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I was thinking about these photos tonight as I drove home, and I realized I’d not posted them yet the blog. So . . . here is my lovely husband all dressed up in Texas two years ago.
Our dear neighbors and friends, Jerry and Lin, hosted Lawrance while he was in Texas before we got married. Jerry is the one responsible for dressing up Lawrance. Thanks, Jerry!! Lawrance and I got new glasses over CNY. This is the first time since junior high that Law hasn’t had frame-less/rimless glasses. Of course I’m kinda partial, but I like them! :)  my handsome hubby makes my heart swoon :D
Sunday night Lawrance and I went on a picnic with Gilby. We went to a park near my home right at sunset. He found a place to eat, and we sat there for a long time. Eating and talking. Gilby was getting anxious, so we stood up and got him to some grass. Finally, he (Lawrance, not Gilby) asked if I’d like to walk along side the river that runs into the harbor. When he first suggested this park earlier in the week I actually thought that this would be a good time to hold hands. And, I’d even thought about telling him that he didn’t have to “trick me” into holding hands (like his brother had suggested); all he had to do was ask for my hand, and I would give it to him, but that I’d wait till he was ready . . . he would have to be the one to initiate. I’d even practiced this little speech in my head. So . . .we walk. I make sure that my hand next to him is free (leash in other hand, purse on other shoulder). We walked this way all the way to the end. For, oh, about 30 minutes. He kept taking his hand in and out of his pocket as we walked. When we turned around at the end I thought “ok, I’m ready to give my speech now.” I didn’t want to pressure him; I just wanted him to know it was ok with me–hoping to take away some of the pressure. So, we reach the end, and as I’m switching purse and leash (to once again make sure the hand next to his is empty), I look down and he offers me his hand. Before I took it, I looked at him to double check if it was ok. He just smiled, and I took it. I can’t tell you how sweet it was. So gentle of him to do it this way. I told him I was about ready to tell him he could have it if only he’d ask for it. He told me that he’d been thinking and thinking about how to do it and when to do it and where to do it. He wanted it to be just right. Well, if I do say so myself, he did a good job of making it “just right.” Later, as the evening came to an end. He told me, “today is a big day.” And, I was like “really? why?” And he said, “because today is the first day I held your hand.” It was so sweet. He is so sweet. So . . . a month and a half into dating, and he finally holds my hand. Although not easy, it was worth waiting for.
Hi, this is Lawrance Wu, the other owner of this blog. I wanna say hi to every one here. Sorry for being so late to say hello. Well….my sweet wife, Amanda is going to America. I am a little bit sad (well….sad a lot in fact), but I am also happy that she can have time with her family, enjoy her favorite Mexican food…etc. OK….I wanna say…………..Amanda, I LOVE YOU and I’LL MISS YOU here……….. Even though I’ve let my blog slip majorly in the past few weeks and months, I couldn’t let my blogaversary and annual tradition of choosing one photo per month slip past. This will be my fifth year to do this:
I think I took less photos in all of 2009 than I did in many of the months of 2008. Kinda makes me a little sad, and makes me want to resolve to take more photos in 2010. Anywho, not analyzing anything right now, which I am OH so tempted to do. Let me get right to the point . . . below you find a month by month look at our 2009 using only one photo per month. January: We celebrate our first Chinese New Year together in Meinong February: New Life Bilingual Church in Kaohsiung starts meeting March: We marry again . . . well, ok, we celebrate our marriage covenant in Taiwan with our Taiwanese friends and family April: I have my first birthday as a wife (aka, I turn 31) May: Some of our friends marry . . . and Lawrance is the MC at their wedding banquet June: We start our summer Sunday afternoon tradition of eating ice after church
July: We go on several dates during the summer . . . Thai food, the beach and more
August: We celebrate our first anniversary in Kenting September: Sadly Wu Mama is diagnosed with liver cancer October: Lawrance is a clown (well, maybe he always is one, but at least he LOOKED like one this time) November: I start studying Chinese again (This is my awesome Chinese teacher) December: Law’s parents help us to decorate our tree . . . a Wu family first!
