7.31.2013

A Disturbing Fetish or A Natural Instinct?

This evening we had a nice family walk; Zachary, girl dog, and I. You know girl dog, that precious golden retriever we own. Ya, her. Chara. Other names she goes by is poop face and road kill lover. Today, Road Kill Lover made a reappearance. 
Z & I were just walking along, enjoying the evening, when we noticed Chara wasn't beside us.  So we looked back to find that Chara had stopped off  on the trail and was rubbing her face and upper body fervently & enthusiastically around on the grass. At first it was kind of cute seeing her but up in the air, while she was desperately itching something on her upper body. Itching. Ya. That's what she's doing. That's a totally normal thing. If only that's what she was doing. But truly in the back of my mind, I just knew that Road Kill Lover had struck again. And she did. There upon the trampled, smashed grass {from Chara's enthusiasm} was a rotting one legged frog. Yummy. 
Since this is getting to be kind of a routine now, what with two incidents and everything, I started to get worried. So I did what I always do when worry strikes, I googled. 

Let me tell you, I found a wealth of knowledge. Like maybe my dog isn't some kind of freak with a dead animal fetish. 

Here are 3 alternatives to Chara being a freak;

"1. One is that dogs are attempting to mask their own scent. This would be a holdover from their origins as wolves. Masking their scent may help wolves sneak up on prey without alerting them by way of smell." Source

>So basically Chara was 1. trying to better her non existent ninja skills. It takes a lot of skills sneaking up on your dog food, you guys.


"2. A second theory is that rolling in feces or a dead animal's remains is a way for a dog to communicate that he's found something interesting. The dog (or wolf) then transports that smell back to his family (his pack) in order to advertise his discovery." Source

> Or 2. Chara was really excited about this super awesome dead frog find and was just being a loving child and wanting to share it with us, her mommy and daddy.

"3. A third theory is set forth in the book The Truth About Dogs, by Stephen Budiansky. It is possible, Budiansky writes, that we've gotten it backwards. The dog may not be trying to absorb the scent; instead he may be trying to impart his own scent onto the object of his interest, for the same reason that a dog may urinate on a tree. The purpose may be no more than to leave a calling card – to over mark another scent. " Source

>Or 3. She's super greedy and insists that all other dogs in the area know that this dead frog is hers. A dead animal dibbs or "shot gun!" kind of thing. Or super vain and think everyone else would rather smell her scent than the frogs. I mean, I don't blame her, she smells pretty good most of the time.
So, you see Reader, she's not a freak with a fetish at all but is just living out that natural God-given wonderfulness of being a dog. But I think we'll let this wolf descendent sleep on the floor tonight. ;)

7.30.2013

What do you think? Pinterest Reactions.

Hey friends. I miss you. One more day of summer classes for me! I can't wait for Thursday morning. I'll be sure to sleep at least 9 hours. :) I have another IR post for you today, mostly because my brain is mush and P interest is where I go when that happens.  I would realllly love to know your instant reactions, though! Leave me a link or comment below!

1. via Precious. I love this onsie & really want to buy it for my best friends coming baby!! 
2. via Pumpkin Cheese cake. Yes, please. Right now. I can't wait for fall!
3. via I should really do these exercises.
4. via If only we had a pool hose to make over. 
5. via That's pretty cute. Zachary loves bacon. 
6. via I love the tall vase with the reeds. 
7. via De ja vu. Oh wait, I think I was really tired when I made this collage. 
8. via I should really buy something chevron before it goes out of style. 
9. via This is an oxymoron. Deep dish, tacos, pizza probably 3 of the most fattening words in the English language! I'm not sure how you could make that skinny but hey! if it makes you feel better eating it! ;) 

Z's IR's
1. "Baby clothes. Texas." "Zach, like does it give you any thoughts?" "No, Texas baby clothes." 
2. "Mmmmm. Yep. That's it." 
3. "You're asking my thoughts on the lady lifting weights? Uhh.. maybe uhh.. I have no idea. No clue." 
4. "Heather's dream job." <Reader, please note, making over pool houses is not my dream job. 
5. " I love it! Bacon" 
6. "Relax." "Anything further Zachary?" "Nah." 
7. "It's exactly the same picture, different angle." < Reader, please note, it's the exact same picture, same angle. 
8. Stared for a long time. "My thoughts on this picture?" "Yes, Zachary." "Bright."
9. "Taco pizza. There's nothing skinny about that." 

