Update!

Well we moved into the apartment Wednesday afternoon. It's so nice to be out of the hotel. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see a fridge full of food. I'm so sick of fast food! We don't have internet yet so I'm in the apartment business center. We should get internet and cable (yes, you read right...I'm actually giving in and getting cable...It's a first for me) by the beginning of next week. We're in the process of furnishing the apartment now. I'll post pics soon!

Time for a little History lesson

Hola amigos,
Welcome to China Town of Wichita Falls, Tejas. I know....I know....I'm chinese not mexican. I can just hear you guys now. Jillian and I took "Baby" aka Emma Liu to Lucy Park today. We stumbled upon this chinese architectural building and out of amazement and disbelieve we caught ourselves starring at this UBO (Unidentified Big Object) for 2 hours. We hurried home to start our research. According to an old Chinese legend that dates back 2000 years during the construction of The Great Wall of China. Because of the magnitude of this project the Emperor hired a 3rd party contractor to help with the construction. This 3rd party was led by Christopher Columbus and his crew on the MayFlower. The legend states that Columbus miscalculated his destination point and as a result overshot his landing. They landed off the bank of what is known today as Wichita Falls River. Thinking that they had landed in China, Columbus and his crew began to construct this magnificent chinese architectural palace.

Chris

New Car

So Chris got a new car the other day. The Saturn has some problems and my dad advised we get rid of it ASAP. Since my dad knows cars we took his advice. Chris' new car is a 2005 Scion. It's great for gas mileage....40 miles to the gallon!

Apartment Update

We found an apartment we like yesterday. And today we filled out all the paperwork and turned it in! We should be able to move in next Thursday and POSSIBLY Wednesday. I'll be sooo happy to get out the hotel. I'll also be happy to be able to start cooking again. I love to cook and I'm tired of eating fast food for nearly every meal! GROSS!! We're going to get furniture and decorations for it too....so I'm pretty excited!

Psalms 139

This is a heavy blog so beware….

I run several times a week, but the other day ran a 6 miles. This is the farthest I've ever ran at one time. I run not only to keep in shape, but also because of the way it makes me feel. When I’m done I feel confident, strong, and energized just to name a few. On my way home I was thinking about how good I felt and I started thinking about how those feelings would fade. I’ll go on with my day and within a few hours the running high will be gone. Confidence is something I’ve struggled with a lot. I don’t know why, but I just do. I’ve learned through the years though to lean on God. He’s where my true confidence comes from.

I know God created me, but sometimes I don’t think about that as I should. I don’t think about the way God purposely created me. I don't think many of us do. And I often focus on my weakness as something I need to fix and as something that really holds me back. But Psalms 139:13 says that He knit me together in my mother’s womb. God thoughtfully created every part of me. He knew what my life would entail before I was born. He knew my strengths and weakness, my struggles and triumphs, yet He created me as He did. So why do I worry thinking my weakness are something I need to fix. Perhaps He created me in this specific way so He could shine through my weakness and allow them to be used for His glory.

I encourage you to read Psalm 139, it's a very powerful Psalm that really helps me grasp the very personal God we have.

Apparently Captain America knows the secret of running as well:

World's Smallest Skyscraper

A little trivia to enlarge your brain, enjoy!

Where is the world's smallest skyscraper?

Texas of course, not everything is big here. According to legend a scam artist drew up plans for the building to lure in investors, not telling them that it was scaled in inches instead of feet. After pulling in $200,000.00 the Littlest Skyscraper, as it is now referred to, was built in 1919. Needless to say investors were a bit disappointed when they realized that what they thought to be a 500'+ solid investment turned out to be a mere 10' x 16' 4 story building. The world's smallest sky scraper is located on LaSalle Street in Wichita Falls, Texas and is now called the McMahon Building and houses an antiques shop.

The Real Wichita Falls

Retraction on a previously listed Blog by Jillian

Sorry everyone for the inconvenience! This is the actual falls that which the city of Wichita Falls was named. This is the present 5.4-foot man-made waterfall (not 54-foot man-made waterfall as previously stated) cascade on the south bank of the Wichita River. I apologize for the confusion.

Chris is so Strong!!

Hi everyone, this is Chris. Just wanted to show everyone what I've been up to. There is a World's Strongest Man Competition coming up soon. Just been doing a lot of training. You guys thought I was down here for work, but really I've been down here training. I still can't believe I pushed that tree down.

Emma

My friend Stephanie tells me it's creepy when people dress up their dogs. I think it's cute.

Judge for yoursef......

uuumm.....Need I say more?!

Wichita Falls

Today we went to the Falls. The city’s original namesake falls washed away in a flood back in the 1800’s. In 1987 a new falls was constructed upstream. The present 54-foot man-made waterfall is a multi-level cascade on the south bank of the Wichita River. There's a park with all kinds of trails and paths and one of them leads directly to the falls....pretty huh?!

So our first two nights here we stayed at the Quality Inn and it was disgusting. If you ever vacation in Wichita Falls I do not recomend the Quality Inn. Emma pulled an entire cookie out from underneath the bed along with a mass amount of trash and even some gum...gross! The shower curtain was also extremely moldy. Luckily, chris' work got us a great discount at the Howard Johnson. It's MUCH cleaner and nicer. Sadly the pool is out of order and none of the treadmills work, but hopefully I'll find a gym tomorrow.

Here's a few of Emma enjoying our new room:

FYI Emma threw up on the bed at the Quality Suites...probably due to the trash she chewed on and ate....I feel bad for the next people in that room since they probably won't clean the bedspread....oops!

I did it!

Well, Erin talked me into starting this....I figure it'll be a good way for our family and friends to keep up with us. We moved to Texas yesterday.

We had a little trouble starting out. Chris' car has a coolant leak so he went to put coolant in and the hood release broke off. Luckily my dad saved the day got the hood open for us. That gave us an hour late start...not too bad!

I was pretty lucky that Emma slept most the way

Today was our first full day here. The high was 64....back in Missouri it was snowing...haha!