Our China Adventure Is Over

What can I say...this is the last blog entry for wallacewonderfuladventure.  I'm full of emotions as I type.  I remember freaking out when Todd asked if I would be interested in moving to China.  That was in July of 2010.  When we moved to TEDA in June of 2011 we were scared because of the unknown.  Once our feet were in China we knew it was going to be a wonderful ride.  We immediately LOVED the people and TEDA. 

Never once did we want to go home.  We embraced our new adventure and could not of had a better experience.  The friends, the travel, the food, the new experiences (manicures, pedicures, naked spa, massages, cupping, etc) and the new life.  AMAZING!

We have to thank my parents for taking care of our house and everything else for two years.  We could not have done this adventure without their help.  I'm not sure how we will ever repay them.  It's also great that my job allowed me to take two years off from work and then gave me back a job I love.  This adventure was meant to be because everything fell into place.  We can not complain about one thing.

Now that all of our stuff has returned from China our adventure is officially over.  It's time to say goodbye to this chapter of our life.  The memories we will cherish and hold onto forever. 

A China Type Day

My school district decided to cancel school because it was too hot.  Cameron had to go until 1:30 so I had the day to myself.  What to do?  I talked my cousin into cutting my hair off.  I HATED my long hair and it was driving me crazy.  Then I met Karen at K Nails.  We had a pedicure.  It was Karen's first time.  She told the guy about me putting my feet in with fish in China.  He told her she needed fish...big fish to chew on her feet.  I said "like a shark?"  He said "yes, you need shark". 

Karen enjoyed it and so did I.  It was much quicker than in China but they did a great job.  We went to lunch next.  We hit the new Los Agaves (Mexican Restaurant).  We decided to have a Daiquiri.  Lunch was delicious and the drink wasn't bad either.  I felt like I was back in TEDA.  What a great day.

Sea Shipment Arrived

Saturday at 8:45 my mom got a phone call.  It was my Aunt Sharon saying the truck was at my parents house.  My parents neighbor called Aunt Sharon when she saw it sitting at my parents.  Aunt Sharon drove to my parents and then had the truck follow her to our house.  Thank goodness my parents have a nosy neighbor. 

It was a pretty big truck and it had a little bit of trouble getting into the driveway.  Luckily the driver was able to maneuver around enough to get it back to the house.  My mom had to run Cameron to his first soccer game.  I was bummed I had to miss it but someone had to unload the truck.

The truck trying to get back to the house.

Luckily the driver was good.

That's a big truck.

There were 4 guys.  They drove my stuff down from Chicago that morning.  They opened the back and I immediately said "holy crap"...there was a ton of stuff.  My dad got a little lawn chair and sat down.  he was in charge of marking off the numbers of the boxes on a sheet.  The guys started bringing boxes in and I started emptying them.  We were on a roll.  Some of the bigger things they were unpacking outside and then bringing in the contents.  One of the guys said to me "Man, you are a fast unpacker".  I was unpacking and stacking for the most part.  I just wanted the boxes emptied so the guys could take them with them and I didn't want this project to go on all day.

They had to put cardboard and rugs down to protect the floors.

Mom, Aunt Sharon, and Dad supervising. 

The living room was getting full.

Lots of things to unpack.

Dad looked "special" marking boxes off.

Garbage.

Mike was acting like he was working.

The other 3 guys were taking a break.  They enjoyed the shade.

At 11:15 everything was unloaded.  87 boxes.  We only had a couple of problems.  One of our pictures had the glass shattered.  When I opened up our new glasses from IKEA there was only 5 instead of 6.  One must have broke in China because paper was wadded up and stuffed inside the packaging.  Funny.  Nothing major so I was happy.  I finished up the paperwork and the guys loaded up.  By 11:30 they were gone.

Being very careful with the broken glass.

Making their way out of the driveway.

They're gone.

Cameron was pretty bummed when he got home.  He wanted to help open the boxes.  He couldn't believe they were already gone.  He got happier when he knew there were 4 boxes we hadn't opened yet.  They were his toys in the basement. 

My parents stayed to help.  My dad helped hang some things and put things together.  Cameron immediately started putting the 3 futons together.  He was an amazing helper.  He is a lot like my dad...he loves using tools and building things.

At 4:00 we went to church and when we got back we ordered pizza for dinner.  By the time my parents went home almost everything was put away.  It felt great to have things organized and have everything in its place.  Sunday morning we finished the last few things.  The house was really coming together.  If only our furniture would arrive for the living room.  At least we put the 2 recliners in there for now.  We had been sitting on bean bag chairs.

My dad was supervising Cameron putting his desk together.

Such a good team.