Even though I'm not in a strange country, I can still have adventures, right? Well I have, so there! Believe me when I tell you I've made that plane ticket as worth the money as possible! And boy, it's been so nice to be around some of my friends and family. Here is a brief synopsis of some adventures I've had while in the states.
1. My dad and I traveled to the fabulous land of Paradox to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Hayes. They didn't know I was coming so my dad went inside and said he brought something for them but it was too heavy for him to carry himself (is that a fat joke, dad?? ;) ) and that they had to come help him bring it in. What a surprise!!! I was so happy to see them! My grandma squealed with joy and if I'm not mistaken (don't tell him I told you) I think my grandpa might have been experiencing some sort of allergies in his eyes ;). While there, we re-caulked some windows, re-did some stairs on the porch, sprayed noxious weeds, and of course, rode 4-wheelers and had an overall grand time! Just take a look at the view of Paradox valley.
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Look great after a long day
and hours of dancing! ;) |
2. From Colorado, I traveled back through Utah and then up to Boise, ID for the wedding of one of my very dear friends Emily. With the help of Emily's cousins, I was able to make it in time for the bachelorette party which was a blast! It was so nice to be able to see my 3 best friends from high school Kaitlyn, Jessie, and Emily. This was the first time we had all been together again since high school so it was a very special occasion. Other festivities included decorating, the rehearsal dinner, the wedding ceremony and reception (of course), and lots and lots of pictures, sweet words, and tears. It was a beautiful ceremony full of sincerity, love, and joy. Congratulations again to Emily and Joe!
3. After the wedding it was time to head to Montana to be with my family (thanks Kaitlyn's family for helping to get me part way there). Although we have fun every day here, I'll just share a few highlights. My mom, dad, mom's boss, and I went on a hike at Crystal Lake to see some ice caves. The hike was 11 miles all together and even though Trevor and I walk everywhere in Korea, I was completely exhausted and even sore the next day. The ice caves were pretty cool (in more than one way ;) ) and it was a pretty hike the whole way around.
4. Sydney and her fiance Jensen came from Rexburg and we had a bridal shower in Lewistown that evening and then headed to Billings the next day for Sydney to be able to go through the temple for the first time. It was a pretty neat experience as this was the first time I was able to go through the temple with a loved one who was going for their first time ever. I really wish my sweet husband could have been there because every time I'm in the temple I think of our wedding more than a year ago. After attending the temple, we went to lunch at Red Robin (YUMMM!) which has been a favorite of Trevor's and mine. Once again, I wished my husband was here because he is one person who appreciates Red Robin maybe even more than I do. Sorry babe you couldn't come!
5. As per usual, I had to cause mischief with my "twin" Ashley. And to prove how much people think we look alike, let me tell you a story. I was at church one Sunday with my parents (Ashley wasn't able to attend because of work constraints) and I was sitting next to my mom during one of the lessons. At the beginning of the meeting, the teenagers join the adults for some announcements. During the announcements, a lady who knows my mom and sisters fairly well came and sat next to me. Shortly after, they dismissed the teenagers to go to their separate class and when I didn't leave, the lady next to me asked me surprisingly if I had graduated. I laughed, understanding the mistake she had made and explained that I was Ashley's older sister. We both laughed and so did my family when I told them what happened. Anyways, it's been fun to spend some time with Ashley while I've been here :D.
To come we still have Sydney and Jensen's wedding, more shenanigans with sista shrub Lindsay, and a dreaded flight back to Korea (not dreaded because I have to be back in Korea but because it is soooooooooo looooooooooonnngggg!!!) I really really really can't wait to see Trevor again. I have missed him so much!
On a side note, with all the wedding this that and the other I've been involved in, I was reminded of my wedding last year. I want to thank again everyone who was so helpful with my wedding. I know it took a lot of work and sometimes I can be pretty passive so a lot of you made decisions for me (sorry!). Thanks Kelsey and Kylie for working so hard on the decorations I was absolutely floored to see the reception space and how amazing it looked. Thanks Kelley for helping out so much with the planning and providing so many resources and making endless trips and doing favors so we didn't have to break the bank! Thanks to my mom Terri for making batches and batches of goodies and bringing them all the way to St. George with you and for handling most of the rsvp details. Thanks Mimi for the beautiful backyard and Julie for the fabulous cake. I'm grateful to Emily for making a long trip just to see me, it was the least I could do to return the favor for your wedding :). I know many more people helped especially everyone in our immediate family and I don't mean to exclude anyone but I really really appreciate everything everyone did to make for a stress free wedding day. I know sometimes I'm not good at thank-you's just because of my shy nature but I really am grateful for all of my family members both the ones I've had since birth and the ones I've gained since.
At work, Trevor is supposed to teach an English conversation class to any interested teachers at the school. There is only one teacher who actually attends the class. He is a math teacher who goes by Mr. Lee (so foreigner's like me can pronounce his name correctly ;) ). Mr. Lee was kind enough to show us around Ulsan and take us out to dinner. We started the day off going to the town hall to see if we could sign up for some free Korean classes. Afterwards, Mr. Lee took us to a whale museum where they have facts and artifacts of the whaling industry that was very popular in Korea. It was cool to see some of the whale bones and get an idea of just how big they are.
Next up was dinner. Mr. Lee treated us nicely by taking us to shabu shabu (read about it in my early post about food if you can't remember) which is probably one of the longest running meals I've ever had. It basically has 3 courses which are all boiled individually by the ones eating. Basically it takes the chef out of the equation and only requires food prep staff ;). After dinner, in order to digest our large meal, Mr. Lee showed us a path along the main river in Ulsan which lead up to a traditional Korean building which was cool to see especially when it was lit up as the sun was setting.
Since I had never tried it before, Mr. Lee then insisted that we go get some patbingsu which is best described as shaved ice. Traditional patbingsu has red bean paste and rice which is supposed to taste sweet according to Koreans which is not particularly how I would describe it. Our patbingsu had oreo cookie crumbles and mango slices with two small scoops of ice cream on top. I know most of you think that snow cones need syrup for flavoring but Koreans are perfectly content with just the basics. I think maybe I just prefer creamy to watery ;). Mr. Lee was so nice to take us around and pay for us to have a fun night!
In the gardens there was a building that had a small aviary as well as some reptiles and a few mammals. Although the rest of the park had been very pleasant, being reptile advocates (especially Trevor), we were somewhat disappointed in the enclosures they had for the reptiles. Most of them were just glass tanks with the animal and maybe a little food dish. We had heard that you could hold some of the animals there, but there wasn't a worker there to let us hold them so we had to walk away with sullen heads. It was easy to regain our happiness though because there was still much beauty to behold. 
After going through all of the gardens, we decided to walk all the way down to a bus stop instead of taking a taxi which is how we got up there in the first place. I was glad we did because the way down was just about a scenic as walking through the gardens. It was such a pretty walk! We ended up at a place a few bus stops from our apartment and ended the day with some pizza. It's simple adventures like these where I just get to enjoy nature and Trevor's company that I love the most!
Ok, I know that this is a long post but I will end with one more story. Another teacher at Trevor's school also wanted to have dinner with us so we decided to have dinner at our house and I would make something American for our new friend. I decided to make potato soup (with American bacon, of course) along with some broccoli and toast. I think he liked it because at first he had kind of a small bowl just in case he didn't care for it but it disappeared quickly and he asked if he could go get more. His second bowl was near to overflowing and it didn't last long either. I was glad to see that some good old American cookin' could satisfy a Korean around our same age. After dinner we talked for a while and enjoyed some cream puffs that our guest had brought with him. I have to have people over for dinner more often! 
