呵呵，刚刚知道从小一起学声乐的师姐现在早已是国内发烧友追捧的邓丽君第二了。在网上搜了"童丽"二字才发现--哇！我真的是好闭塞阿！伊已是爱好老歌的人士中家喻户晓的歌手了。刚又在youtube上搜了她唱得老歌，嗯，声音真好听！

 

还记得小时候为馆长发行个人作曲集灌带时，她领唱了一首将李白的诗《床前明月光》谱成曲的歌，声音好空灵的。那时候师姐已经在合肥读艺校了，磁带发行后有一次馆里惯例在广场上汇报演出，老师让我领唱那首歌，注意: 是假唱！我唱我的，就是话筒不开。当时心里哆嗦阿，我哪有那么好的声音啊。现在想想挺好笑，当时坐第一排的人一定奇怪到底使哪只耳朵出问题了。。。哈哈！Anyway, 在这里替家乡歌手宣传一下！

 

这就是生活。

Ok, where shall I start... From the wedding planning I guess. The whole wedding was very nice, like what I wanted. All these happened by good effort from us and friends' help or referrals in stead of throw tons of money in whatever professional things in the whole wedding industry.

A brief list:

not hiring a wedding planner- money saved: at least thousand

going with referral of caterer who helped with church luncheons instead of hiring someone professional- money saved: about $1500, and the food was great!

going with referral of florist who is the aunt of my friend from Salt - money saved: one hundred at least

going with referral of baker who is the mother-in-law of our pastor- money saved: about $500. This 90 years old lady doens't have a baker shop but she baked for 40years, the cake tast fantastic!

Designing the centerpiece with Jannie instead of going with expensive flower centerpiece- money saved: $15-$40 each table

wrapping a package box instead of buying expensive tiffany blue gift box to match the color them- money saved:$40

buying my veil from ebay: $7, same one in store cost $49, fancier one cost $98 money saved: at least $42

 

I need to thank a lot of people and friends with generous contribution to my wedding. The family of church whose little girl calls me Chinese Mama covered my wedding photography as a gift. And the major guy who shoot my wedding did Michael Jordan's Biography Book's cover photo.... 

 

And I got some luck too. Our wedding night hotel was ended up FREE with junior suite on 23rd floor of a four star hotel in downtown, full window view of Lake Michigan and Chicago river. All because we were late to check in and they sold out all the rooms that night. And in order to keep the customer satisfaction they gave us a free upgrade and entire refund of money we paid when Ethan book the hotel. So we got about $350 money value for free...

 

Finally, the honeymoon trip is an unbelievable deal with great value. This all-inclusive trip, flight, hotel, food, drinks, services and all great facilities in the resorts, cost only $700 after tax for each person. money saved: more than a thousand. You can't beat that at all! I've never had such a good deal on travel... Even the excursions outside the resorts cost extra money, but still they have value!

 

Ok,,,, Maybe I should end here. Of course, sometimes we think it's good luck to get something we didn't expect. But remember all this happened under God's supervision. I still remember my prayers for God's provision during the wedding preparation and He is so faithfully in delivering more than I asked and when He delivers He is generous and never withhold anything. Also after all of this I do think by doing some research or taking your time thinking for alternatives, you can save money and it accumulates to big numbers! That's something I'm still learning in daily life.

 

Don't know why but seems like American leaders are always slow to use precautions and even slower to sense the coming disaster. Just last weekend it was still "non-emergency", but now swine flu is something "serious" according to the brilliant President Obama... Six years ago, SARS became a disaster in China due to the officials doing nothing at the initial stage and hoping it wouldn't get worse. Now here again?? I don't want to know merely the growing number of sickness and death. Come on, do something!!!

Like Slumdog Millionaire, Fireproof is another great movie I saw this year. A story close to life for a profounding statement -- never leave your partner, especially in the fire --and an expanded foundation for all these, Jesus Christ! Amen! I love this movie, and I highly recommend this movie to everybody -- who loves God, who has doubt about God, who has heard of God but rejected him constently.

 

For girls, prepare tissues; For guys, it's ok to have tears sometimes.