Unfortunately lack of energy is a vicious cycle–no energy to cook good stuff = eating out; eating out = not always eating the best foods; not eating healthy = no energy. So, during the midterm week, when I wasn't grading tests or catching up on laundry. I searched for some recipes to turn into the 30 meals project that My requirements were that the recipes:
Finding meals that meet all four requirements was no small task! Although Lawrance is generally easy going and not too picky about food, finding things we both love to eat often has proved to be a challenge. So, my first recipe test was something I found at Cooking During Stolen Moments: Apricot Chicken. It was SO easy and best of all packed full of flavor!! I kinda went a bit overboard using freshly cracked black pepper and might have used extra garlic–so our's was not only tangy, but spicy too–she does say to season to taste. :) This is probably the least low-carb recipe I collected since it uses apricot jam, but it is definitely something I'll be making again before too long. Side-note to anyone in Taiwan wanting to give this a try: I used half of a jar of Carrefour brand apricot jam (french name on bottle) to cover 6 chicken breast quarters. like grandfather,
like husband . . . or something like that. :)
I love my two clowns!! Besides sharing a similar costume idea, my two clowns both LOVE children and are also both great big kids at heart!! Gotta love my clowns!! We found out this week that Lawrance's mom has stage 3 liver cancer. We've been told to expect her time left on earth to not be very long.
We would very much appreciate prayers for the Wu family right now. The one praise this week has been that Wu MaMa accepted Christ as her savior on Wednesday. After Lawrance shared his testimony, a dear Christian friend invited Wu MaMa to believe and she did. Father is merciful to the end. I am so thankful for his patience and mercy!! Praise Him! So, in the midst of a heartbreaking situation there is hope. Right now, I will just leave it at this . . . we thank you for going to the Father on our behalf. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~ I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. (Psalm 121) Years ago . . . maybe about 8 . . . Lawrance was a new Christian. He attended a "One Day Taiwan" conference. When scanning in photos a while back for our wedding montage, I saw this photo from that conference.
And, after looking at the younger version of Lawrance, looked back a few rows and saw a red head that I recognized! Someone I knew from college was in Lawrance's photo! I even emailed her (ok, facebooked her) and asked if it really was her. In fact, several people from my college in America were at the same conference in Taiwan that Lawrance was at. It's a small world. To celebrate our first year of marriage, Lawrance and I went to Kenting for three days. We had a great time just being together, relaxing, and being in a beautiful place!! As for "anniversary traditions," we've decided to read our vows to each other each year and to write and then read a card to each other each year. We'd also like to make it a tradition to just get away for at least one day to be together alone. This time, Lawrance choose for us to read our vows and cards to each other on the beach. We got there a bit late (after sunset) so we used his cell phone as our flashlight to read to each other on the darkened beach. It was really sweet.  {we first took a tourism train–to kaohsiung–huge seats} ~*~*~*~*~*~
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~*~*~*~*~*~ We did go to the beach twice . . . but those photos are on Law's cell phone. And, even though we used 50 SPF, we both still got sunburned. :( I love you Lawrance!! I thank God daily for making you my husband. What a privilege to walk life next to you, with you. What great joy is mine . . . all because God is kind and gave me to you and you to me. Happy 1st Anniversary, LaoGong!! I am SO excited by what a good friend handed to me last night!! She passed on to me a CD of videos from our Taiwanese wedding! Here is the first thing I saw . . . Lawrance singing to me a song entitled "Vows" after we had exchanged our vows. I got giddy just listening to it last night!! My Groom Sings To Me from amanda wu on Vimeo. I LOVE listening to him sing . . . and I often ask him to sing me to sleep. I am blessed! One of our favorite restaurants is called DuDu Cafe. It is a family style restaurant that serves food that is most similar to Chinese dishes you might find in the States.
