Allie's First Haircut!

Allie got her first haircut last night. She is too cute for words!!

Bathroom Revamped!

Okay, so they're not the greatest pictures. Taking pictures of your bathroom is kind of difficult! Anyway, mom and I painted my bathroom this weekend and I love it!! I'm not quite done with this room, I hope to get something for the wall. But at least we got that border down now. :-) I've had this curtain for a while and thought about getting something new when we moved in. But I liked the idea of a fun color in the bathroom and this works great! Thanks for all your help mom!!

Scattered Friends

My friends Jon and Emily are home from Shanghai for a quick visit. I can't believe it's already been seven months since they've moved there. Anyway, I had a chance to catch up with both of them, albeit very briefly, and some of their stories are just amazing. They are planning on living there for two years, but they both hinted that they'll probably stay over there. Who could blame them ... it sounds like they are having an incredible experience! I recently started sending Emily some reading material since she has such a hard time finding English books in Shanghai, and when she does find them they are quite expensive. When she stopped by today, she returned a few of the books that I sent her and brought me a gift!

Thank you so much Emily! This scarf is so beautiful and I love it! My first instinct is to do some custom framing and hang it on the wall ... maybe in my library/piano room.

She even had the scarf translated for me. We're pretty sure this is what is says:

长亭外，古道边，芳草碧连天，晚风拂柳笛声残，夕阳山外山。天之涯，海之角，知交半零落。一斛浊酒尽余欢，今霄别梦寒。长亭外，古道边，芳草碧连天，晚风拂柳笛声残，夕阳山外山。 －－民国·李叔同·《送别》

A Valediction--by Li Shutong

Beyond the distant pavilion

Beside the ancient road

Jade green and fragrant, high grass joins the sky

Evening breeze sways dripping willows

Dying flute notes linger still

On the hill behind the hill, the sun sets

To the ends of the earth and corners of the seas

Half our friends are scattered

With a scoop of thick wine

Let's enjoy what joy remains

Tonight's cold dreams shall be held at bay

Beyond the distant pavilion

Beside the ancient road

Jade green and fragrant, high grass joins the sky

Evening breeze sways dripping willows

Dying flute notes linger still

On the hill behind hill, the sun sets

The Shelf

I've been wanting a shelf like this for quite some time, especially after we took the Christmas tree down and rearranged the living room. After searching online and not quite finding what I wanted (or the price I wanted), my sister and I went to Sioux Falls today. We went to three different stores before I found one that I liked. I got quite the bargain on it, spending about $50 less than what I thought I would have to. Since I got such a bargain, Nichole and I decided to go downtown and see if we could find anything to put on my shelf. We ended up at Ten Thousand Villages (I love this store!) and I found the star and elephant you see on the top shelf. The star is actually a puzzle box from India and the elephant is carved out of some type of translucent stone from Pakistan. I intended to buy only one thing but I loved these both so much that I just couldn't choose!

P.S. Thank you to Mom and Dad, Jeff and Cindy, and Grandma and Grandpa Beringer ... I used some of my Christmas money to get the shelf and trinkets!