A friend of mine is a volunteer for a ministry that provides temporary custody for babies or young children whose parents can't provide for a short period of time. So this afernoon I saw this little 20-month old baby, who can barely talk and doesn't always have smile on his face as I thought a baby is supposed to...  He has difficulty eating, he will spill, and kick a lot and throw whatever in his hand. It's all from being insecured and lack of being loved. It's not what he meant to be but how can you expect a happy baby from an abusive environment. Such little boy is so loving, he will hug your legs(he's only up to my knee) when you standing there watching him with big smile; when you carry him, he will hold your neck tightly; when you sit on couch curling one leg flat, he will climb to your leg and sit in the middle spot between your calf and thigh, so that he can be arounded by your leg. The thing I can't forget is when I pout my lips and try to get a baby kiss from him, he was so happy seeing me showing adoration of him. And he will pout his lips with head towards me when I was just smiling at him.

 

So adorable!!! It's so pure and like an angel! And yet, he didn't have a secured environment to grow up with. We are always told how different life is to other group of people in this world, but just seeing a living angel in front of me, knowing what he is being through, that's entirely a heartbrokenness. Just think of a circle that people make trouble to the society and raise (or abandon..) kids in the same environment, and the kids don't know anything else about the world except what they've witnessed if nobody comes to their life and leads them out of the whirlpool. What do you expect them to be when they are grown up? I can't think of the effect of a bad start of such irresponsible family, not to mention there are thousands of family started this way and are still whirling down to deep troubles. Such negative impact is huge. We don't see things around us doesn't mean they don't exist. Just like you don't hear people starve to death in Africa on the radio but it will definitely make the headline of newspapers if a percentage of population in some european countries die from starving. We are so blind and when we are complaining how stressful life is, a huge group of people is living in a miserable way.

 

But good thing is that God exists. And he is working. Just from the development of world's biggest prison ministry led by Charles Colson, someone changed by God after prison life due to Watergate, I see God's grace and unbelievable power. I pray that this little boy can one day be touched by the holy spirit. Otherwise, life will be horrible on this earth and even tougher out of heaven.

Christ woos us to the place of absolute freedom--the only kind of freedom that is real. — Beth Moore

眼皮很重上来水一把。最近做了件很傻的事：

从初冬开始，气候开始变冷于是挣扎半天终于打开空调，结果发现还是开空调比裹衣服爽（那当然），于是没日没夜地开(大楼通告说住楼层末端的住户要时刻开空调，不然气温低，水管很有可能冻住爆掉，有水灾的危险。。。当拿到电费单的时候恍然觉得这是个大错误)。Anyway, 然后自己身体出现了一系列干燥症状。喉咙干燥，脸上呆在屋里像有人用吸湿器吸我脸上的水份一样的干，然后圣诞节Ethan好心送了个空气加湿器，于是想这下省了cream和面膜了，就没日没夜地加湿，空调不开也使劲在屋子里放水。然后大家猜猜发生了什么。。。。屋子里湿气太重，厕所房顶上出现了霉斑！！！蔓延迅速让人乍舌，在网上查黑色霉斑会影响健康，导致头痛，难怪我最近一大早就开始头痛。。。当晚睡觉时，心里可是不爽，就感觉生活在毒气室。。。而且很bs自己的愚蠢。。。

昨天向大楼通报，今天晚上回来一进门一股消毒水的味道，他们把墙上的霉斑搞定拉！！！现在很开心，但是空气加湿器已经被unplug了。。。以后要记住，凡事要有个度，物极必反。

大家都在写回顾总结，想想自己的2008，太多的事情，太多。关键词: 成长。

 

跟朋友们一起过完新年夜回来，打趣似的跟Ethan总结了我们在一起的近一年，很感谢上帝的安排，时间的推移让我更加敬重眼前的这个男人。很感谢他愿意听我述说上帝曾给我的经历，愿意听我分享我所见所闻所经历的一次次见证:God is awesome，为我跟我的小姐妹们的友谊开心，知道我的辛苦欢迎我蹭饭。在一个从没送过我鲜花，不会带我家常便饭一样去餐馆加电影院的男人身上，竟似乎发现我要的那个人的影子，被尊重感，依赖感和踏实感。还是不会忘记: 刚到芝加哥时他吭哧吭哧的跟朋友把代我买的mattress+box+fram走几个blocks从他家搬到我家。隐形眼镜不慎掉进水池管道里，他拿着工具又跑来帮我卸管道找那片小薄片。十一月初大楼检修人员离开我家时大开着我从搬进来都曾未碰过的尘封住的玻璃，走了，于是没办法敲任何人门寻求帮忙时，寒冷的大半夜他又吭哧吭哧跑来帮我关窗户再回去。某一天知道他一直每月援助一位秘鲁小朋友十年之久，问他怎么以前没听他提过，轻描淡写的一句，习惯了，每月自动划钱，忘提了。……很感谢他的真实。也很感谢他的家人的真实。

