Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! 晚上为明天的大餐一起下厨，Ethan做的Pumpkin Pie, 我包了些春卷当开胃菜。总结经验教训：这里的笋根买回来大多是臭的。。。要煮一煮才能消味儿。可惜我不知道这窍门，一锅菜炒出来吃上去臭哄哄的。。。于是又重新炒了一锅。。。。Anyway，总算包出八九个人够吃的春卷了，现炸了一个，吃上去还不错，不过在想是不是可以用烤箱烤省得油炸的太上火呢？

 

以下是我和Ethan包的春卷，软堂堂的是他包的....

 

感谢主！上月考的第三门CPA过了，刚查到分数，不早不晚正好感恩节前的讯息。开心:)

周日听到这样一个例子，关于感恩。一人被抢劫了，

He said, Thanks God that he only robbed my wallet, but didn't hurt me.

Then he said, Thanks God that even though my wallet was gone, it was not that much.

Then he said, Thanks God that I'm the one who got robbed but not the one who robbed me.

最后一句非常贴切，不是吗？凡事感恩，这是最近发生的一些事情中更加学到的。最近在操练一种与上帝的默契，凡事出言谨慎，宁愿沉默不愿反唇相讥。发现上帝给予的安慰和满足很强大，很足够。记得小布什的自传看的让我很感动，以基督徒看基督徒的角度了解了这位美国前总统。其中他说帮父亲老布什当总统宣传的时候，自己可以激昂的对不利父亲的中伤予以还击，因为他是在为父亲做事。但自己当总统的时候，他选择默默接收来自各方各种各样的箭，然后交给上帝评论。我想他当时的心态应该是：感谢上帝我是受伤者，不是伤害我的人。

 

关于朋友守信的问题，还是没有解决，一切仍在祷告中。

 

give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Obama跑到中国呼吁言论自由放开信息封锁，结果自己的演讲被屏蔽了一把。

搞笑。苦笑。

好书推荐-The Reason  for God, by Timothy Keller

凡说到信仰，大家都很谨慎沉默，完全能够理解。从小我们就谈人生目标，长大了我们感慨人生的意义，真正到讨论到底意义何在的时候却因为种种因素我们自己麻醉自己，逃避不敢想的未来。如果能够愿意挑战自己的想法，找出一个合理的答案是否会更舒心安心些呢？不管怎样，自己要给自己一个明确的答案，这是对人生积极对自己负责的态度。一本纽约时报畅销书，易读，客观，逻辑性强，富有智慧的书，各位不如省下点闲暇浏览一下。尝试一下与作者的辩论和交流。

 

另外最近有件事弄得很纠结（我头一次用这时髦词，好像用对地方了）。关于守信的。朋友和朋友之间也是要守信的，是不是？明天决定讨一说法。

又看了一天的书，快吐了。凡是考试，我总是突击，实在有劳精力，加之年岁不容熬夜，学习时间有限，这么些东西够我啃的了。可是又想玩，想赶快考掉，于是有点打怵。晚上Ethan掌勺，他的意大利面酱总是做得很辣，今晚尤甚，我跟他开玩笑，莫不是想让我就此打消让他下厨的念头。。

Anyway, 上来嚷嚷下，给自己打打气，其他没什么。Ethan已经睡了，明早4点半就要爬起来在上班之前去教堂上Men's Fraternity Class. 每星期四一次没落，真为他骄傲。我也要奋斗！

昨晚给他熨衬衫，发现原来幸福就这么简单。

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。

等了半年的房子，十月初终于拿到了钥匙，搬家两个礼拜之后，终于有了网络。快一个月没更新了，也不知从何说起。这几个月经历了很多变化，好的变化。更加感谢上帝，就光是上个礼拜发生的一桩桩琐事便全靠上帝赐予的平安，力量和智慧。Lincoln Park的studio我们用一天加两个晚上的时间重新粉刷一新，希望很快能租出去；网络和电话在礼拜六跟Ethan准备出去庆祝生日之前修好了---辗转了一个礼拜无休止的客服电话，就像是上帝的礼物一样，一下解决了大头难；新家的马桶修好了，大部分东西都整理好了，只是很多东西我们都有两份，两个写字台，两个咖啡桌，他的单人床不得已被塞在储藏室的顶上，幸好结婚之前我把我的沙发卖掉了，现在准备在Craigslist上买个二手书橱把地上一堆堆的书清理掉，其他该清理掉的东西也是长久之计，慢慢来吧。最近在厨房做了很多新的尝试，发现烧饭不难，只要能follow recipe, Scallop potato, meat loaf, 意大利面酱还有些中式菜， Ethan边吃边说，没想到我老婆是大厨，呵呵。

