official party.  Following was a series of toasts and a prayer.  In America this part is usually long and by the end of the speakers most people are not even paying attention.  However I will never think that again.  In Korea you do everything in English and then in Korean.  So yes this section of the night was twice as long as it usually is back in the states.  Dinner was served after all the important guests of the official party who were scheduled to speak spoke.  I was pretty shocked when I realized the first thing brought out to us was a piece of freshly cut salmon for each place setting.  I was shocked but sad as I wanted a salad NOT FISH!  I don't eat anything that used to swim.  So even though I was thinking fancy fancy I was scrunching up my nose and couldn't wait for them to take it away.  We were then served a very yummy soup.  Not sure what exactly it was but it seemed like it was some sort of potato soup.  Dinner was delicious.  Collin had the chicken and I had the beef tenderloin and it melted in my mouth.  Best ball food I ever had (except for the salmon).  I do not fully know what the dessert was either but it looked so fancy.  You know like one of those $15.00 desserts that is only about 3 bites with a small ball of strawberry ice cream. 
During dinner we had entertainment.  The JROTC kids did some awesome rifle routines and did a great job.  There were 2 sets of dance groups and then the Violets.  They are a group of 3 who play a bass, violin, and a flute to 'pop' music closing with Eye of the Tiger.  It was pretty cool.  I should have recorded it. 
After all was said and done I even went over and saw my trainer and we got to talk for awhile.  I felt very out of place as she was sitting at the head table with her husband, but she seemed very happy that I went to go talk to her.

All in all it was a great evening (even with the salmon and without the DJ).  I love going to the salon and getting all pretty and having Collin all handsome in his uniform.  We clean up pretty well!  This Friday is ball number 2 and although I am still uncertain about the dress I am very excited to get all done up again but on a smaller scale.

Well it is Monday night my time and time to head off to bed.  I have the USO at 9am and the gym at 3!  I hope everyone has a terrific day!

I AM A BEAST.... or so I like to think I am....

Hello everyone!  I hope your doing fantastic!  I am busy as always but doing pretty well.  I have struggled the past couple of weeks in school and will probably struggle the remainder of the class do to falling behind in the reading.  However even after falling behind I am still holding a very low A but it is an A.  Now to figure out how to continue that A for 2 more weeks.  Next semester I will be part time and only taking 2 classes because I am taking the next 5 weeks off.  I am still feeling positive and am enrolled to restart in 7 weeks. At first I wasn't ok with this but I know how I am wired and I need to do this.

As some of you have seen I am meeting with a personal trainer twice a week.  She is amazing and I couldn't have dreamed up a better trainer!  She is very clear that I will finish ever last set even if that means I have to take a break with 5 to go and drop weight.  But with the this kind of training it is easy to push through.  On Tuesday I had to take that break at 6 out of 12 I dropped weight but I finished my military press.  Today I not only went up in weight in 4 area's but on my last set of military press I took a break at 10 out of 15.  Yes that is right I not only bumped up in weights but I bumped up in reps! I am a beast!  Ok well I feel like one at the gym.... its the day after that I am not feeling very beast like :)

So the military ball is coming up next Saturday and then the Friendship ball is the following Friday.  Both of my dresses need alterations now!  Sadly not around the waist but it does say something for my weight lose.  The one for the MI Ball is a quick alteration but the one for the Friendship Ball is A LOT!  Not as much as what they wanted to do on post though, the Koreans had a much better idea of how to fix it.  I am just hoping it looks ok..... eek!

