arriving in Hong Kong & the midautumn festival

I try not to let them climb on the table, but the girls can't get enough of all the action going on in the street right below us

I've been trying to decide if I'm going to blog while we're in Hong Kong, it just sounds so overwhelming- and life is overwhelming enough as it is right now. But, I know I'd regret it if I didn't at least give it a try. Plus, I need to quit researching places to eat, things to do, and stuff I want to buy in Hong Kong during the girls nap time- I have lists longer than the time we'll be out here. Hong Kong really is an amazing place! I ought to blog first about our Europe trip, but I'm hoping I'll get into a groove documenting our new little life out here then get around to some highlights of England. So here it goes...

This was me taking the girls out for the first time by myself. I felt like wearing a superhero cape.

Life is a little scary right now. (just in time for Halloween!) 3 weeks ago everything was going as expected- I was ready to get home from our amazing trip and make costumes for the girls, go apple picking and pumpkin carving and bake all sorts of pumpkin and ginger and cinnamon types of fall goodness as I anticipated the oncoming holidays of my favorite time of year. Brad was working at a good, stable job that he didn't love, but that I didn't expect him to leave anytime this year. Things were ordinary. Then something new came up, an opportunity that fit in with one of Brad's dreams of living in Asia.

yay! Brad's living his dream of living in Hong Kong and buying dragon fruit.

There are a lot of unknowns in our future as Brad starts a new company... will we be back in Hong Kong? What will the end result of Brad's work be? I like to plan and I'm not a huge fan of unknowns, but being married to an entrepreneur involves some risks. This is one of the first big risks we've taken together, so I'm trying to have faith in the fact that we wouldn't have felt good about it if if wasn't a good thing for us to be out here. When Brad's last company (Zinch) relocated to San Francisco we went out there and did apartment hunting, by the end of the weekend we both could just feel it wasn't the right thing for us- we stayed in Utah and Brad left Zinch shortly after. This felt different, so I'm trying to remind myself of that when I occasionally think "what in the heck are we doing out here?!" I'm also putting faith in the fact that Brad is pretty awesome and he'll figure things out one way or another. And it certainly doesn't hurt that during this risky time I get to enjoy living in a new culture with all sorts of new and exciting things for me to discover.

I couldn't believe we could fit all our essentials into a few large suitcases. Simplifying does help to focus in on whats important- here's everything we need to call anywhere home. (and I think some decluttering is in order when we get back to Utah..)

The girls did okay on the plane ride out- it was really hard, mostly because we had just taken 2 very long plane rides with them a couple weeks before.

Look at Brad multitask in the SF airport!

We really lucked out with our own rows on the long flight- the girls got some good sleep on the plane so that was nice.

We had a layover in Tokyo, which had the most hilarious signs and crazy toilets in the world. not only were they also bidets, but they played music or falling water noises so that you could do your business discretely. After our potty break we were depressed to discover we had to fly 4 more hours to get to Hong Kong. I was spent. Those four hours felt like 10 after all the traveling we'd done.

umm...i just wanted to pee, i can do that here right?

We grabbed our bags, hoped in the car we'd arranged to pick us up, and arrived at our apartment realizing we'd left the girls pack n' plays at the airport. oops, more on that later.

the girls claiming their territory. "this place belongs to us. our toys go...everywhere! don't even try to stop us, this town is ours."

We went to church in the morning- the girls did pretty well in nursery considering it was their first time going (they turned 18 months right about when we left for England) and they'd flown half way across the world just hours before.

We walked home and took long naps till I woke everyone up to go see the mid-autumn festival, being celebrated at the park right next to us. I kept trying to figure out when and where they were going to release the floating lanterns- to my dismay I discovered real floating lanterns are actually illegal in Hong Kong. Should I be glad that we're living somewhere that's concerned with laws and safety? Yes. Am I? No. When I first saw floating lanterns on the movie Tangled, I thought they were as real as magic golden flowers. Then I saw them on pinterest and started wondering if they could be real...Brad confirmed that they were real and informed me he'd released some on his mission in Taiwan. I decided it was one of my dreams to see them, and was so excited we were going to be in Hong Kong just in time for the lantern festival!

maybe it was a little mean to wake them up...but we couldn't let them miss this right?

