It is after midnight here and we are getting ready to crash! We are exhausted after our long trip and are glad to be in our daughter's city. We have a great guide, Tom, who will be with us the eleven days that we are in Beijing. It was kind of scary when we got off the plane in a strange country, went through customs, got our bags and Tom was nowhere to be found at the front of airport. When you are surrounded by Asian men you keep looking for a guy holding a sign with our last name. Plus, I was frantic because I could not get the VPN to work in the airport so I could not find the email with his phone number in it. Just as The Rock found the email on his phone (after searching the entrances for 15-20 minutes) he found us! We were very relieved!
What we learned about Beijing from Tom is:
1. There are 20,000,000 people in Beijing and about half of those live downtown in these high rise apartments they keep adding onto.
2. Apparently Friday night is the night when everyone goes out to dinner and parties because traffic was horrendous!
3. Many of the drivers drive like The Rock, no signals when changing lanes, flashing their headlights when someone is going to slow and just weaving in and out of the lanes. I was constantly hitting The Rock because I could barely watch where the driver was going.
4. English is the #2 spoken language in the city. We had no problem maneuvering around the airport because everything was in English.
5. The new elected government officials take office next week, so Beijing will be highly protected from their police officers because of this event.
6. During the past two weeks 9,000,000 people left Beijing to go home to their provinces for Chinese New Year. Apparently traffic was great while they were gone!
We cannot wait to see Beijing in the daytime when we have more energy.
Friday, March 1, 2013
A day (or two) of flying
We are happy to say that we have made it to Seoul Korea and we have only one more plane ride to go. We left Thursday morning at 6:45am and are now sitting in Korea and it is Friday 5pm. Thankfully we were not on the plane for over 24 hours but it definitely felt like it!
Our trip began in Nashville where Cherry Blossom's grandpa dropped us off at the airport 4:45 am. Molly Moo, our oldest Boston Terrier, also got to go along for the ride since she is staying with Grandma and Grandpa these next two weeks. Our first "uh oh" happened while we were checking in. I knew that one of our three suitcases that we were checking in was heavy, but I was hoping the fee would not be too bad. Unfortnately for us, Korean Air's limit is 50 lbs and one of our suitcases was 57lbs. Instead of the fee being prorated we found that the fee was $100 whether you are one pound over or 20 pounds over. Of course I told "The Rock" that if that was the case I could have left all of the stuff that I took out yesterday to make it lighter :) Thankfullly, this was our only uh oh with our luggage. We are knocking on wood that it will show up in Beijing!
We have gone through security three times now and we are sitting in our third airport. Our 13 hour flight was definitely harder then we thought it would be. Of course I thought that I was going to sleep most of it, but that didn't happen. We were blessed that we had three seats to ourselves and did not have to sit right next to someone. We each had our own TVs and we caught up on a lot of movies. There just happened to be a lot of children on the plane and one little girl was not happy 80% of the flight. Her poor mom, all she did was cry and scream the whole time. It was very hard to sleep through this and her mother just looked worn out. We also had a little girl in front of us who kept saying Hi! to us and waving. All I could think of was that in a couple of weeks that will be our Cherry Blossom on the plane with us. I definitely hope we have the experience of the mom in front of us instead of the mom with the crying/screaming child :)
We hope to send out a short blog tonight when we get to Beijing just to let everyone know we made it. Tomorrow is a day of rest to recover from our flight so we will stay around the hotel. I'm anxious to get some sleep and unpack!
Our trip began in Nashville where Cherry Blossom's grandpa dropped us off at the airport 4:45 am. Molly Moo, our oldest Boston Terrier, also got to go along for the ride since she is staying with Grandma and Grandpa these next two weeks. Our first "uh oh" happened while we were checking in. I knew that one of our three suitcases that we were checking in was heavy, but I was hoping the fee would not be too bad. Unfortnately for us, Korean Air's limit is 50 lbs and one of our suitcases was 57lbs. Instead of the fee being prorated we found that the fee was $100 whether you are one pound over or 20 pounds over. Of course I told "The Rock" that if that was the case I could have left all of the stuff that I took out yesterday to make it lighter :) Thankfullly, this was our only uh oh with our luggage. We are knocking on wood that it will show up in Beijing!
