Seattle Symphony

It was wonderful to return to the music community here in the NW.  I attended the Seattle Symphony's final concert for the year.  My mom took me out and we dressed up and we had a good mother/daughter time.  It's nice to see the familiar faces of many musicians I know, respect, and love.  It was a nice surprise to see one of my former stand partners sitting in the first violin section of the symphony.  Playing with the Seattle Symphony had been one of my dreams and aspiration. I was headed in that direction before I injured my arm and had been given an audition with the symphony.  But God decided to take me down a different path that led to China and I'm grateful.  

Home in the NW

Yeah I'm home in the NorthWest.  I can breath in fresh air.  It is so beautiful here.  I love my hometown, my home state, my home country.  Returning to America has helped me see it with new eyes.  I love America and appreciate her more.  We have so much freedom.  After living in a communist country coming home has been a huge shock for me.  I was not prepared for the reverse culture shock I would experience coming back.  When I first got off the plane I was so surprised to be surrounded by so many large, tall, fat, sloppily dressed people.  People have so much more freedom here in America.  Even the trees are freer.  They can grow naturally.  In China the trees are constantly pruned and moved wherever.  You see trees planted in perfectly straight rows that don't seem natural, actually it is eerie.  You see men moving 30 feet trees to desired locations.  I can walk on grass now and not be in trouble.  You can't walk on the grass in China.  America is so beautiful.  In Chinese America translates into literally beautiful land and it is.  Today I watched some sailboats on the sound.  I had to let out a big old whoop, "I'm home and I'm free." 

Happy Mother's Day

I love you mom.  Wish I could be there with you today.  This is such a great picture of my mom, being the supportive loving strength she is to our family.  My brother was commissioned last week as a second lieutenant in the Air Force.  All I can say is the Air Force is lucky to have him.  He's gonna be a great Combat Systems Officer.  America you are lucky to have men like my brother to defend you.  Please show your respect and support to our troops who daily lay their lives on the line for your freedoms.  In the background is my grandfather, veteran, retired Master Sargeant.  Mom you raised us well and taught us about honor, respect, dignity, and justice.  Thank you.

Bike Ride Through the Mountains and Bamboo Boat Float

One of my favorite part of Youngshou was the bike ride through the mountains.  Our group rented bikes.  Each person choose his/her vehicle.  Some people rented motor scooters, some single bikes, and some tandem bikes.  I was on the super cheap budget so I rented my own bike for around $3 us dollars for the day.  It was so fun to go as a group and bike through traffic then get out into the amazing mountains.  We rode down country roads.  Haha makes me think of Take Me Home Country Roads.  

When we had biked out pretty far into the country we stopped along the river and rented bamboo boats to float back.  It was so peaceful to float down the river looking at the mountains.  My friend Dasha and I just started singing worship songs.  The whole earth is echoing His praise no matter where you go the Heavens and Earth declare His majesty.

The Marvelous Mountains

The mountains are so incredible in Youngshou.  I have never seen mountains like these.  I am a mountain girl.  My roots are in Appalachia and I grew up in the North West mountains.  I love mountains.  Here are several mountain pics.

This is the Way Things are Carried

When we arrived in Guilin it was morning and we took a bus to Youngshou which is more rural and in the mountains.  There were many people carrying fruit and other items like this woman.  I am always amazed at how these tiny people can carry so much for so far in the hopes of selling some fruit or something else.

Overnight Train Ride

So I'm back from Guilin.  I traveled with a group of 8 from my Friday night fellowship group.  We took a 12 hour overnight train ride to get there.  That was an interesting experience.  6 of us had beds to sleep in and 2 had standing room only tickets.  We wanted to stay as a group so we smuggled our two extra people into our six bed area.  We were having fun playing games when the lights suddenly went out.  It was bedtime.  We were trying to figure out our sleeping situation in the dark.  Two girls decided to sleep on the floor underneath the three bunk beds.  We found some extra blankets for them.  Suddenly three guards come with flashlights through the hallway.  They saw the toes of one girl sticking out and were so surprised to find someone underneath the bed.  They demanded that both girls not sleep on the floor.  We thought they were going to have two people go to the standing room only, but they were looking for the blankets we had taken.  It was pretty funny.  All through the night the train was stopping and passengers were getting on and off.