"In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made...oh, there's nothing you can't do, now you're in New York, these streets make you feel brand new..."

Nope, we're not in New York, however, the Hong Kong hustle and bustle surely compares!  I notice multiple times a week on my runs that there is NO grass!  No open space of lush green softness!  It is a concrete jungle.  But there is something still so beautiful about it! The buildings start to take on such a pretty shape with the rising/setting sun.  And where there aren't buildings, there are hills/mountains of really exotic plants and trees.  We are not living officially on the island of Hong Kong but it really looks like an island on most parts.  We love it!

God has been SO loving and kind to us since our arrival.  We are truly settling in to our home and recently purchased a couch (pictures to follow)!  This couch has so many meanings to us. Simple, yes, but it represents something we were patient for, something we sacrificed without for a few months, and of course, the 'planting of roots.'  We are preparing to move out of our convenient apartment this year and find our own for next year.  We have started touring a couple areas just to really get an idea of the location we might want. I think we are both leaning towards staying in the New Territories (which is really just more of the suburb of Hong Kong) because you get more for your money.  We would love to continue to MAKE money on our living situation (the school pays a housing allowance and if you're under that amount, which we are in our current apartment, you pocket the difference. SO GREAT!).  Anyway, God has really blessed us with the comfort to buy something a bit permanent.  He's brought our hearts to a place of trusting Him for the years ahead on our living situation and there is such a sense of peace that's come with this.  We don't spend hours debating over what our options are or hours planning our next move.  We just wait with rested assurance, He is faithful!

So. Now that it's been a few weekends, let's recap!  We have actually worked the past couple of Saturdays in exchange for other days off (either a Monday now, or a day off later in the year).  This has made the weekends a little less restful and really makes Christmas break a desired thing! 

We started taking Cantonese lessons (the language spoken here). That's Taylor learning to introduce himself! We've since switched to Mandarin lessons because it will be more widely used in China--and it's easier to learn!

The only soda machine I have seen! But SO great! And Slurpees!

Just a foggy pretty day near our school--where there is some grass :)

The above pictures are Jenny (top) and Jan--some of the ladies we live with on the 7th floor.  We went to have a spa day in Shenzhen--over the border into mainland China.  They treat you like royalty, including paper panties! This was the locker room where they soon told me I could not have pictures but they gave us little jumpers to wear and we went on to have hour long foot massages, pedicures, hair washing and straightening and hour long leg massages--for a grand total of $20 US. AMAZING!

Ok so these are stores that we actually shop in! The top one is a picture of a hardware store--it's jam packed full of goodies that you dig for! (Mom, that's the picture for Dziadek!)  The bottom is where you get school supplies, called a stationary store. They have crafting things, too.  You can't buy pens in boxes/bulk so every now and then when we lose the few we have, we go buy a couple new ones.  Oh, how things have changed from the junk drawer FULL of pens!  

Beautiful river by our place...

Alive and well :)  On the train..

Our for some Thai food with the Bradfords.  Love the friendships we have here!

Amazing pineapple and cashew rice (served in a pineapple)...one of my faves!

On our way to the bus for church--such pretty mornings!

Funny. SO DANGEROUS!

The apartment pools here are insane! This is one of our friends which he mentions is nothing compared to most others.  Looking forward to next year and laying out by the pool often!

We started a tradition last year of Starbucks and Christmas ornament shopping on the first snow.  Since there is no way we will ever see snow here, we decided to base it off of Colorado, still.  China does not really do Christmas the same...nor were they not prepared for 'Christmas' like weather in October like Colorado received. SO. We got creative and had a 'wet market' Christmas ornament year! We had a small budget and we each pick an ornament for the other one in mind and then we pick on together.  I got Taylor the world's biggest chopsticks and he got me some Chinese figurines. Together we got the Hong Kong flag. Our Christmas tree will always be full of memories!

Outside my classroom/office window...steam rolling in!

Last month we tried something new! I needed a break from the overwhelming shopping stores so we had out groceries delivered! You order online, they come the next day and even load them to your counter top. This beats carrying heavy bags all across town any day!

Pretty view outside the nastiest bathroom in China.  Oh well. ;)

TDub Will in mainland China. Gorgeous!

Rach and I, shopping the warehouses in China. Frameless glasses are all the rage here--and everyone has them.  We couldn't bring ourselves to purchase but thought we would join the crowd for a moment!

First American style breakfast out since we've been here! He's SO happy!  The Green Waffle Diner is our new favorite :)

Enjoying a day around town..

This restaurant collects wine bottles--trash can be so pretty!

HK..sunshine is back!

Handsome husband!

Someone (Taylor) has taken a new liking to fun belt buckles for his Friday attire. The kids love it!  So far, it's super heroes (including Nintendo and Michael Jordan).  

Last weekend we had the annual fall festival. Taylor was in the dunk tank for an hour or so and several of his students waited to hit the target and shove him in the water! So fun!

He's such a good teacher, he even let them paint his fingernails and toenails for money.  It came off within the hour, but still!

Festival wrapping up..

The Taco Truck!  It's a building shaped like a truck with cheap Mexican food and outdoor seating. I see it in our future!

Heading to our 1 AM Broncos party to watch Tebow start!

The spread...and the late night, devoted fans!

Out to Thai with the Swineharts and the Bradfords...such fun times!

This guy has been stopped outside the school selling wrapped cocunut wafers in a tortilla ...and candied fruit. YUM!

Date night! As always, HUGE malls full of escalators.  Trying to take pictures in the reflection...

We had such a nice night at Applegreen...porkchops and different flavored sausages (only Taylor).  We've celebrated the 27th of every month for the past 22 months..and plan to keep it up as the years go on!

The couch!!  Ikea delivered and assembled it at 10 PM one night--so sorry for our neighbors.  We ordered pizza in celebration! The red-headed step child black pleather park bench couch will remain in the corner.  The new one opens up to a full bed and has storage underneath.  Currently, I have been sitting on it for 4 hours straight and have yet to feel uncomfortable. Money well spent!

'Tebowing' on the MTR!

Off to a night out with friends to celebrate a birthday!

Hong Kong...little smoggy but still breathtaking!

A lovely night by the water--at McLovin's...they're 'superbad' ;)

Wow.  If you made it through this whole blog, I'm impressed.  I tend to pile up the pictures to make it worth the read--but this time, it was a little overwhelming. Welcome to Hong Kong! Ha.  We are off to get some veggies and small groceries for the week--and hit the couch, yet again.  We are missing the Colorado sporadic weather, trick-or-treaters, fall and Christmas decorations and our wonderful friends and family! We love you!

Happy Fall!