I started this blog last night (Thursday night) and I fell asleep before I finished so let me enlighten you on my day date today!  We asked the Nanny to come today so Collin and I could have some time to go hang out.  It was awesome!  We had lunch at Subway with our friend Tommi.  Tommi is Collins best friend who just got stationed out here!  It is so awesome to have him here, some of you know Tommi actually married Collin and I at Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs.  After lunch we then went to the batting cages.  We hit 50 balls each, and I who hadn't held a bat in YEARS, did pretty great!  I hit over 50% at least!  Then we went and played some putt putt.  Now many of you know I do not lose much when it comes to some mini golf in fact I can't remember the last time I lost!  However Collin put a whopping on me.  He beat me by 10!  That is just insane, I think he has been practicing all week (even though he says he hadn't).  After that he was daring enough to take me out to the range and I hit 57 of the 60 balls (I let him play a little)  I am happy to report that I impressed him, being my first time ever to hold a golf club in my hand.  Who knows maybe this will turn into my next little hobby one day......maybe!

Now for a little bit of seriousness.  I hope that you can all join me in prayers for the families of the unaccounted for in the Ferry accident here in South Korea.  I have thought about taking the 14 hour ferry ride down to Jeju instead of a flight.  You can get little cabin rooms and I thought it would be fun.  I still keep an open mind to it but it saddens me to hear of all the students who are still missing.  Praying that there are enough air pockets and that there will be more survivors even with the frigid waters.  So much evil in the world has been happening.  I couldn't imagine being one of those parents, siblings, or even friend of anyone on that ship.  So many young people were on that ship and my heart breaks so much for them.  I also pray for the Captain as he I am sure will continue to be a hated man for the rest of his life.  I couldn't imagine the hatred that is coming his way, the remorse he feels, and I don't know how he will ever be able to move on in his life.  Even though he has made this tragic mistake I pray for him and his family also.  He was in charge of this ship, driving or not, he was in command of which way this ship should go and he choose poorly trying to make up for lost time.  The song "Forgiveness" by Matthew West says it best.  I can honestly say even as a Christian I don't know how forgiving I would be or I would feel towards the Captain if I had a loved one on that ship.  I can honestly say I would feel much hatred for him.  That is a fault I have as a human.  I thankfully am not in that position so hopefully I can pray for this man.  Let us also remember the search team in our prayers.  The weather is not cooperating and there isn't much success being done in the way of finding passengers.  They have a tough job out there and they are working through this weather.  Last I heard a few divers had been missing.  I do not know the status of them but I am also praying for the divers and search crews that they remain safe and will be successful in their mission.

Now back to a lighter note......because I don't like ending these sad.  Easter is this Sunday, I for one cannot wait for our 0630 sunrise service at the Dragon Hill lodge.  I desperately miss Easter Sunday at the ball field in Colorado Springs.  Those were the best and as my parents can vouch there is just something extra sweet about filling the seats behind home plate and even a little further out past the netting.  However if your reading this and have post access to Yongsan I urge you to come out to the Dragon for 'Sonrise' service I think it is going to be pretty sweet.
After church we will have Audrey hunt down her basket and have a little Easter egg hunt for her in one of the little out door garden area's of our apartment complex.   Well maybe after Church and after a nap since we will have to wake her around 0500.

I hope everyone has a blessed Good Friday and Easter weekend! 

Also if you are into photography go ahead and check out Collins latest blog:
www.topheradamsphoto.blogspot.com

Another great weekend

Hello everyone!  I hope you had or well having a tremendous weekend as I have had another good one!

This weekend my step son came down to visit for the weekend.  Like most families the month is winding down and so is our monthly spending funds.  The last weekend before payday is usually pretty boring, staying inside and trying to entertain ourselves with tv or movies.  Which we, like most families, watched the ever so loved Disney film Frozen!  I just love love love Olaf!  Anyway what I thought was going to be a boring last weekend before payday ended up being pretty awesome!

Saturday we went to the war memorial and toured just about everything we possibly could.  We had been to the outside before but I had never gone through the inside to see all the short films and the museum.  I cannot get over the how high tech they made the museum.  I found myself saying several times this is nothing like a museum back in the states!  They even have a short 4D film you can watch, unless you have a baby with you then you cannot watch it.  They had a picture of a canteen in a photo box and the glass actually had moving images.  Now maybe they have some of this stuff back in the states but I have never seen anything like it.  They had a box with images that seemed to come to life... (the best example I have is the Cleveland rain forest when they have that big box and it shows a rain forest slowly being cut down).... anyway it was kind of like that but it was like a mini play being acted out right in front of you.  And yes they had an English button so I knew what they were saying. It was pretty pathetic acting but......... entertaining! Here is a short clip of the moving images on glass..........