 

又一个生日，非常感激上帝赐予的丈夫: 生日礼物是我喜欢的Christian Author Dr. Gary Chapman的两本书The Marriage You've Always Wanted 和 Love As a Way of Life，一套舒服的抱枕和毛毯，冰淇淋和他烤的蛋糕。

 

现在边typing边在线听Moody Radio采访Phil, Ethan和我在教堂的朋友。我们认识的Phil是个非常虔诚的基督徒，活跃在教堂各项服侍中。他这周三做捐肾手术，受益的患者是Phil的大学教授。当他毕业多年后听说自己敬仰的老师身体状况时，他的心里很沉重，在不断祷告中上帝给予他平安并让他做出了一个勇敢的决定: 捐肾。但我们都知道，不论多么的勇敢，有这样的决定是一方面，肾源是否符合匹配是另外一回事。神奇的是，在几率很低的情况下，医生的测试结果是: 肾源匹配！不得不否认上帝的大能和神迹。目前为止，Phil的身体状况指标一切良好，愿上帝保佑他，手术一切顺利，术后恢复一切正常。

 

说到拯救生命，还有一个好消息跟大家分享，一个新生命在上个礼拜诞生了。表姐生了个baby boy，跟我一个属相那哈哈！现在又多了一个想回海的理由拉，拜访我的外甥宝宝，很好奇他们会给他取啥名。。:)

 

芝加哥的秋天很美很短暂，昨天在小区里走了走，很静。邮件里收到了家人感人的贺卡和讯息，现在的心很静。生命在延续着，上帝的见证在延续着，他的平安和祝福胜过一切。

ok, 上来汇报一下近期安排，心中充满期待---

 

下周日马拉松，当然我跑不了26.2mile，不过要带Diana跑2mile，给她鼓起，所以下周考完以后要好好跑步。

下周六搬家，这一搬应该是至少要住上个五六年的，家具什么的都暂时不更新，也没什么想添置的东西，小家干净舒服就好。

下下周六For One Chicago, 四个教堂将派出千名志愿者在城市的各个街区做义工，明天去报名，很想刷房子阿，一定很有趣。

下下下周六一过就是生日了，哈哈，心里在开始盘算想吃什么中国菜。

下周三考完要跟姐妹们好好聚聚，昨晚用Netflix一连看了三集Prison Break, 嗯，movie night不错.

今天的天气还行，芝加哥开始转凉了，希望秋天的时间长一点，让我做好过冬的准备。

芝加哥申奥没成功，有点失望，第一轮就淘汰对总统也是个羞辱。对总统先生的演讲和前后的宣传表示失望，如果把一个体育盛事牵扯到政治目的，或者满足个人荣誉，要我是组委会成员我也不选芝加哥。。。谦卑乃真理也。

 

感恩于上帝，每一天都是那样充满希望。

Much prayer, much power; little prayer, little power; no prayer, no power. It's said by a faithful Christian after he got saved decades ago when he was 20 years old. Pastor Lutzer was mentioning this during the service today, and all I did hearing this was keeping nodding my head. It is true.

 

I can't believe how much Lord helped me through my life to think something serious which I deared not to think, to tear up the veil that I was hidden behind, to finally have the courage to admit my being unable, to have the full confidence in things I do. No matter what, I AM REDEEMED! I, a girl who thought she can handle every life challenges with perseverance and faith in herself, who sucessfully carried through burdens on her shoulder even with scars left, who thought the nicer she is the harder she works the more she deserves, was finally badly defeated by the presence of the Cross. The moment of her sitting in the church for the first time of her entire life, there was only tears. Later she realized how foolish she was to rely on herself whose strength only comes from an empty heart within. Something that really crushed her down was when she realized that even so much effort was paid to be a "decent nice person", yet she still owe the repentence to Jesus who died for her. Yes, for everyone and, for her. So she repented, she asked for help from God and stopped worshiping herself. Ever since then, there was another hope in her mind that she know she can't make it without God. So she started to pray. And for sure, it was a long journey and a challenged one.