Their safe, modern versions of lanterns were still very neat. Just not quite as cool as the real thing- someday I'll have to visit a more rural area in China that still does 'em the old fashioned (aka magical) way.

the big celebration happened to be at the park right next to our place, very convenient for tired folks.

we're a happy, tired family

this festival is all about the moon- it's always held on a full moon and everyone eats moon cakes.

it's also about fire dragons.

and lanterns.

that thing that looks like a giant fire ball is supposed to be a moon.

We ran around the roads trying to see the fire dragon without having to stay up till 11 with the girls.
We were tired and our shoulders ached carrying the girls so we grabbed some dessert and I was pretty amused to see fellow customers at the restaurant taking pictures of our girls with their ipads- not very inconspicuous. Our girls are such Asian rock stars.

fire dragon was worth the wait though- so cool! 

turns out we weren't the only ones who wanted to see the fire dragon.

Thanks for the warm welcome Hong Kong!

England-Hong Kong...where do I begin?

Let me start out by telling you- All I ever wanted was to live in England and have a happy family and travel the world. I guess it's a lot to ask, but in a sense this vacation was like all of my wildest dreams coming true for 2 weeks. The trip was perfection to me- the girls did awesome and were so pleasant, Brad loved it- the musicals, the golf, the accents, the beauty of the land- he really seemed to take it all in which really pleased me, it was fun being with my parents, we had perfect weather and I couldn't have imagined it going any better.  Even though we were traveling with babies it felt like a vacation in the truest sense of the word- which was a pleasant surprise. I got full nights of sleep and had 3 extra sets of hands with the girls that I don't normally have everyday. I was imagining China, but forgot I'm not nursing the girls and they don't wake up every couple hours anymore, plus we had my parents this time- easy peasy.
We traveled through...

England

Wales

Scotland

and even took a day trip to Paris!

Don't hate me. ;)

I can't lie- I didn't want to leave. As we drove home from the airport late at night it felt so weird to be back. I couldn't stop thinking how weird it felt, we were just in all of these amazing places and now we were pulling in our driveway. After I got the girls changed and down for bed I just started sobbing and couldn't stop. I know I don't get any sympathy for those tears, but I just felt so sad it was over. I'd been planning and dreaming about this trip for so long, it exceeded all my expectations and suddenly it was just a memory and it was time to get back to real life. It really was a dream I didn't want to end. I'm normally at least partially relieved/happy when I return home from traveling, but for some reason I wasn't at all this time, I could have stayed there forever. I think my heart belongs in the UK.
I felt so sad for Brad leaving to work the next day. Then all of the sudden Brad had an opportunity come up to be in Hong Kong for a few months...like literally this started happening the day we got home, and leaving 2 weeks later. So...we're moving to Hong Kong next week. Um...I said I wanted to move to England Brad.

Just Kidding...this will be quite the adventure and may open some doors for us so I'll take it. I'm missing some of my favorite time of year, but we'll be home to catch the end of the Christmas season at least. I guess somewhere inside me knew we weren't supposed to be home yet, I was just hoping it was the other side of the earth we were supposed to be on. Till later England, hello Hong Kong! 

{photos taken last year}

It shouldn't be too hard to get around this town with two toddlers on my own...right?

Er...right? Should I worry? 

OKAY. FINE. I'll hire an assistant photographer I mean nanny. 

But only because you are worried.

fish n' chips, the english way

 I've always enjoyed a good quality fish n' chips, my favorite was Annabelle's (a little restaurant in Ketchikan that puts dill in the batter and of course uses the freshest halibut)....but then on our recent trip to England I discovered the beauty and simplicity of the English way. I opted to try the malt vinegar before plunging the fish in tarter sauce, and to my surprise it was even better! The little punch really balances it out, and does anything deep fried really need more fat like mayo anyways? 
I'm not normally a big fan of deep fried food, but a few weeks back we bought a little deep fryer for Brad to make wings with.  Once we got home from our trip I knew I'd found a new use for that terrible and wonderful little thing that makes our whole home smell like McDonalds. Some really delicious stuff can come out of it, and we don't use it too often so I don't feel so bad about wasting all those fat calories on something that isn't dessert. 
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this is a pretty awesome recipe- definitely the best thing to come out of our deep fryer and even though it was my first time attempting fish n' chips they came out delicious!  I used some of our cod just in case the recipe was a failure so I wouldn't waste halibut, but now I know this is definitely no waste of fish!
It's a combination of a recipe I got from a lady in Alaska, one I found online, what I learned at Annabelles, what I learned at some of the English pubs we visited, and what felt right.  
I made this on the day of the big BYU-utah game so I went to the grocery store in my bright blue BYU shirt and hesitantly passed the beer aisle about 10 times trying to catch labels out of the corner of my eye before determining it would be misrepresenting too much and made Brad return in an unlabeled shirt to buy the beer.