Okay. Now your turn! Ready, Go!

7.25.2013

I am Second: Annie Lobert & Brian Welch

God's grace is amazing. His love and compassion is overwhelming and there's nothing like a story of redemption, grace and love to me. It sets my heart ablaze and makes me fall in love with Him all over again. He is good. He's good reader. And He loves you. There is nothing He cannot redeem or set free.
"I knew I was at death's door.. I knew it was over. And I saw my family. And I saw my funeral. And everyone was crying and wiping their faces and saying, 'She was just a prostitute.' And that's when I said, 'Jesus! Please save me. I don't know if you're real but I don't want to die... and I laid there and I had this peace come over me like nothing I've ever felt in my life. And I knew God gave it to me....The Holy Spirit started speaking to me telling me that I was beautiful, and set apart and sanctified, a holy vessel for Him. I started standing on Jesus' words, that I'm whole, that I'm healed, that I'm pure that I'm a virgin in Him. And that gives me peace." 
                                     
"Jesus, if you're real like that pastor said, than you have to take these drugs from me. Come into my life. Come into my heart... Search me. Search my heart... Father. I felt so much fatherly love from heaven. And it was like, I don't condemn you. It was just love and love and love... It was so powerful the next day I threw away all of my drugs."


Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 
Matthew 11:28

See more at I am Second. Love you guys. 
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7.24.2013

My Mother is On Facebook

Whose mother isn't on face book these days? You know what, my 70+ great aunts are on face book, too. It's amazing really. Facebook, breaking down generation gaps. Speaking of face book, have you seen the Social Network? Just wondering reader. Just making convo.

So, ya, my mom is on facebook. I love this. I love that my grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, great aunts, cousins, friends, everyone-is on facebook. It makes living overseas so much easier. When ever I'm feeling a little homesick, all I need to do is click on one of their pages, wall stalk them to see what's going on in their life, look at, like & comment on all their recent pictures, and then I feel a little less home sick, and more apart of their lives.

I have big reasons to picture stalk my mom. This little cutie is one of them.
That's what this post is all about, really, my little sister. This little miracle baby.

Once upon a time, oh, 29 months ago, my mom face book chatted me telling me she thought she was pregnant. I rolled my eyes, and told her she was silly, of course she wasn't pregnant. I mean, she was 44! Oh oh oh, little did I know I'd be proven wrong, in a good way! And I'm so very thankful I was wrong because the next nine months included tons of ultra sounds, prayer, celebrating each baby growth milestones, baby showers, gifts pouring down from heaven for future baby sister, and then at the end of those nine months, perfectly during the time we visited home, this baby doll of beauty came into the world.


Now my strong momma has 4 grown children and a baby! Pictured: Harley, 19, Me, 25, Mom, 44, Sophie, 1 day, my step dad, Jeff, 45, Jacob, 18, Justin 22

God is a God of big, crazy, beautiful, miraculous things; like adding another sibling to our big family & surprising a 44 year old, who thought she was done having kids, with one more! I can't wait for when we all have kids of our own one day and can share stories with them, and Sophie, of our lives growing up, and how much better things are with her here with us!

Now, Sophie is 1 1/2 and a bundle of joy, smiles, curly blonde hair and blue eyes! She's perfect. 
Stolen from my mom's facebook. :) 
Check out those big blues! 
Stolen from my grandma's. 