 

2008的下半年经历了很多第一次，第一次开始自己养活自己，第一次亲身经历什么是上帝的大能，经济上捉襟见肘时，莫名其妙的几个翻译任务一个礼拜之内解决我大半月的房租，第一次拿着简历在咖啡厅面对面跟着从未谋面的四大manager聊天，第一次面对不平等表示反抗，第一次让一个前后纠结了五个月的老板对我竖起了拇指，第一次听三岁的小朋友饭前祷告，第一次知道生活充满妥协却乐意付出欣慰接受。

 

Ethan's suggestion for my New Year's Resolution: Always happy face. Ok, I will try hard.

 

有很多的人心里很牵挂，有很多的事，心中仍记挂，成长的印迹，只能让我对所有的一切愉快不愉快表示感激。对于未来，更是只敢卑微地向上帝祈求指引。一切尽在他老人家的掌握之中。 

 

Happy New Year to all of my family and friends!

An interesting story of a truely fact that I really want to share with all you guys----

Teach the children . . .

Late one Christmas Eve, I sank back, tired but content, into my easy chair. The kids were in bed, the gifts were wrapped, the milk and cookies waited by the fireplace for Santa. As I sat back admiring the tree with its decorations, I couldn't help feeling that something important was missing. It wasn't long before the tiny twinkling tree lights lulled me to sleep.

I don't know how long I slept, but all of a sudden I knew that I wasn't alone. I opened my eyes, and you can imagine my surprise when I saw Santa Claus himself standing next to my Christmas tree. He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot just as the poem described him, but he was not the "jolly old elf" of Christmas legend. The man who stood before me looked sad and disappointed, and there were tears in his eyes.

"Santa, what's wrong?" I asked, "Why are you crying?"

"It's the children," Santa replied sadly.

"But Santa, the children love you," I said.

"Oh, I know they love me, and they love the gifts I bring them," Santa said, "but the children of today seem to have somehow missed out on the true spirit of Christmas. It's not their fault. It's just that the adults, many of them not having been taught themselves, have forgotten to teach the children."

"Teach them what?" I asked.

Santa's kind old face became soft, more gentle. His eyes began to shine with something more than tears. He spoke softly. "Teach the children the true meaning of Christmas. Teach them that the part of Christmas we can see, hear, and touch is much more than meets the eye. Teach them the symbolism behind the customs and traditions of Christmas which we now observe. Teach them what it is they truly represent."

Santa reached into his bag and pulled out a tiny Christmas tree and set it on my mantle. "Teach them about the Christmas tree. Green is the second color of Christmas. The stately evergreen, with its unchanging color, represents the hope of eternal life in Jesus. Its needles point heavenward as a reminder that mankind's thoughts should turn heavenward as well."

Santa reached into his bag again and pulled out a shiny star and placed it at the top of the small tree. "The star was the heavenly sign of promise. God promised a Savior for the world and the star was the sign of the fulfillment of that promise on the night that Jesus Christ was born. Teach the children that God always fulfills His promises, and that wise men still seek Him."

"Red," said Santa, "is the first color of Christmas." "He pulled forth a red ornament for the tiny tree. Red is deep, intense, vivid. It is the color of the life-giving blood that flows through our veins. It is the symbol of God's greatest gift. Teach the children that Christ gave his life and shed his blood for them that they might have eternal life. When they see the color red, it should remind them of that most wonderful gift."

Santa found a silver bell in his pack and placed it on the tree. "Just as lost sheep are guided to safety by the sound of the bell, it continues to ring today for all to be guided to the fold. Teach the children to follow the true Shepherd, who gave His life for the sheep."

Santa placed a candle on the mantle and lit it. The soft glow from its one tiny flame brightened the room. "The glow of the candle represents how people can show their thanks for the gift of God's son that Christmas Eve long ago. Teach the children to follow in Christ's foot steps...to go about doing good. Teach them to let their light so shine before people that all may see it and glorify God. This is what is symbolized when the twinkle lights shine on the tree like hundreds of bright, shining candles, each of them representing one of God's precious children, their light shining for all to see."