Here are the girls at a pub, coloring away whilst we wait for our beloved fish n' chips:

BEER-BATTERED FISH N’ CHIPS
¾ C flour                                          ½ C cornstarch                      ½ tsp soda                          
1 Tbs powdered sugar                     2 tsp salt                                 ½ tsp granulated garlic    
¼ tsp ground white pepper           ¼ tsp paprika                       ¾ tsp dill (optional)         
1 tsp grated lemon zest                    1 – 1 ½ C beer or ale           1 ½ lbs halibut or cod
3 lbs potatoes, peeled                      oil for frying                          malt vinegar, to serve.
Heat oil in a deep fryer (or heavy pan) to 375°, peel and cut potatoes into chucky-sized fries. Rinse and dry thoroughly. Fry for 3 minutes until soft. Drain, shake, and set aside. Lower the fryer temp to 320°. In a bowl mix the first ten ingredients(flour-lemon zest), then add beer till the batter has a crepe like consistency.  Add a splash of malt vinegar to the batter. Put a little flour on a plate and dredge fish pieces in it, it will help the batter stick to the fish. Take fish pieces one at a time and holding onto the thin end, swirl around in the batter till well coated. Immediately drop into the oil, cooking a few pieces at a time and making sure they don’t stick together. Cook until golden (about 4-6 min, depending on size) Drain on paper towels and place in a warm oven while cooking the rest.  Return fryer heat to 375° and return chips, fry till golden and crisp.  Sprinkle with fine salt. Serve immediately with malt vinegar and salt (the English way) or tarter sauce and lemon (the American way- it's just not as good)

Some more of us getting our English pub on:

Brad looking so legit with his beard and hat at the pub...till he asked for a still water instead of beer. :)

3 years

Last week was a fun week celebrating my birthday and our anniversary. I dislike celebratory events being too close to each other, but we got married just a few days after my birthday so every August it happens- of course it's fun, I just wish I could bask in it longer. (you know, just ONE pedicure for the two events when they're in the same week...sometimes life is difficult.)
Anyway, I turned 27. I really hadn't been looking forward to my birthday and hardly recall the last time a birthday for me was that awesome (16 maybe?), anyways Brad really went all out this year to make it special. He knows my favorite thing is food so he took me out to breakfast with the girls,

brought me lunch, 

and we went out to dinner that evening at Brio, because I couldn't get this dish out of my head.

He has gotten so wise over the years...
He also showered me with surprise gifts. The storage ottoman I'd been pining for (but given up on actually acquiring):

He also gave me a nice card and got me season tickets to PTC, which was a complete surprise and they have a very promising season this year. SO sweet of him! This should balance out those BYU basketball season tickets.
On Saturday we celebrated our anniversary with pedicures, a dinner at Ruth's Chris (their steak and their shrimp were worth every penny!), going out to the movies, and spending the night at the Grand America. We had so much fun! Sleeping in is my new favorite treat ever since I became a mom. 
This all made me reflect on our first year married and how far we've come.
And that brings me to marriage. 3 years to be exact. It's sort of amazing that my life could transform so much in 3 short years.
It was just a few years ago that I was a lone girl with no idea what the future had in store for me...

Now I have my own little family a with handsome husband and two beautiful daughters- the works.

I thought marriage was a HUGE adjustment, now my parental self laughs and laughs at that naive girl who thought there was any level of difficulty adjusting to the life change of living with a man.