Now do you see why we like it? DELICIOUS!!! Today is Father's Day in Taiwan. Here's why:
Actually, many people here are surprised to hear that Father's Day in America is not August 8th but rather in June. Today is also the 2nd typhoon day in a row. Typhoon 莫拉克 has been perhaps the biggest typhoon I've ever experienced. Officially 6 have died and over 20,000 have been evacuated. We've had heavy rain and wind for two days in a row now. It was dumping 3-6 feet of rain per hour. And, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau, "the storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 144kph." Signs, plants, and mopeds have been down all over our city, streetlights aren't working, tree limbs are in the streets, and intersections are flooded. We took Lawrance's parents out to lunch despite the typhoon, but other than that, we've been locked inside. So, I'd like to let Lawrance introduce his parents to you. So, please meet my in-laws:
Sunday, after worshiping the most high God and fellowshiping with our church family, Lawrance and I took a three hour nap. I guess we were tired. :) When we woke up, Lawrance asked if he could invite me to the beach. I said, "Yes!! Let's go now, before the sunsets!!" We got there and were actually surprised to see so many people there! Last time we were there it was during the school year, and we were the only ones there. :) This beach is only about 8 minutes from our house . . . we should go there more often. And it's cool because the sand is black. So, here we are last spring and this summer . . . then just dating and now married 11 months . . .
God is kind! :) I am so thankful to my very generous AbBa Fu (Daddy God) who has given me such a kind, considerate, patient husband who cherishes me, protects me, meets my needs, and invites me to go with him to the beach!! :) I learned something very important about the Chinese language within the last two weeks. It actually shocked me to learn something so important this late in the game. How I missed it all these years, I do not know. Here is what I learned: In Chinese, when you want to show respect, you use the third person and avoid personal pronouns such as "you" and "me."
This concept is covered in Intro to Chinese 101. Nothing surprising there. But, it wasn't until I've overheard my husband on the phone many times recently talking to his boss–a manager. Unlike other conversations, I heard no "you." I only heard her title "manager." So, for example instead of "I got your message," he'd say "I got the manager's message" and instead of "thank you, manager" it is "thanks, manager." Bells were ringing all over in my head . . . connections being made left and right. I was totally "getting" many aspects of culture (that I thought I knew) at a whole new deeper level. It was a great feeling. Addressing someone by their title ALL the time and avoiding using even the polite "ning" form of you, is how you show respect. GOT IT!! After making this connection last week, I asked my husband about it . . .and then I asked him about his prayers. When he prays in Chinese he NEVER uses the first person. So, instead of "I want to thank you for my wife" the prayer is "Child thanks God for the wife given to Child." And instead of "Please help me to . . . ," it is "please help Child to . . . "
So, my exciting linguistic cultural breakthrough led to something even more exciting and meaningful . . . a special reminder about prayer. I couldn't stop thinking about the implications of calling myself "child" in prayer. Amazing how something that native English speakers use to be proud and arrogant–speaking of themselves in the third person–is used to show humility and respect by native Chinese speakers. So, I now know that avoiding "you" in Chinese and replacing it with the person's title is a great sign of respect, but avoiding "me" and replacing it with a word that describes my relationship with the person is an even greater sign of respect. And, as I often say in class, "interesting, huh?"
After we got the new camera, we, unfortunately and fortunately, learned that our older camera wasn't as broken as we thought. (Unfortunately since we didn't "need" to buy a new camera, and fortunately because now we each have our own camera.) At first we thought it was just the perpetually shaking shutter, which rendered the camera useless even with power. And, then since "fully charged" batteries were not able to power up the camera for more than five seconds, we assumed that it was dead for sure. When we got the battery charger for the new camera, we noticed our older camera batteries fit inside, so we charged our old batteries in the new charger. We discovered that the perpetual shaking of the shutter stopped once the batteries were charged with our new charger. So, it wasn't our camera that was broken. And it wasn't our batteries that were bad. So, it must have been our older battery charger, right? But, the sad thing is . . . the charger wasn't broken either. The charger was just dusty, so the connection was bad. So, I got a new camera all because we have lots of dust in Taiwan. So . . . the moral of the story is if you think you have a bad camera or bad batteries, make sure the charger is clean before you reach your final verdict on the state of your camera. :) Anywho, here are some of the photos we've taken with our new camera:
{our Sunday ritual of "ice"} ~*~*~
{cutest bug zapper ever} ~*~*~
{one of Law's fav snacks–dried tofu–kinda like "tofu jerky"}
{where I teach English on Fridays–at a livestock research institute}
{buying a train ticket} As Mrs. Happy Housewife guessed from some great observation . . he was waiting for a hair cut!! Here is the ticket that the machine gave us . . . the store is called “Just Cut House” because all they do is cut hair–no washing, no styling, noting else but cutting.