Again Santa reached into his bag and this time he brought forth a tiny red and white striped cane. As he hung it on the tree he spoke softly. "The candy cane is a stick of hard white candy. White to symbolize the virgin birth and sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock the foundation of the church, and the firmness of God's promises. The candy cane is in the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth. It also represents the Good Shepherd's crook, which He uses to reach down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray. The original candy cane had three small red stripes, which are the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed, and a large red stripe that represents the shed blood of Jesus, so that we can have the promise of eternal life.

"Teach these things to the children."

Santa brought out a beautiful wreath made of fresh, fragrant greenery tied with a bright red bow. "The bow reminds us of the bond of perfection, which is love. The wreath embodies all the good things about Christmas for those with eyes to see and hearts to understand. It contains the colors of red and green and the heaven-turned needles of the evergreen. The bow tells the story of good will towards all and its color reminds us of Christ's sacrifice. Even its very shape is symbolic, representing eternity and the eternal nature of Christ's love. It is a circle, without beginning and without end. These are the things you must teach the children."

I asked, "But where does that leave you, Santa?"

The tears gone now from his eyes, a smile broke over Santa's face. "Why bless you, my dear," he laughed, "I'm only a symbol myself. I represent the spirit of family fun and the joy of giving and receiving. If the children are taught these other things, there is no danger that I'll ever be forgotten."

"I think I'm beginning to understand."

"That's why I came," said Santa. "You're an adult. If you don't teach the children these things, then who will?"

---Author Unknown

第一回身处如此之大的暴风雪中。平日50分钟的交通今天2个半小时才辗转到家。暴风雪中等了一个多小时的公交，没有任何地方可以躲，冻的差点哭出来，到家还是没忍住，大哭一场。。。把Ethan吓到拿着自己做的banana bread来慰问。哭不是因为真的难过，是在雪里等车的绝望，记忆中第一次亲身经历这么大的雪，屋子里看窗外是挺美，身处其中便吓到了。。。然后擦干眼泪做了红薯饭，洋葱炒肉，饭后又犒劳自己昨晚做的南瓜派，香到香格里拉去了。。。。

上周末在Katie家赖了一晚，周六做了圣诞饼干，各种各样的形状，外加frosting and sprinkles，小姐妹在一起，美滋滋。

No matter who became the president as long as we can freely worship God and his Son Jesus Christ as sin-bearer, I should be grateful.

Two good books to recommend:

Although I do need to do some homework for tomorrow's assignment, I still can't wait to write down my excitement and greatfulness of this retreat. Wonderful speaker and his blessed family, great fellowship, beautiful weather and camp, inwardly more bounded to Salt and Moody. I like we treat each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, share with each other, encourage each other and pray for each other. I will definetely miss this camp in WI.  

从最初把塞到嘴里的Asprin吐出来到现在主动吃药，头痛最近很频繁。

感觉秋老虎快来了，最近还有80度，昨天雨一下今天骤降至５９度。

上周末到suburb朋友家的game night，头一次在这里看到家庭音响的卡拉ｏｋ。那么大老晚的唱ｋ竟没人敲门抱怨，想我平时听音乐high了都不敢跟着哼哼……

礼拜天晚上５个女人绕了半天跑到印度餐馆，我实在实在没那个福分享受印度美食。。。Ethan总是不明白为什么女人聚在一起除了talk还是talk，从来没有actually do sth...我说talk就是最主要的活动项目。

还有一个很让我激动的决定：我要参加唱诗班拉！从来都很想参加唱诗班，第一次去Moody这样的念头更强烈，几个月之后终于决定明天诗班排练去试唱！

Bailout失败，股市狂跌，所以我也算经历过美国经济史上难忘的一天了。。。

上周一去Chinatown理发，因为广东话和普通话沟通有障碍，说好不要刘海的，脑门前的头发硬是被剪成门帘状。早知道说英语了，呃，希望头发快快长。

 

周四去Bible Study,大家终于要分享见证了，这本身也是small group的意义所在吧，更加透明，相互支持一起成长。

 

有这样一个人，跟我说苹果不常吃放冰箱里才新鲜。跟我说与其挥霍不如奉献。跟我说我知道你要跟你的小姐妹玩，你好好去玩，have fun。嘲笑我排球打得菜，却告诉我说我的足球队不强，你来不来看无所谓，不过你应该来看我打垒球的。在我情绪最低谷的时候提醒我读Bible,带上brownie来看我，带我去Baskin & Robins吃冰淇淋, 告诉我什么都不要想，好好的给自己放两天假。每次我被电影感动到抽泣时他都会嘲笑我是个crier,当life hits me的时候，我说好想找个地方大哭一场，他说Here...要感谢上帝所给予的有很多，而他是其中之一。