We have gone through security three times now and we are sitting in our third airport. Our 13 hour flight was definitely harder then we thought it would be. Of course I thought that I was going to sleep most of it, but that didn't happen. We were blessed that we had three seats to ourselves and did not have to sit right next to someone. We each had our own TVs and we caught up on a lot of movies. There just happened to be a lot of children on the plane and one little girl was not happy 80% of the flight. Her poor mom, all she did was cry and scream the whole time. It was very hard to sleep through this and her mother just looked worn out. We also had a little girl in front of us who kept saying Hi! to us and waving. All I could think of was that in a couple of weeks that will be our Cherry Blossom on the plane with us. I definitely hope we have the experience of the mom in front of us instead of the mom with the crying/screaming child :)
We hope to send out a short blog tonight when we get to Beijing just to let everyone know we made it. Tomorrow is a day of rest to recover from our flight so we will stay around the hotel. I'm anxious to get some sleep and unpack!
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
"Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I Love You Tomorrow...."
I still believe that God has been preparing me to be an adoptive parent all of my life. As a child, Annie, was my favorite movie and I loved to torture my brothers by watching it all of the time. I had the Annie dollhouse, multiple dolls and of course the record that I would play over and over again! I even went on to name two of my dogs after Annie and Molly, two of my favorite orphans from the movie.
The song, "Tomorrow", is going through my head today because tomorrow I will be on a plane headed to a special country that contains my little orphan, Cherry Blossom. I cannot believe that the day is finally here and I still have so much more to do! Maybe I should have taken off the whole week instead of just today to get ready. The Rock is coming home to help, but since I have now repacked everything twice and am considering doing it again he may want to stay at work.
Our plane leaves early in the morning and we will be spending the next two days in airports and in the sky. This is the one time that I am hoping that it does not snow because I do not want to be grounded at the Chicago airport! After we leave the United States it can snow all it wants!
Over the past few days we have been able to spend some quality time with many of our friends that have been with us along this journey. We have been prayed over, we have had our last American food at some of our favortie restaurants and we have been given many hugs. I do not know how many times I can thank this special group of people for being here for us as we have had our ups and downs of trying to become parents. It means the world to us and we are so thankful God brought us to Murfreesboro and New Vision Baptist Church!
This time tomorrow we will be sitting on a plane headed towards Korea!! 13 hours eeeekk! Hopefully we will be able to sleep and just enjoy being together. Little Cherry Blossom we are coming!!
The song, "Tomorrow", is going through my head today because tomorrow I will be on a plane headed to a special country that contains my little orphan, Cherry Blossom. I cannot believe that the day is finally here and I still have so much more to do! Maybe I should have taken off the whole week instead of just today to get ready. The Rock is coming home to help, but since I have now repacked everything twice and am considering doing it again he may want to stay at work.
Our plane leaves early in the morning and we will be spending the next two days in airports and in the sky. This is the one time that I am hoping that it does not snow because I do not want to be grounded at the Chicago airport! After we leave the United States it can snow all it wants!
Over the past few days we have been able to spend some quality time with many of our friends that have been with us along this journey. We have been prayed over, we have had our last American food at some of our favortie restaurants and we have been given many hugs. I do not know how many times I can thank this special group of people for being here for us as we have had our ups and downs of trying to become parents. It means the world to us and we are so thankful God brought us to Murfreesboro and New Vision Baptist Church!
This time tomorrow we will be sitting on a plane headed towards Korea!! 13 hours eeeekk! Hopefully we will be able to sleep and just enjoy being together. Little Cherry Blossom we are coming!!
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
8 days and counting
Today I marked more things off of my never ending To-Do List. You would think that after all of the waiting I would have everything ready, but it is not so. Today we received yet another itinerary with more details and more things to do before we leave. I know it will all be done, but I am so anxious to just sit down on that plane and know that everything is ready for our Cherry Blossom to come home.
As I face my fears of getting everything done I'm reminded by one of my favorite authors:
“Feed your fears and your faith will starve. Feed your faith, and your fears will.”
― Max Lucado, Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear
These next 8 days I want to feed my faith instead of my fears. I know that God has been with me this entire journey and he is not going to leave me in my time of need. Everything will get done!
As I face my fears of getting everything done I'm reminded by one of my favorite authors:
“Feed your fears and your faith will starve. Feed your faith, and your fears will.”
― Max Lucado, Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear
These next 8 days I want to feed my faith instead of my fears. I know that God has been with me this entire journey and he is not going to leave me in my time of need. Everything will get done!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
9 Days and Counting!
I realized yesterday when I was going to bed that I had not posted for 10 days and counting. The Rock and I are trying to get through Downton Abbey before we leave since we know watching shows together late at night will be a thing of the past in the near future. We are actually trying to get a lot of things done before we leave NEXT WEEK!! I still cannot believe that in less than two weeks I will have my Cherry Blossom in my arms! Her room is ready, our bags are pretty much packed, our paperwork is in order, the money has been wired to China, our plane tickets are in our hands, our hotel rooms are reserved and we are just waiting for February 28th to come!