And here is a before and after. :)
As Lisa mentioned, it is really simple–at first she trimmed him up, but then I told him just go for it and get it buzzed all over. It’s perfect for summer time. :) And do you know what!! My man has curly hair too!! Granted not nearly as tight a curl as mine, but there is some definite curl going on there. Too cute!!
Everyone keeps asking me what I'm doing for my summer break. I reply "just being a housewife." Without exception every Taiwanese friend, student, and stranger I've had this conversation with then expresses their sympathies for me, trying to cheer me up. What they don't realize is that I need no cheering up. I am SO looking forward to the month of July where I get to be a full time housewife for the first time in my life. I've already enjoyed these past two weeks of laundry and washing dishes . . . it's so much easier and more enjoyable when I can do it during my day as time allows and as my work for the day rather than as a chore I must squeeze in before going to work. They don't get it. I don't know. Maybe you won't either . . . maybe you think, "silly girl, wait to you've done ten (twenty, thirty) years of your man's dirty laundry–then we'll talk about the 'joy' you have then."
Depending on the situation and/or depth of the relationship, I will remind them that not too long ago I was living alone all day everyday. Now, I have someone to anticipate coming home to me. Now, I get to eagerly wait for him to call me and return back to me. It's WAY better than living alone 24/7. And, crazy as it may sound, it is way more fun to clear the table, change the sheets, dust the furniture, or what-have-you when I know I am blessing someone else. When it was just me living here . . . OH it was SO miserable "keeping house." I hated it with a passion. I secretly wondered if I'd even make a good wife. My married friends were able to manage their households of 3 or 4 or 5 . . . . and me? well, I was struggling with my little household of 1. :( I know I wouldn't score perfectly in housekeeping 101 (I thank God my hubby is so patient and understanding), but I do know (again, crazy as it may sound) keeping house is a lot more fun and rewarding and joyful when I'm not the only one making the messes. ;) So, yes, I totally look forward to a "boring" summer of being a stay-at-home wife. I'll be honest: it almost feels as if I get to "play" at being a house keeping wife. And, actually, it feels like I'm getting to live my dream. For the latter half of my 20's I dreamed about being married . . . I longed to have someone's socks to wash and underwear to fold. Speaking of . . . I think there's a basket a clean laundry awaiting me in the other room right now as I speak! Sunday evening at about 9 pm, after visiting with Law's parents, we stopped by the grocery store for some milk and chocolate ice cream (basic necessities, you know). After walking into the grocery store, Law saw this and just had to stop and get in line. He put 100 NT (about 3 US dollars) into the machine and it gave him a ticket with a number. So, can you guess what he prepaid for? Why is he waiting in line?
By the way, the red light means wait time will be 15 min, yellow means wait time will be between 5-10 minutes, and green light means no wait necessay. I think we waited about 3-5 minutes . . . not too bad for a Sunday night! :) . . . Lawrance asked me to be his wife.
Ahhh . . . what happy, happy memories! God is KIND!!! :D
"Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!" The wedding banquet started around 12:30 following the wedding ceremony at the church. First, we signed the guest book and gave the people at the table our wedding gift (a red envelope with cash inside). They immediately record the names on the red envelope and the amount of the gift. In modern Taiwanese culture, the majority of the money given at the wedding goes towards paying for the banquet. And the banquet room was really festive with balloons everywhere! After the guests had found their tables and sat down, the bridal party and bride and groom entered the banquet hall. The flower children came in after the groomsman and maid of honor, the only thing that indicates that they are there is that someone had tied helium balloons to their wrists. (The man speaking the Chinese . . . that's my hubby, he was the MC of the banquet.)