Thank you Jesus. Thank you face book for allowing me to see my sweet little sister grow via the inter webs. I wish it was in person but while we're across the ocean, I feel beyond blessed to be able to click a button and see this sweet face each day. 

7.23.2013

Golfing like it's Our Day Job

Last month we were pumped to be invited to Cool Core's golf resort. This included a golf course, golfing range, yoga rooms, screen golf, free beverages and free snacks. We were invited for a press conference and a Cool Core sponsored, China Ji Do (like karate) event. We had a great time! 

We were excited to be a part of the festivities, mostly because it meant lots of free fun for us with friends. Can't beat that. And pretending to be a celebrity at a press event is kind of my dream job. ;) So, it was basically a winning all around kind of day. 
So, what's this Cool Core? Great question!  Cool Core makes clothes & sports gear made from the best material that wicks, cools, is non-chemical and hypoallergenic.

Golf eye view.

Our good friend, Michael, is a consultant for Cool Core, so he hooked us up with the days festivities. 
This is Michael, making his best Jim Carey face. Poor guy. He had no idea it'd be on the blog. 
Zachary was very excited to get on the driving range and hit some balls. Zachary played golf through highschool and loves to fresh up whenever he gets the chance. He's been blessed here to be invited to several golfing ranges with friends. 
I was excited mostly just to play. :) Like play around, not play golf. 
Perfect form. Just perfect. I know. ;)
Zachary getting his swings on.
Inside the Cool Core gift shop, we found tons things to buy! Like these "towel in a can". Great for sports. 
Tracy McGrady just recently signed with Cool Core to rep their fast drying, performance towels. 
Tons of colors to choose from. 
I loved these sport tops! They looked perfect for running. 
What's an Asian golf shop without some stuffed animal golf club covers? 
After our tour of the gift shops and facilities it was back to the driving range. 
Zachary, being the hulky, buff man he is went to hit a golf ball and lost the head of his golf club, too. It flew across the driving range to 100+ meters. 
A reenactment. 
The judges table pre-conference. 
Who's pretending. We're legit. ;)
 He looks like a giant.
What a Chinese Ji Do press conference looks like. 
This is my best celebrity look. One of us, our friend Denny, was placed in the crowd and given preset questions to ask during the press question and answer time. I was sitting next to him, so I made sure to look super legit and serious. Celebrity=sunglasses inside and pursed lips. Nailed it! I tried to explain my tactics to Zachary but he was unimpressed. 

It was another interesting day in China. Thankful for such fun experiences. 
Happy Tuesday! 

Chalayn where's your Bachelorette recap? I'm anxious to read it! New way to watch TV without wasting your time actually watching it. Let someone else waste their time and watch it and then recap it,  extremely hilariously for your enjoyment. Love it. I wish she'd do this for every TV show. 
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7.21.2013

On Etsy: Jewlery

I love Etsy. I love shopping in a place that supports real people & encourages real peoples' gifts and talents. Not to mention, most of what you buy on Etsy are originals, crafted & imagined by people like you and I. I like that. I am excited to shine light on all the fantastic shops of friends, sisters', fellow bloggers, and random stores I love on Etsy, in a new series 'On Etsy.' 

Today, it's about jewelry. 
A Vintage Acorn
I love the simple designs of A Vintage Acorn. I especially love the abundance of bronze colored jewelry. I'm a sucker for bronze. 

Stephie's Beads & Baubles
Stephanie, the creator of these creations, is wonderful. She always seeks to please her customers!
The best part is that she is willing to make custom pieces. Just tell her the jewelry of your dreams and she'll work with you to make your jewelry dreams come to reality! 
 

Sassy Lemonade
Sassy Lemonade is just a fun shop. Think scissor earrings, apple lockets, rabbits, teapots, flowers,
you name it, and you could probably find it for dangling from your ears or neck in the Sassy Lemonade store. There's a ton of cuteness available. My favorites were these more classic pieces, though.

StarLightWoods
Starlight Woods jewelry is beautiful, simple and minimal. But the best part is that all their jewelry is made of wood and eco friendly. 