 

But today I want to rejoicefully share that a prayer request that I had since the day I was saved, a prayer that cost me the most desperate tears and cries, the only prayer that I commited to pray for every single day since this year comes true. Lord has been very faithful to my prayer. He answered me exactly the way I asked for, from the very beginning. He searched us and found us, just like the shepherd found his sheep. Yes, here I am, with you sister. We are redeemed! Praise the Lord and He is powerful! Glory be with God! It only gives me more credits to my God, my Savior, my Redeemer!

 

I told Ethan today, Honey, I'm so happy to go to heaven with you. And hey you, you know that I want to meet you in the heaven too! I'm glad we will. Forever, we will be together.

Ethan的垒球赛季结束了，正好其中一名队友家里经营芝加哥的观光游轮, 于是每年赛季结束后所有成员都会被邀请去免费的观光游。去年本人不是家属没好意思跟着去，于是这次作为家属头一次在轮船上好好浏览了一番Downtown Chicago的建筑，并在密西根湖上第一次完整地看了城市的skyline。 今天没什么阳光，湖面比较凉爽。昨晚去Diana的新家聚会，密西根湖面的冷风吹得突然让我意识到夏天已经过去了。秋天很快就会过去然后冬天就要来了。不知道今年的冬天会不会像去年那样天寒地冻，不过对我这种在芝加哥夏季的晚上街头都会叫冷的人，冬天总是会难熬的。现在只是希望快点搬进新家，这样我的秋装就能拿出来穿了。

 

说到球赛，我们的排球队赢了这个赛季的总冠军。只可惜最后一场总决赛正好是我们度蜜月的第一天。结婚前夕我们赢了playoff，知道总决赛不能打心里很痒痒。不过好高兴啊！教堂给冠军队的每位队员发了件The Moody Church Sports League Championship Tshirt, 下礼拜六决定穿着冠军T恤去给老公新的足球赛季加油！

Many times people are living in the way they are content with and hoping there isn't a God. But are you sure there isn't one? What if there is one? Have you ever thought what if? Don't you not fear? at the end what's gonna happen? .... Truth is something we should be longing to but not what our flesh is leaning to...

又回到argo tea, 早早的走在Lincoln Park, 路上很静。今天是假日，一反平时周一时的忙碌，压根看不出这是一个如此热闹的街区。叫了一杯热Pom Tea一杯冰水, 坐在靠窗的那个位置，同样的位置，不同的风景，在这里看过严冬，暖冬，初春到暮春。一台电脑，一堆书，一杯茶，一杯冰水，一袋简易午餐。我的argo tea生活。窗外是自己走了近一年的小巷。虽不住在那个总是一股霉味的大楼了，可是一个个往往返返的日子还是依稀呈现。

 

最近尝试烧了些菜，Ethan都很喜欢；尝试做了几天housewife，不轻松却很幸福。每天的祷告，读圣经，同时做各自的devotion，这是我两年前从来不曾奢望的场景。而这一切却那么真实。困境中的磨炼，对自己的约束，亲情友情爱情的成长，一切一切归于主。

 

健康的生活，忙碌的作息，踏实的心态，坚定的信仰，这是我和我们家的追求。I love you Honey!

 

But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul." - Joshua 22:5

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.

 

ok, I came back from Mexico on Monday. Ethan and I went to a beach resort by carribean sea for a week. It was all-inclusive trip. Flight, transportation to hotel from airport, all kinds of mix drink or alcohol juice drink, great variety of buffet food selections with eight speical cuizines restaurants, whenever you want and whatever you want.... they even have bars by the beach and bars by the pool too while you can get drink staying in the pool. The service and food in resort was great. People comes to you to serve... and... tip is optional! the resort was big and have four big hotels. You can take a little train to travel between each hotel and enjoy different food or just different views. Also, the spa provides great facilities free, jacuzzie pool, sauna room and steam room. They charge like the price here in the States if you ask for massage, but it was great experience.

 

The view along the carribean sea was gorgeous. White sand, green water and blue sky...