Today we received a much more detailed itinerary for what we are going to do in Beijing. Our first big adventure will be the Great Wall of China and this will also be our last adventure as a childless couple. We never imagined five years ago, when we began the journey of becoming parents, that we would be travelling across the world. After our Gotcha Day we will then spend days visiting various government offices and dealing with medical needs. We then get to experience China with our daughter by visiting;
Tian’anmen Square
Temple
of Heaven
Summer
Palace
We are so excited to experience this country with our daughter! Be prepared for lots of pictures, that is if I can figure out how to download them :)
Today we received a much more detailed itinerary for what we are going to do in Beijing. Our first big adventure will be the Great Wall of China and this will also be our last adventure as a childless couple. We never imagined five years ago, when we began the journey of becoming parents, that we would be travelling across the world. After our Gotcha Day we will then spend days visiting various government offices and dealing with medical needs. We then get to experience China with our daughter by visiting;
Forbidden
City
We are so excited to experience this country with our daughter! Be prepared for lots of pictures, that is if I can figure out how to download them :)
Sunday, February 17, 2013
11 Days and Counting
On this beautiful Sunday I should be packing, cleaning or working on organizing the paperwork going to China, instead I am on my computer. We are going to be in big trouble in China if my VPN does not work and I do not have internet access. Earlier this year I barely made it through a week on a cruise without internet, but a lot of that had to do with waiting on our Pre Approval email for our Cherry Blossom.
The VPNs are one of The Rock's responsibilities and hopefully he will not disappoint :)
Last night The Rock decided he wanted to pack for our trip. This stressed me out because he wanted to be done packing for the whole trip last night. I do not think he understands or wants to understand that there is still a few things we need to buy before we can finish packing :) They are little things, but when you are under some restrictions for luggage every little thing goes in a certain place. It is all really confusing about the amount/weight of luggage you can take on the international flight compared to that you can take on our in-country flight. As of right now we have one suitcase that is 1lb over the international weight, the other suitcase is under the in-country weight requirement. Unfortunately, we still have more things to pack and I do not think they are going to fit in the carry-on bags. There may be some rearranging tonight.....woo hoo!
Two weeks from tomorrow we will have our Cherry Blossom in our arms FINALLY! Many people call this period of time "paper pregnancy" but it is so hard to see her cute little face everyday and wonder: Did she have a good day today? Is she sick/cold/hot? Does she know we are coming? Did she get the gifts we sent her including a picture of us? Does she know that she is leaving her friends? Etc etc. These are the questions that are constantly going through my head all day and all night. I pray for her everyday and I know that God has his hands over her, protecting her until March 4th. We are coming baby girl!!!
The VPNs are one of The Rock's responsibilities and hopefully he will not disappoint :)
Last night The Rock decided he wanted to pack for our trip. This stressed me out because he wanted to be done packing for the whole trip last night. I do not think he understands or wants to understand that there is still a few things we need to buy before we can finish packing :) They are little things, but when you are under some restrictions for luggage every little thing goes in a certain place. It is all really confusing about the amount/weight of luggage you can take on the international flight compared to that you can take on our in-country flight. As of right now we have one suitcase that is 1lb over the international weight, the other suitcase is under the in-country weight requirement. Unfortunately, we still have more things to pack and I do not think they are going to fit in the carry-on bags. There may be some rearranging tonight.....woo hoo!
Two weeks from tomorrow we will have our Cherry Blossom in our arms FINALLY! Many people call this period of time "paper pregnancy" but it is so hard to see her cute little face everyday and wonder: Did she have a good day today? Is she sick/cold/hot? Does she know we are coming? Did she get the gifts we sent her including a picture of us? Does she know that she is leaving her friends? Etc etc. These are the questions that are constantly going through my head all day and all night. I pray for her everyday and I know that God has his hands over her, protecting her until March 4th. We are coming baby girl!!!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
I belong with you, you belong with me You're my sweetheart
Today we celebrated Valentines day as a childless couple for the last time. It made me happy to think that next year we will have to have a babysitter!! I had a wonderful Irish dinner with The Rock and then he let me do my favorite thing right now, go shopping for Cherry Blossom.
Unfortunately no one explained to the guy at Babies R Us that I am a bargain shopper and don't like being told I can't use multiple coupons in one order or that I don't like it when things are ringing up at the wrong prices. Needless to say I returned some items in order to buy them again and use a coupon. My exciting buy was Cherry Blossom's first pair of Chuck Taylor shoes. Of course they had to be like my first pair, pink high tops! I love retail therapy right now, but only when I have coupons and gift cards.
The Rock gave me a beautiful valentines card that made me think of our little Cherry Blossom because it had Cherry blossoms on it. It was the first card he picked up and it was perfect. I have a great man who is going to be an amazing dad!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)