I love Brad and truly believe he was the exact person the Lord had in mind for me to share life with, we are a perfect combo in so many ways. I remember before we got married my dad voicing his one concern about us together which is that we both have these adventurous, dream-filled minds that sometimes doesn't take into account responsibility and reality as much as they ought to. (hence falling in love on the forbidden island of Cuba) And you can see how it's played an awesome role in our marriage ("let's go to China with our twinfants!" "Okay, lets!!!") In all reality we are very responsible parents- much research was conducted, discussions with our pediatrician, we knew it would be hard, but we also knew the fun would be worth it. I really feel like life has been one big adventure since I married Brad. It might appear that the adventures are a result of wandering the streets of Cuba, riding camels in Morocco, and hiking the great wall of China with our babies, but I don't think that our life is full of adventure just because of some amazing trips we've been lucky enough to take, I could travel with someone boring to a foreign land and it wouldn't be the same. The wonderful part about being married to Brad is that even our days in our little old house in the Salt Lake valley can be filled with excitement and adventure. I love being with someone who wants to live life to it's fullness and who doesn't immediately dismiss my dreams, but thinks through them with me and considers which ones we can possibly make a reality.
Life is all too real sometimes, but sometimes it's like a fairytale. This is how the story goes:
Once upon a time...

boy meets girl. boy and girl paint together. girl is skeptical of boy{s in general}, boy becomes skeptical of girl.

 a year passes.

boy and girl reacquaint, very much intrigued they befriend each other. 

Boy woos girl with MC Hammer dance moves-

 seeing girl's infatuation with dress-ups boy further woos girl at a truck rally.

boy and girl visit a forbidden island {with a chapperone} and there confess their love.

girl finishes school, boy is too cool for school.

boy takes girl to NYC and gets down on one knee.

news travels far and wide of the proposed marriage between boy and girl.

a marriage takes place at the castle temple.

boy and girl become man and wife.

 all the land rejoices.

man and wife ride camels in exotic lands. 

man and wife live together in their little house.

wife teaches man to fish.

 climbing a mountain, man and wife contemplate life.

man and wife attend a life changing concert.

man and wife are happy.

 parenthood is imminent.

man and wife become mother and father to wee twins.

mother and father take wee twins to china.

 the family of four safely returns to their homeland.

And they all lived happily ever after.

I won't pretend that our marriage is perfect, it's not. There are incredibly frustrating days and miscommunications at times. I'm not going to pretend that all was bliss as we adjusted to our parental roles- My memories of Brad in the first 6 months after the girls were born are mostly staring at him with envy and madness in my eyes as he slept while I nursed a baby, or came back from nursing a baby, or was getting up to nurse a baby in the middle of the night. The injustice! I'm sure his memories of me from that same time include fear that I would remain forever a disfigured, hormone crazed lunatic who aimlessly roamed through our house crying and rambling on about well...the injustice!  Sleep deprivation is dangerous folks, I don't recommend it.
But I married a fighter. He's committed. He's not going anywhere, and he's willing to work for a good thing. Growing up in a house of all boys he didn't get a lot of exposure to life with women, it's a new world for him that although I'm not sure he'd really say he "enjoys" it, he has grown leaps and bounds in this area and I salute him for it.  And I know he secretly likes some of his new world of little women.
I truly believe if anyone were to find and marry the imaginary spouse of their dreams, the most perfect person you could imagine, in marriage you could easily grow to hate that person. You could grow to hate anyone being exposed to their idiosyncrasies and flaws day in and day out. On the flip side you could take someone you cared little for and through effort and sacrifice and sharing in life's experiences with mutual respect grow to love that person. I'm certainly not for arranged marriages, start our with a fighting chance by hand picking your favorite person. :) But if you think about your family- your parents and your siblings, you didn't get to choose them, but you probably love them a lot because you know each other so well, care about each other so much, and have been through so much of life together. 
I married the perfect guy for me, and I know as long as we focus on all the good that we have (which is so much) we really have everything going for us. Strong marriage, adorable children- I just have to pinch myself and knock on wood because sometimes it really feels too good to be true. I feel very blessed and don't take that for granted. Here's to the best 3 years of my life, I couldn't imagine anyone I'd rather share my memories with.