Thanking all the guests for coming by toasting from the font stage. Since I didn't get many photos of the food from our banquet, I made sure to get a photo of EVERY SINGLE dish taken at their wedding as well as some of the drinks. There were around 25 tables. Here's the view of our table.
After a few dishes . . .bride and groom enter again, this time with the bride in a new dress. Games and tricks on brides and grooms is a HUGE part of most wedding banquets. This very private couple didn't want to be embarrassed. So, Lawrance and I came up with a game for the new couple to play. He asked them questions such as "who fell in love first" and "who will hold the remote control to the TV." Then they decided who and held up a photo of the one they thought was the answer. Their "punishment" for not agreeing with each other was for MeiShiang to find (with her hands only, eyes closed) some black file clips that Lawrance had hid on GouJong–one for every question "wrong." They also had the really sweet idea to "reward" their guests with a "lucky draw." They asked their guests to leave words of blessings on little cards and then drew out 30 of the blessings to read aloud during the banquet. Those whose blessings were read aloud were given homemade mango pudding as a reward. They then went table to table toasting their guests ten at a time. After the toasting, they disappeared for awhile and came back with the bride in dress number three and ready to give away the bride's bouquet. They had a really unique way of giving away the bouquet. They called all their single friends–male and female–up to the front by name. Then handed each one a red string. One of the red strings was attached to the bouquet. The one with the lucky attached string got to keep the bouquet. The rest went home with consolatory chopsticks. The happy bride waves "bye!!" :D
There is a eighty year old man at our church who is a master calligrapher. He has gifted several of members of our church with calligraphy. We were his latest recipients. He gave us this print that is 1 Corinthians 13. He told us that he gave us this artwork because (1) he sits behind us in church and enjoys seeing us arm and arm and (2) I have good English (I wonder why?? *smile*). We've been told that this print is worth as much or more than our new fridge!! And it (the calligraphy, not the fridge) was just given to us folded in a brown envelope! WOW!!! :) Lawrance and I got it framed last week, and then Law hung it up in our living room this week. Law enjoys doing calligraphy himself; and, he absolutely loves our new living room art work. We are SO blessed!
When we married he could fry an egg and boil instant noodles. Law's mother is an excellent cook, and she prepares three meals a day every day. They hardly ever ate out. Moreover, she grows her own vegetables organically. Very healthy, very frugal. (Confession: this knowledge kinda scared me after I found out . .. I knew I'd never be able to live up to that.) Anywho, one day he got the random idea to call her and ask how to make shrimp and fried eggs. Then he started playing around with other dishes. Let's just say . . . I'm blessed. :) I always look forward to lunch on Fridays.
But . . . there was one huge disappointment . . . the "peppermints" I bought here in Taiwan had some extra "flavor" (menthol). That's just not right on a birthday cake!! :) My birthday present was the purse sitting behind the flowers . . . I got to pick it out. And, on the Saturday before my birthday, Lawrance came home with the flowers. At that time all the lilies were closed. It was fun watching them one by one throughout the week. He is SO thoughtful!! :) ___________ ___________
And, Lawrance took me out to a stake place called "Tasty." They have a set meal that is 7 courses–for most of the courses you get to choose between 2 or 3 items. It was very nice! I think they have some of the best wait staff in Taiwan. Not all of the courses and also not in the correct order, but to give you the basic idea . . . Maybe not the best dessert they have but definitely the coolest (as in most unique) is a fried chocolate wanton that you break and pour over vanilla ice cream. Then you get to eat the rest of the fried chocolate wanton.
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Hi! We are Lawrance and Amanda Wu. We live in Taiwan--a little tea leaf shaped island in Asia. Amanda is from Texas and Lawrance from Tainan. We met, fell in love and married in 2008. We both teach English and both love to tell others about Jesus. We also both really enjoy laughing, and we both just happen to enjoy "ching cha," a type of fabulous green tea. Thanks for stopping by our blog. Wuhoo!                      
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