Don't Worry About a Thing

Hi ya friends. Just stopping by for a quick second to tell you that there is no need to fear! The Mosby's in China will be back up and blogging very soon. I just subconsciously decided last week to take a little break from blogging before school starts. All the demands with preparing my classroom, lesson planning and soaking up the last days of summer leave me with little time on this bloggity blog here. I promise I'll be back next week or so. In the mean time, know that we love you!

Happy Weekend from all the Divas!

Check her out, you guys. Christina Bianco is incredibly talented & even more hilarious. I'm so thankful I ran across this video. I'm addicted. I think I could watch her You Tube channel over and over. It's just fun. And I need a little fun in my life today! So, hope you enjoy Readers. Also, anyone know how I can make a You Tube video bigger in blogger?! Please, and thank you.

Hilarious, right? I would so love to see her live, I bet it's a great show. 

Also, Readers, family, friends THANK YOU so very much for your prayers for my heart and my doctor's appointment. It looks like my little ole' heart is A-okay. Everything turned out normal, no serious arrythmias or heart disease. It's just another reminder of why I need to reduce all this anxiety and stress in my life. Doctor prescribed; No caffeine of any kind! Good bye daily de caf Americanos & treats of chocolate, No smoking of anytime! Good bye that 1-2 times a year I smoke hookah. No more alcohol! Good bye my new favorite, mint cocktail. Adios! I won't miss any of you at all if it's in exchange for my heart acting normally! OKay. Let's be real. I'm already missing my daily Americano's! But Lord give me strength! Also, daily excercise. Good bye LBs! And, a trip to Bali to sit on the beach and do nothing.  If only. How good of a chance do you think I have at convincing Zachary he actually perscribed that... ?? ;) 

As you know, coffee shops are huge parts of our life. They're our sanctuary! A place to get away, reflect, read, and so on. Not every day but lately to cope with my anti decaf Americano/coffee free boring life, I've been trying to spice it up a bit with things like, mango teas, fresh juices, strawberry banana smoothies, or this beauty, a blue berry latte.

Have an awesome weekend friends! Thank you for reading! And thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers. 

Let's Get Cozy

American crowds have nothing on Chinese crowds. I mean sure, we have those moments where we have to let down those personal space bubbles and brush shoulders with strangers. Those moments are usually at events where everyone going knows what's involved, though. You know; concerts, when school lets out, Black Friday, all those type of occasions. But in China, all you need is a major holiday, a tourist site, 5 pm at the grocery store or something free, and the crowds come running and if you're around when they do, you better believe you'll be brushing shoulders, bums, legs, and so on. 

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Seriously, looking at these crowded pictures brings me on the verge of a panic attack. Okay, not seriously but figuratively. I mean, that is heck a crowded. There's no Wonder of the World that would get me to stand in that crowd. But check out their faces. No one really looks distraught. Most of them look quite content. It just doesn't seem to bother them as much as it would me. 

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A crowded train station during the Chinese new year. 

During Chinese extended legal holidays most people journey to their hometown to see their families. If you are traveling in China on a National Holiday make sure you book your tickets, with a seat, way in advance. Otherwise, you might be standing in a line like this to get your ticket. 

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Beaches fill up this time of the year. Bus loads of people are bused into costal cities from their surrounding countrysides to enjoy the sea side. It's like Spring Break in Miami except less alcohol, more clothes & all Chinese people. I mean I've never actually gone to Miami on spring break, but you get the idea.

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It looks like one of those flash mob pranks to me. Because of course, no one would willingly get in the water with that many people, for fun?! It would have to be a prank, right? Wrong. Not in China. 

I'm not even sure how enjoyable this can be though! To me it looks like a recipe for disaster. And is the water even still cool and refreshing? With that many people it seems like it would be just warm, dirty water.

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It's well known that Beijing traffic is insane in the membrane around here. One of the worst traffic jams in history was in Beijing in 2010. It was 62 miles long and went on for 12 days. People had to camp out in their cars and stuff, like one giant block party!

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Check out all those itty bitty swim shorts. Many Chinese men here dig the spandex and speedo swim wear.

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It's safe to say you should probably try to avoid trains on National holidays, eh?! People squeeze in every space possible. In China, you can buy a "standing" ticket on a train, which is exactly as it sounds. You have no seat, no where to lay your head, zero, zilch, nada, nothing. You stand where there is room. To get to their home town by train many people must/choose to stand for 20+ hours because all the seat tickets are sold out. That's some dedication to get home!

Are you travelling to China during a National Holiday??

Here's some tips on handling Chinese crowds: 

1. Be patient. You probably won't be going anywhere for awhile, so why get anxious? Patience is the best attitude. 

2. Breathe. Just breathe. For your sanity and also because you could easily hyperventilate from all that claustrophobia. 

3. Bring hand sanitizer, deodorant, spray, whatever you need to feel clean after standing in a hot, sweaty crowd for hours. 