 

看不到尽头的经济危机，6.1%的失业率，当喧嚣世界让彼时的风光万里变为如今的惨淡经营时，每个人都应该静心想一想，什么才能满足我们的需求，我们在弹指一挥间的生命里最终要的是什么，什么才是我们想要的能要的却也不会担心失去的？

 

等下evening service结束，跟Diana去楼下对面吃cup cakes，有秋千的cup cakes店，很期待：）

上礼拜Yiyang来Chicago玩，有幸接待了一年多没见面的朋友。终于去Chinatown老四川吃了第一顿，虽然辣到流眼泪，但是真的很好吃！

喜欢这里，有家的感觉，再也不用怕迷路时找不到人问路了。

夏天快结束了，冬天就不远了，要赶紧购物，全副武装。

The harder I try, the more I know where I am, the more I know myself. A stubborn woman.

p颠p颠的翘工，想着办正事比赚钱要紧，结果两个appointment被临时取消。也罢，可以静静的多做做有意义的事了。突然的有时候觉得很空很无知，大大的世界小小的我。有多少人在求职时是明确知道自己想在某个公司某个部门某个职位发展的呢？

 

最近很馋中国菜，短期内一定要去China town吃一顿。

 

北京的污染问题很让人揪心，还有那条被污染的河，好在几千志愿者去拔水草使河面得到控制。希望奥运能顺顺当当的进行，也借着奥运，污染治理能成为政府有责，人人有责的公益行为。

Thanks Mom, Thanks sweet Mom! I am the coffee beans facing the adversity, not the carrot which tends to be softer in hot water, not the egg which pretends to be the same hard in apperance but changes inside after long time boiling. I am the coffee beans that will change the hot water by making it flavored!

 

昨天下午去教堂听Independence Day Concert, 震惊于美国的爱国主义教育。爱国教育是不管经济发展到什么程度都不能懈怠的要事！！！也被Moody Church所震慑，专业级的交响乐团，合唱团，全部是教堂的成员志愿演出，在芝加哥没有第二个这样的教堂了，这样大的教堂预算是用million来算的，而且都是奉献。。。看到设施豪华，按年龄分的一个个儿童室，真的很羡慕这些小朋友，就像当初看到GPCCC的上sunday school的小朋友一样，每个人在教堂里这么多"爸爸妈妈"的关心下长大:)真的很想自己在phoenix的GPCCC也能条件更棒，能服事更多更多的人。但是楼房不是教堂，舒适的座椅不是教堂，而一个个谦卑来到主的面前的人，聚集起来侍奉主，敬拜主，这些人才组成了church。所以不论教堂砖瓦的规模，都是神所祝福的，都是因主的名而存在的。

 

在Chicago Tribune上的专栏Jesus in China, 详细的说了the Developement of Christianity in China，基督在国内的发展之快是我没想到的。总觉得政教并不一定是冲突的，只要政治的管理不让子民冒犯神的话语(which is easy to realize I think)。祝福祖国！God Bless China! May more Chinese hear the written word of our Lord in Heaven! Lord, Have Mercy!

 

发几张Moody Church的照片，从网上下的

发几张照片让老妈放心。一个礼拜之前还是空空如也，现在好歹像个家了。

一进门的Closet

 living space

I know I shouldn't be that emotional. But I just noticed when reading my email that I lost a close friend. And I didn't even get chance to say goodbye before she came back to Kazakhastan, and finally find out that she can't come back to work in the States any more. Things changed so quickly and faster than you can react.

 

Now I can understand why Hanners' Mom hesitated to move from north to south where weather is much nicer. Friends. When people are getting older, they get attached more with friends. I guess that's kinda of the same situation happens to me...:( Things became complicated when you grow, and your ambition in earlier years became a holly joke. Not that you give up the dream as you grow up will make you laugh at yourself, but that you decided for sure that you can sacrifice that much before you finally realize there are actually more meaningful things than the sole ambition could bring to life will make you think yourself silly. Nothing is as beautiful as having a family and friends.

 

I'm not sure whether I can meet her in future or not. Maybe I can still meet her if I have chance to visit Europe.

 

The same thing might happen to me one year after but I decide to live today and hope for tomorrw.

 

Things happen, you never know. That's the most correct sentence I learned within the past one year.