 

I tried a lot of new things too. We did ATV, riding along the jungles. Ethan drove that before, so I sat behind him but I bet it will be for fun to drive. And I tried snorkling. I actually did snorkling in the Ocean and saw a sea turtle! A lot of fun water activities and it was just a great time of relax and rest!

 

I put some pictures of the wedding. Those are taken by mom who did a fantastic job. More will come as I get more pictures from our wedding photographer. The wedding went very well as many of friends were there witnessing my special day. I'm so happy that I got many friends from Salt as they volunteered to stay after the wedding to help cleaning up. My best maid of honor ever Katie, is such a blessing to me and she is so wonderful to help out on that day. I was so stressed out before the wedding through all the preparations. It's her who told me don't worry about anything and don't come out of your dressing room except pictures before the ceremony, I'll take care of everything. All you need to do is to enjoy it.  I'm blessed. I'm soo happy to meet Pingxing too! And her boyfriend PhiPhi. To have her as my bridemaid is an honor and a testimony of long-term friendship. I just feel bad that we can't talk more and spend more time privatly. Oh well, I wish we will have chance to meet each other soon.

 

Also, we took tons of pictures from our honeymoon. So it will take me a while to put them here.....Here is just a picture of the carribean sea we took during the trip of visiting the ancient Mexican ruins.

很久没更新了。因为总是忙忙碌碌，大大小小一桩桩的事，记事本上画满了勾勾叉叉，长长的to-do list上也开始一个个的标上Done。还有5天，单身的日子就结束了。七月中旬Katie把芝加哥的好姐妹们聚在一起给我办了个shower. 昨天跟未来的部分家族成员一年一度的聚会回来，叔叔阿姨，表兄弟，表姐妹，三十多个新面孔。Heather张罗着给我们办了个shower，又是一堆礼物，基本上camping的用品大体凑齐了，呵呵。未来两年内跟Ethan回国，他也是要被如此热情款待一番的。整个婚礼的准备过程，有措手不及的事，有歇斯底里的发泄，有开心的感动。Ethan前后也跟着忙忙碌碌，好欣慰，不至于让我像大多数新娘一样一个人忙活。不过，现在最想做的就是：休息，睡觉。。。所以很期待明天就是礼拜六，过了礼拜六我就再不用天天八小时回来还要想wedding planning，再不用满脑子的给这个发邮件给那个打电话然后再在网上订东西。。。有时候觉得挺傻，自己的婚礼爱咋整咋整呗，把自己弄得那么累干吗，抱着这样的态度我决定从现在开始，relax...

 

有时候忙到没能有空停下来想一想，就要嫁了，人生很大一变化啊！所以想到这，对未来充满希望和期待。

 

很久没动笔了，写东西没什么逻辑，各位见谅。

结婚之前的住所终于搞定了，了了一桩心事。房子七月底到期，然后要把东西都寄放在Ethan家，好在他的好心朋友跟我住一栋楼可以把房子腾给我住。上周末帮一个朋友搬家，今天兴致来了，虽然月底才搬，可自己也开始倒腾着装箱。想来在这间小破屋里已经呆了足足一年了，比在AZ的时间还长，这时间过得还真快啊。总调侃自己说住在难民所，一年来总有一种非常强烈的临时住所的感觉：厕所的浴池常年积水不通直道最近下狠心修好；墙壁发霉，除霉的东东已经把厕所部分墙壁弄得皱巴巴了；供暖是用电的害的我冬天有个月电费三位数，不得不大衣一件件往身上裹；厨房小的连切菜的地方都没有，只好把砧板半悬空放在水池和灶台边缘切菜；烤箱是需要拿着火柴伸到烤箱底部深处点着的，自从第一次用这烤箱作brownie弄到警报响以后再也没动过那危险的烤箱。可就这样一小破地方，我竟还能走路到密西根湖，透过厨房就能看到湖面，我竟还油盐酱醋的过了一年，竟还大大小小的箱子集满了几层架子，竟还生活装备一应俱全。婚礼各种采购全部聚集在家里，外加整理装箱的书和零碎东西，看着房间地上各个箱子瓶子家具勉强让出的一条不规则通道，才发现这一年，是满满的。

 

因为忙碌，有时候心情会有些自闭，不想去参加集体活动，不想折腾。事实证明，真正的我还是那个不能少朋友，跟朋友在一起开心一点就着的那个我。朋友不在多，在能说知心话且相互信任。我算幸运的。

