The Birthday Cake

For my birthday, Danielle made me a birthday cake. Danielle is an awesome cook and an awesome birthday cake maker. The picture above is of the birthday cake she made for me. Isn't she so talented?

"Caffeine Amy" is a nickname my friends in Winston-Salem gave to me. When I have too much caffeine or I haven't had caffeine in a while and then have a cup of coffee or Coke, I get real hyper and say funny things. Thanks Danielle. I loved it.

My Fake Birthday

My birthday is on December 29th and I never seem to celebrate it on the day of my birthday. So last year, we started to use the term "fake birthday" when we celebrated someone's birthday not on their actual day. This year my fake birthday was on December 26th. My friends and I went to ride a ferris wheel at a local park. This ferris wheel is no ordinary ferris wheel. It is actually the largest one in our province. It is 264 feet tall and takes about 30 minutes for it to rotate completely one time. Also, it has enclosed compartments that you sit in. While we were in it, we got to see alot of the city, which was really neat. The picture up top is of the ferris wheel and the picture below is of us girls riding in it. It was alot of fun. On the way home, we stopped at McDonald's and had lunch. Then that night, we had my birthday dinner and birthday cake! Which desires it's own post of it's own. I will write that one soon...

A Special Gift

On Christmas morning, my roommate and I received a knock at the door. When we opened the door, our friends, Josh and Danielle, were standing there with two big presents. They came in, we opened the presents and found two of the item above. I was so shocked and excited to have this cherished item! If you can't tell from the picture, it is a framed version of my marathon race number, my medal from the marathon and a picture of Danielle, Grace and me. I never had any idea Danielle was planning on getting this made! It was so great. I love it and will always cherish it! Thanks Danielle and Josh!

Thankful for People in My Life

Here is a picture of some of the things I have received in the last couple of weeks from family and church family people. I am so blessed to have such great people send me things while in East Asia. I got a huge box from my church family a couple of weeks ago full of snacks and food. Then, about a week ago I got a package from my family. There were two boxes packed full of stuff that I love. Thanks everyone! I really feel loved!


Also in one of the packages from my family, my sister sent a book of pictures from our Kamrath family vacation this summer. It was a great surprise! I loved it so much!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is having a great Christmas! My Christmas season is going well. I miss being with my family on Christmas, but have enjoyed my time with friends here! The above picture is of my roommate and me and another picture of all the girls here in my neighborhood.

The Art of Cooking

As many of you know, I was not much of a cook back in the States. I had a couple of dishes that were my specialty, but I didn't like cooking that much and I never tried to experiment. Now that I live in East Asia, I love cooking new things and experimenting. As I write this blog, I have "Playgroup Granola Bars" in the oven. Also my Winston-Salem friends would be quite impressed because I can finally make cookies. My friends here call me the designated cookie making person.
This is tunafish casserole...

This is bread I made from scratch..

This is pumpkin ginger bread that turned out quite well...

God-made Candy....

This little fruit is one of the many reasons I love living in this country. I don't think I have ever tasted a fruit that is more sweet than this one. Saying it is like a tangerine doesn't do it justice. It is much sweeter and so much easier to peel. I can sit down and eat about 20 of them at one time. I am not sure why we can't grow these in America, but someone should really look into it.