Are there any of these items 
that you're just loving?! 
***Do you have an Etsy shop that you'd like featured on the 'On Etsy' series?! 
Email me at heatherleemosby@gmail.com***
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7.17.2013

A Chinese Boy Band Cut My Hair

So, last week, our air conditioner went out. It was a beautiful, wonderful, sacred time in our house in our hot as Haiti apartment. Actually, hotter than Haiti, 'cause I've been there. Just saying.

Anyways, it was hecka hot and one of my very least favorite things to do in the hecka heat, is to shower and then get ready, while my wet hair is dripping down my back, and my drying off with a towel is futile because sweat quickly replaces my shower water. It's a recipe for a panic attack/heat stroke in my life. So naturally, I decided to go to a salon and pay someone to wash my hair for me, hence avoiding all the panic attacks/heat strokes. Naturally.

So, I went to get my hair washed and if you've ever been to China, you may have heard about the fantastic hair washes they give. I've heard foreigners rave about them & how head, massagey good it is. I was pretty psyched.

I get there, to a room full of smoking, skinny jeaned boys, okay, young men, with their hair all whipped to the side, ready for my head massage/shampoo. It looked like a salon full of Chinese boy bands.
"So you wanna a head rub? How 'bout a trim gurrl?" 

I go back to the sink and ask for a brush to brush out my 2 foot, curly, non-showered, tangled hair. I always do this first for hair stylists. They always seem quite overwhelmed by it & terrified to, God-forbid, break a hair. I just like to help them out, prevent the horror. My skinny jeaned stylist brings me something that looks like this.
Except worse. Because it was round, and the hair was all stuck in there, and there wasn't some pretty lady with long black hair holding it, then you would have at least known where the hair was coming from. No, this brush's hair collection, was probably from days or weeks of several different heads.

So, like the brave, when-in-rome, expat I am, I used it. I know! Sick right?! But I mean, I was about to get my hair shampooed, so it's cool. Right?! {It's been a week and my head's not itching... so either these babies are about to hatch, or I'm in the clear! ;) }

So after I brush out my goodness of a rats nest, with everyone else's hair brush, we began the shampoo.
Which was.... uneventful and not all what everyone talked it up to be. Maybe I got the wrong kind of shampoo. I don't know.

I then, somehow, brilliantly decided it would be a great idea to get my hair trimmed for the first time in a year and a half, at this highly sterile, professional salon.

I told them very carefully, with my fingers of course, that I wanted half an inch trimmed. Not layered. Straight across. Only a half inch. I even put it in my cell phone translator. My guy seemed very aware of what I wanted and affirmed me several times that he knew.
Oh. Smiley girl. You have no idea. 
He started to cut.

In Chinese & lots of hand motions-
Me: Again, I only want half an inch.
Overly enthused stylist: I know! I know! Trust me! I know!
...keeps cutting

Me: I don't want layers because my hair is curly. It doesn't work. You can't do it.
Him: I know! Okay! I know.

Then the guy standing next to him hands me his cell phone which has translated in it,
"He wants give you hair heiarchy." Heiarchy? What the? Layers!? He means layers!

Me: I don't want layers! My hair is curly. You can't. I don't want. {in broken Chinese}
Him: No! No! No! (to the other guy) I know! I know! (to me)

I was feeling pretty good at this point. Like, ya. This guy, he's got me.
Until he got to the front of my hair and I noticed a good 5 inch difference between the back, which he had cut, and my front, where he showed me very dramatically that he couldn't get the brush through the last 5 inches of my hair.

Me: I know! I don't care. I only want half an inch.
(I was still holding out. Thinking maybe, just maybe, I was mistaken about the back being so short.)

Him: I know! I know! Half an inch! I know!

