Norman Adventures 2014: Part 3

Happy Monday Y'all! 

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. 

Norman has been up to his usual antics- we've only got a few more days with him and we will be sad to see him go. 

Here is what he's been up to this week: 

December 14

Looks like Norman and the Doctor are a lot closer than I thought. #bowtiesarecool 

Norman was hanging out with the Tardis. 

December 15 

We found Norman watching our new favorite show Arrow. We're happy Norman is such a fan. 

December 16

King Norman on his throne of hot cocoa. 

December 17

Not a big surprise Norman loves to play computer games like Matt. It looks like he got some friends together to play one night. 

December 18 

Norman hanging from our stocking holder giving us a count down!

December 19

Looks like Norman wanted to pick up a hobby- he looks like quite the pro with the crochet hook. 

December 20 

Norman was nice enough to put together Christmas stockings for our branch missionaries. These stockings included goodies like oreos, hot coco packets, marshmallows, notebooks, pens, hot packs, highlighters, etc. We did this last year and loved continuing this tradition. 

December 21 

Norman is really loving our new Korean nativity set we got. And we love it too. We've started to collect nativities from the different places we visit. We found a beautiful one from Japan, and now we have this one from Korea. I'm excited to add to this collection. 

And that is part 3 of Norman's adventures. We can't wait to see what he has in store for us for the next four days! 

Have a great week y'all! 

{Don't miss any part of Norman's past adventures.} 

13th Century Village: Mongolia {Travel Tuesday}

Happy Tuesday Y'all!

Today I wanted to go back to our Mongolia trip and share some more the amazing things we saw while there. 

On the last day of our tour, we visited a 13th Century Village. This is a live museum of sorts where people live and work like they did in the 13th century. Many of the people that work in this village have never been to the city of Ulan Bator and have no desire to visit the city. 

We got to visit the Shaman camp, herder's camp, the king's palace, and the educational camp. While the road to get to these places was super bumpy and rough- it was so worth it. It was absolutely amazing. 

{This is just dried poo. They start to collect this in the early fall so they will have something to add to the fire during the winter months. We saw a few women out in the fields collecting the poo. There are not a lot of trees nearby this area, so this is the best heating source.} 

 {They were super into us trying on all the clothes.} 

{We might have been a little obsessed with this little boy.}

At the last stop, we got to try both wet and hard cheese and yogurt that they made right at this camp. I'm not going to lie- it was pretty hard to choke down. It was cool to try, but it was really bad. But at least I finished my portion. 

We enjoyed walking around the 13th century village and seeing more of Mongolia. 

So is Mongolia on your travel list yet? 

{Linking up with Bonnie}

Norman Adventures 2014: Part 2

Happy Monday Y'all! 

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. 

Here are Norman's adventures from the week. 

December 7 

Norman doing a bit of light reading. He loves his comic books just like Matt. 

December 8 

We found Norman hanging out in our Christmas tree admiring a couple of new ornaments we picked up this year, including the cute H from Lisa Leonard and the little elephant from Cambodia. 

December 9

Norman studying up on his 한글. What a smart little cookie. 

December 10 

Oh no- Looks like Norman caught a little bit of a cold and was out for the day. 

December 11 

Norman made us a sweet treat. 

December 12 

Norman enjoying a Skype date with my cousin Jessie. PS- do you love his new outfit? Grandma and Grandpa Ho sent him this cute aviator jacket and goggles. 

December 13 

Looks like he loves his outfit as well- Norman found our selfie stick and took some pics. He is fitting into Korean quite well! 

And that's what he was up to this week! Stay tuned for more of Norman's adventures. 

And if you missed anything make sure to click here. 

Reflections: Months 15 and 16

Happy Thursday Y'all! 

Today I wanted to write a few thoughts on life in Korea and where we are at now.  16 months! Can you believe it. I haven't been home or stepped foot in America in 16 months. For Matt it's closer to 18. 

Our time in Korea is running down. We will be leaving Korea at the start of May. We are excited and a bit nervous. Mongolia was our last international trip, so we are getting a bit antsy to travel again. We have tickets to Thailand booked for February and plan on hitting Hong Kong before leaving. We have New Year's off and were thinking about going somewhere, but tickets are a little too expensive. 

Anyway- here's where things are. 

Things I'm Excited For Back Home: 

-Seeing family

-Figuring out what school we will be going to and where our next home will be 

- Chick-fil-A

-Home cooked meals where it's easy to find all the ingredients 

-Starting school again 

-Seeing my BFs new baby

-Seeing my new niece 

-Target 

Things That Make Me Nervous About Home: 

- Driving 

-Feeling antsy and trapped about living in America

-Feeling bored 

-Being around large groups of Americans

-Starting school again 

-Listening to political talk 

- Matt finding a job right away 

I am excited for the next chapter in our lives, and I am ready to get this graduate degree under my belt. But I would be lying if I didn't say we are already looking at how we can make it back overseas. I really think this is our future- life as expats. It's just so much fun. We would love to be in Europe. Or even Japan. Shoot- we'd move back to Korea if we could find jobs in our actual fields. 

And there you have it months 15 and 16. 

Travel Tuesdays: Mongolia

Happy Tuesday Y'all! 

Today I'm going to take you back to Mongolia. I know I'm flip flopping between countries, but playing catch up is hard. 

While on the second day of our tour, we visited a Buddhist Monastery in Terjli National Park. This wasn't on the tour itinerary, but our wonderful guide Jangar added it in for us. And I'm so glad he did. It was beautiful. We had to hike up there, but it was so worth it. 

Before leaving for Mongolia- I was talking to my Dad about getting hiking shoes for the trip, but not wanting true hiking shoes because I don't hike. My Dad said- well, if you hike you will see some amazing things. And one this trip I really learned that. There were times I really didn't want to keep walking, but every time I made it to the top- it was completely worth it. 

On the way up to the  temple there were all these scriptures or proverbs of sorts for us to read. 

Mongolia was so beautiful in the fall. The weather was perfect and the leaves were so beautiful. 

I'm glad I walked up to the top to the temple and saw the wonderful view it provided. 

Questions- to hike or not to hike?