 

MJ去世了，很突然。这世界上每分每秒都发生着非常突然的事，关键不是避免突然的发生，因为谁也阻止不了上帝的计划，而是避免突然事件之后的事。很多事，我们没法预料，某些事，我们却可以事先准备。

 

美国的独立日到了，自由这个概念在过去的两年里让我有了新的认识和感悟。

 

身边有很多精彩的故事，熟悉的不熟悉的。有时候向股冲击波，所谓的开眼界是不是就是如此呢？感谢神，一年半前在AZ一位长老的提醒下为离开AZ后找到适合自己的教堂祷告，神便给了我这样一个让我倍感像家一样的教堂和家人般的兄弟姐妹。神的爱，永不离弃。 

Ok, it all began from a tough day under the brutal summer weather. It's always been full-plan days since last weekend. Yes, I'm driving myself crazy on wedding plans. Constantly changing my mind, new things that need to be taken care of, hard time working on hot summer days... Now I just wish everything can be done ASAP and no more wedding after this, ever!!! To Ethan, thank you for driving that much to different places on Monday so that we can make a lot of progress!

 

Lord, make me trust your provision and grace.

几个礼拜没更新了，也不知道从何说起了。最近的典型生活大概就是：随身备记事本备忘录，calendar上大大小小的圈，邮件一封接一封的回，电话左一通右一通的打，东西到处买。下班回来，跑步，洗澡，烧饭吃饭，弄弄九点钟再开始忙婚礼的事。这是一个很琐碎的过程，确是见证上帝的经历。很多非常恳切的祷告在上帝的安排下都巧妙的简化了或者实现了，很感谢朋友，朋友的朋友帮忙和提供信息，更感谢家人和Ethan的帮助，分担的感觉很好。一天天日子过得好快，芝加哥也迎来了真正的夏天，今天明显感到湿度很大。

 

两样事值得庆贺，第一，自从在Arizona 2miles的最高纪录到现在坚持一个礼拜锻炼至少三次，每次跑2到4 miles，外加每周的沙滩排球，终于逼着自己开始动起来。身边的朋友一个接一个的跑马拉松，实在觉得佩服。第二，Regulation过了，于是婚礼完了再考两门cpa就暂告段落了，期待ing。

 

上礼拜看完的一本书The Five Love Languages, by Gary Chapman, 一位Christian author, 很畅销的一本写给婚姻中的夫妻和希望了解自己及另一半，增加双方有效沟通的书。有兴趣的，或者正在恋爱并朝婚姻方向发展的朋友可以参考借鉴。

 

Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians4:6)

The Lord your God is the One who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory. (Deuteronomy 20:4)

We don't become victors by conquering the enemy. We become victors through surrender to Christ. We don't become victors by our independence from the enemy. We become victors by our dependence on God. --Beth Moore

非常喜欢今天的天气，阳光暖暖却不刺眼，华氏７０几度，搁置已久的锻炼计划今天头一次施行。但是我懒人不喜欢一个人在湖边跑步，于是好容易周末睡个懒觉爬起来换上行头到Ethan家，他去打垒球我边看电视边蹬脚踏车，一个小时之后大汗淋漓，爽。回来冲把澡熬上一锅绿豆汤，两年没喝过的绿豆汤，好香啊！下午去婚纱店约好量尺寸修剪婚纱，然后帮我可爱的花童Maddie把裙子搞定，小家伙比新娘还挑剔，还硬要跟我穿一个款型的裙子，看着四岁的小孩套着大人穿的那种婚纱的缩小版，太搞笑了。当然最后买下童真版搞定。然后回来路上跟Katie,Angie去吃了寿司，Dragon Roll永远是我的最爱！晚上回来把婚宴菜单大体定了，上礼拜把蛋糕定了，下礼拜要把摄影合同寄出去，还要。。。 还要。。。。To do list很长，时间过的很快，加油！

 

刚看完一本书 One Minute after You Die，By Erwin W. Lutzer，强力推荐。

 

我们的生命在一分一秒不停前进着，下一站是什么？我们的终点是什么，终极目标是什么？什么又是终极？永恒又意味着什么？太渺小，胆敢不俯伏敬拜。