All you Westerners out ther-- Do some arm circles and jumping jacks for me the next time your at the grocery store. Heck do a cart wheel. There's enough room! Soak it in & be thankful for all that space. 

Currently at The Mosby's

Reading: A Time to Embrace by Karen Kingsbury. It's so good guys. I never thought I'd be into reading "those" kind of books, you know the Christian fiction novels, but I'm in to it. I love them lately. They're so encouraging. Reading Matthew. Always loving the words of Jesus.

Watching: Just finished watching all of the seasons of Duck Dynasty. Loooooove it. Can't wait until the next season comes out! And Everwood. Did any one every watch that show? Its pretty good.

Listening: Shawn McDonald & Nora Jones Pandora stations.

Wearing: A new white, woven shirt & my fedora. Always the fedora.

Thankful: So, so thankful for friends and family at home, new friends here, summer vacation, a good doctor, God's grace and goodness towards us, Zachary getting an assistant at work, provision, apples and peanut butter, flowers from Z, my best friends baby coming soon!

Praying: Praying for God's healing hand on my heart & my mother. Praying for God to give us wisdom in our finances.

Drinking: Cold drinks! Like cold lemon and ginger tea, cold green juices & strawberry banana smoothies! Yum.

Eating: Refreshing salads like the pecan crusted chicken salad I had today. Scrumptious!

Looking forward to: School starting, decorating my classroom & the return of a schedule

Dreading: School starting & the return of a schedule. ;) Vacation is just so darn good.

Dreaming: of Italy

Reading: Just finished Pagan Christianity & Red Letter Revolution, Scripture and the Authority of God by M.T. Wright. Reading Hebrews. 

Watching: Everwood. Watched Oblivion the other day, too.

Listening: Pandora, no station in particular.

Wearing: Clothes. har har har. Khaki shorts for the summer.

Thankful: My wife, my dad's surgery going well, vacation, time to read, money for seminary 

Praying: For money to buy a computer, that I'd be a humble leader in my new position and that I'd relax & give all my anxiety to Jesus. 

Drinking: Lots of iced coffee. It's so hot out!

Eating: Everything... bloated.

Looking forward to: the start of seminary and working through my thoughts

Dreading: nothing. Stress. I hate being stressed. 

Dreaming: of a time when I can just love and serve people all day and not work 

What's the 'currently' in your life? 

Summer Fun in China

Hola friends. How goes it? How was your weekends'? I hope fabulous. Ours was great! We welcomed a new expat to Qingdao, whom I'm sure you'll see pictures of soon, went to our good friends coffee business launch party, which included free coffee, so obviously it was awesome and chillllled out. Actually, we weren't really chill, considering it was like 100+ degrees here.

It's hecka hot. I have to squeegee my upper lip sweat like every 5 minutes, which is super sexy, I know. It's making all the guys around me stumble for sure. With the air on full blast in the house it still only feels slightly cool. It feels like Texas. :) Which is great, since it reminds me of home!

Summer is pretty sweet though, isn't it? I think I could really get used to this whole not working thing for the 2 months we get off every summer as teachers. So, thankful for that. All you teachers out there, can I get an amen?! Amen!

For the next 3 weeks  Qingdao is hosting the famous Qingdao Beer Festival which means the beaches, streets, taxis and buses are supper crowded! 

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I'm pretty sure there should be health codes against this. 

This huge influx of people also means more stares for us.  Since there are people coming from all over China, many whom have never seen a foreigner in person, to the beer festival, this guarantees we have huge crowds of people watching us at all times, which means we can't pick our nose in public anymore. Dang. But it is kind of fun to see the city come alive. Everyone is so excited to be here and it reminds me of how lucky we are to live in this awesome coastal city. 

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 Maybe I should get one of these face masks people have been sporting around here. It will help keep my face cool, protect my skin from the dangers of the sun and hide the fact that I'm not Chinese. It's a win, win really. I could pick my nose, buy groceries, go running and no one would even notice. I'd blend right in. I don't know why I don't buy one of these babies right this second! 

This is really all the randomness I have for you today. Could you pray for me friends? My heart is acting up. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. Pray that I trust God with the information He gives me. Pray for wisdom for my doctor. And pray for healing! 

Also tomorrow, my mom has an important doctor's appointment. Without going into too much detail, could you pray for healing for her, too!? 

You guys.... I love ya. Have an awesome Monday. 

Let's take a vote, shall we?

Once upon a time my sweet, sweet husband bought me a suicidal fish, Porto. (I'm still changing "bowel"s to "bowl"s on that post!)  Remember him? Remember how sweet that gift was until he took the plunge from his fish bowl to our dining room floor? Ya.

Now, we have the empty fish bowl, with the shiny black marbles at the bottom, just sitting here in our house, reminding us of our dead fish.

I think it's about time we find a Porto Dos. But why settle for a boring old gold fish when Qingdao markets & Chinese men trying to make a buck, have so much more to offer?!