The big canteen in the middle was a still picture then the soldier getting water was actually etched in the glass.  It was seriously pretty awesome!

Sunday we went to Bukhansan (san means mountain ) to hike.  It was nice.  I have been pretty sick with a sinus infection but it mostly only really knocks me down in the evening.  However today it kicked in on the subway.  I have been feeling pretty sluggish and icky all week with it but it is manageable during the day.... up until today.  Once we started our hike I found it difficult to breath as my sinus' decided to start draining.  LOVELY I know!  I explained to Collin that I was having a hard time breathing and he said ok let's get up to this small village and take a break. So I made it to the village and was contemplating our return home.  Then my loving husband said, "ohhhh a water fall, let's go there!"  So we went, and it seemed the further we went the more I started to clear up.  No arguments here.  We passed another giant Buddha and prayer buildings although much smaller than last week.  We of course rested and took pictures and had a monk walk right between us dividing our family on his way to another building.  I know this is where ignorance comes in but I honestly did not realize so many Buddhist were still active in Korea.  There where pile of shoes outside one of the prayer buildings and like last week many people where there to pay their respects to Buddha.  I just didn't realize the magnitude  in which this religion was still carried out.

 It is tiny but you can see a monk walking towards the giant Buddha.

 A prayer building

 Once we were beginning to head on with the trail to the waterfall I saw steps leading up to the same giant bell that is found in all of the Temple area's.  It is a big bell in a very decorative structure with a huge log dangling down that a few select people would gather around to ring in a slow steady pattern.  I walked up the steps to get a better picture as most of these bells are not accessible to get a good photo of them.  I almost wish I hadn't as when coming down from the bell an Ajumma was sitting a cross the path giving me a nasty stare.  I looked at Collin and asked him if maybe I missed something.  Maybe I wasn't supposed to go up there.  He agreed that there were not any signs and it seemed OK and that maybe she was just afraid that I was going to attempt to ring the bell or something.  Here is the picture of the bell.........

  

We were getting closer to where we believed the waterfall was and to more Ajumma were headed our way.  Collin nicely inquired if we were headed near the waterfall as I heard him say, "Pokpo?"  The ladies quickly replied and I heard only 1 word I recognized "eggie" (Please know that I have no clue how to really spell these words)  When they passed Collin explained that they said there was no waterfall and that it is too dangerous for the baby (eggie). 

Last week during our hike many Koreans feared we were putting our daughters health and life at risk walking the trails.  As everyone who knows us knows we would never do anything to cause harm or sickness on purpose.  

Collin and I pretty much laughed it off as we figured it was nothing to be concerned with and we were right.  Very soon we reached the waterfall....... or what should have been the waterfall......

 Mike standing OFF the trail where the waterfall should have been.

The waterfall would have made this view breath taking as you can see the mountains already do a pretty fantastic job of that on their own.

We soon found our way back down and ready to start the mile or so back to a cab.  I was very sad when our journey ended and mentioned to Collin my sadness as I was hoping for more.  I knew we took it slow because I wasn't feeling good but I told him that, that was just my warm up.  Then I couldn't stop chuckling to myself as I realized that 2 months ago that would have put me threw the ringer and this month it was a warm up!  I felt great and was ready to take on the world after that.  

So after words to try and keep me content we at least got off the subway at Itewan and walked home the rest of the way. 

Once home I had home work to finish and now I am sitting here and realizing my legs are hurting!  I might have felt at the time it was a warm up but my body is thanking me for not taking another step!

I hope you enjoy a few pictures including a couple from last weekend!

Have a great week!

 These ones starting with the water are a few from last weekend.

Audrey's first bite with chopsticks