Turns out, he didn't know! Or did. but could care less what I said. He cut off a good 5 inches.
Reader Note: Please don't say how it's not that short or you don't notice a difference and completely devoid my story. ;) I will however except Looks amazing! Wow! Stunning! Anything that boosts my hair ego and ends in an explanation mark. ;)

The best part was after, when he got to blow dry my hair. He was super excited and used a contraption on the hair dryer he probably never gets to use, because my hair is curly. He dramitacally blow dryed the back, moving his hands all around like a composer, and then the front. And then with the front almost dry, he gave a huge, hands in the air, "wa la!." He was super proud of himself.

I couldn't bare bursting his ego. It was like a child, really. And I'm just not that mean. Even though he chopped my hair off and didn't listen to me. {My hair feels way healthier now! I'll give that little hair composer that.}

Alas, I've traded in my long, hippie locks for a short, cute, somewhat longer than a bob look. Okay. It's longer than a bob but it literally feels as short as a bob to me. That's all.

Moral of the story. Don't get your hair cut in China.
The End.

Tuesday Tidbits

If we're getting technical it's Wednesday here. But not yet Midnight State side, sooo, I'm going with it. Tuesday Tidbits, that is. Ahhhhh {that's a sigh, not a scream}, hello reader. I've been MIA lately. Partly because I thought I should let the awesome-ness of the fact that we are learning to sail, sink in on the blog and mostly, okay 100%, because I'm exhausted.
Speaking of how awesome it is that we are learning to sail, I guess it's not that awesome. You know how you feel, when you're doing this thing that you think is pretttttty epic, but then no one else thinks so? Ya. That's how I feel.  I'm like, "People! We're learning to sail a freaking boat. Like Andy Bernard." When I say it like that, actually, it doesn't sound awesome at all. Whatevsss.
We're gonna keep getting our knot on, anyway. ;) And I'll probably keep blogging about it.

Anyways. On to Tuesday Tidbits from the last few weeks.
Sailing and then snacks & wine at Cafe Roland. Cafe Roland is quaint, with a western feel, and right on the beach in Qingdao! It's been on my list of places to go and we chose the perfect evening. We enjoyed a bottle of white, french fries, and vanilla bean ice cream. We were clearly going for a healthy meal. Check out that Santa Claus white chocolate curl. It doesn't matter what time of year it is in China, Christmas is always a go. Christmas songs, Santa Claus heads, snow flakes on windows, Merry Christmas banners, it's all good. It sounds nice, right, but actually it has this weird, kitchy feel, like a run down carnival or something. 
We took two of my students, Diana and Lidna, to a "Western" dinner the other night. They enjoyed their Western food. They're both going into 10th grade and moving to Canada in August. All you Canadians out there, if you see these two, give 'em some love! :) 
Got this shirt for a whopping 30 yuan. Which is, ehhh, $5. I love it when H&M has sales! I did have a few selfies of the whole shirt in the taxi, but kept getting boob shots. So I spared you, and instead you get a little peak of this steal! 
 Yesterday we went to lunch with these sweet friends. 1. Amber & Violet. 2. Abigail and I. 3. Abigail's brother & Zachary. 4. Zachary and I.  Abigail's brother came to Qingdao, from South West China, for his first time, to visit Abigail. We heard that he had never tried Western food, so we were sure to fix that during his stay!
Blurry IPhone pic*
Abigail couldn't quite figure out how to eat her salad with a fork. {eating salad with chopsticks is actually way more efficient!} Since we were at a restaurant that doesn't have chopsticks, she improvised and used to butter knives! 
Finishing up his very first steak!
Trust me that this will not be the last time you see this photo because the fact that we are $300 away from being credit card debt free!!!! deserves a post all to itself. I just couldn't resist sharing this snapshot from the last week or so, with proof that we are almost there! $7900 down, $300 to go! 
So as not to overload you with pictures this Tuesday evening, okay it's Wednesday now, I'll end with the above picture of a fantabulous 10 course Thai Buffet we last Saturday evening.

Hope you are sleeping well sweet readers, friends and family. 
We love you! 
Peaceeeeeeeee out.

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