So, let's have a vote, shall we? Get excited because YOU get to help decide what lucky amphibian/invertebrate/theskysthelimit will join the Mosby's.

The candidates (or possible Pets in China):

1. A Fish. Classic and low maintenance. But come on, boring, shmoring. (After the first one, which I loved Zachary, really, I loved it!) And besides, how could we just replace Porto like that so soon? It's insensitive really.

2. 2 Twin Jelly Fish. Or maybe girl and boy, non related, jelly fish, which brings the possibility of jelly fish babies, which would be super cool. We could make a few bucks off each one, too, even better.  We could probably even brand them as American Jelly Fish. Perfect!

The only thing is, I don't really know the first thing about having a pet jelly fish. And man, a fish is a boring pet, as in you can't really pet it or build a relationship with it, but what about a jelly fish?! At least I could put my finger in and let Porto nip it. I don't know but I'm just gonna guess that's not really a possibility with a jelly fish. Like they sting. Right?!  Also, salt water?! How the heck do you do that in a fish bowl? Just sprinkle some sea salt in? Will MSG work? (Because that's the cheapest and most common thing here. ;) Just sayin',) If you vote for a jelly fish, much research will be needed. But don't worry, I love google.

3. A Newt. A Chinese fire bellied newt to be exact. I happen to have some experience with these guys. My brother grew up obsessed with reptiles and amphibians and my dad was sure to fill our house with them. So, I mean... I'm pretty much an expert. Actually, I've always really loved newts. They're like little puppies. Little amphibian puppies. They have rounded faces and fingers. It's cute guys. Really.

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4. A tiny turtle. It's pretty lame to have a baby turtle if you're going for the exotic feel. Unless it's a sea turtle, in which case that's awesome. Knowing China I could probably find one, too. But for now let's just stick to the basic turtle. Turtles can be fun, despite their non exoticness, right? You can take them out of the bowl and watch them walk around and that's a little interesting. Kind of. Okay. Turtles are lame. But if you vote for it, I'll get it!

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5. A seahorse. Ya. That's right, I saved the best for last. Can you imagine having a sea horse as a pet?! How cool is that? But again, I have no idea what to do with a sea horse. Salt water? Obviously...right? And, what do they eat? Maybe I could get a boy and girl and then the daddy seahorse could have babies! That would be cool, mainly because then there would be a pregnant male in our house... which is weird now that I type it. Why would I want that? It's exotic. That's why. But for the record, a pregnant male seahorse is the only pregnant male I want in our house. Don't worry Z. I'm not wishing weird things on you.. we've got enough hormones & cravings going on in our house. And we need you to be the stable one Z.

So, what do you think friends?

A boring ole' fish, Electrifying (harharhar) jelly fish, A Red Breasted Newt, An Itty Bitty Turtle or a Knocked Up Boy Sea horse?! 

It's up to you Readers!!! And Zachary's approval, of course. Which makes me realize I should probably have asked him if all the pets above are cool. Nah. They're cool. Remember he has that Bob Marley attitude lately. So it's alllll goooood.

Pie Parties & Husband Bakers

Is it weird I haven't been "into" blogging lately? It seems weird to me. Especially since it seems like all the bloggers I love to read around me are popping out new, amazing, inspiring posts left and right. But alas, I guess I've just been lazy. What can I say, I'm finally on summer vacation!

Zachary has been reminding us of that the last 24 hours. It's been a Bob Marley kind of week. The "Don't worry, Be happy" part not the smoking lots of weed part. Although we did smoke hookah last night, which was fabulous, until some weird Chinese guy came to our table and told us how much he loved Mexico and did not like America. That wasn't so fabulous. But the coconut hookah was mighty fine.

Anyways, here I am. Rambling. Maybe this is why I haven't been blogging. Because really I'd probably push that "new post" button and start writing ridiculousness. Okay. That's not why. It's the lazy thing really.

To the point of this post, to catch you up friends/family.

Today Zachary & his student, Ji (prounounced Gee. Like 'what up G-dog?!') made an organic blueberry pie and a gluten free peach cobbler. Fancy, I know. And they were completely from scratch because my husband is a pie and cobbler King.

Since before we got married I've heard a many times about Zachary's pies, but had yet to taste one, till today. I was quite pleased with my little baker. He was so cute with flour on his nose when I came out. Precious people. Just precious. Everything was delicious.

We had friends over for a "Pie Party." Which is basically just friends coming over to eat what you just made so you don't eat hundreds of calories in pie and cobbler every day for the next week. It's a glutton management type party. Sort of like AA but for pies and the prevention of over eating too much pie.

We felt very sophisticated eating our pies, playing cards & drinking fresh coffee.

The rest of Z and I's day will entail a long nap from the pie/sugar overdose we got from our crazy pie party. So, I guess we should get on to that.

Love you friends!
I'll be back tomorrow, promise. Unless I'm too lazy, than I'll just see you Friday... or Monday. Who knows!? "Don't worry, Be happy!"