Famous people are copying me.

Oprah chops Swank's hair for charity

NEW YORK - Hilary Swank must really trust Oprah Winfrey. The Oscar-winning actress let the talk-show host chop off a little more than 9 inches of her hair during a segment that was to air Friday on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

The TV shearing was done in the name of charity: Swank, 33, donated her locks to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, which works with the American Cancer Society to provide wigs at no charge to women suffering from hair loss caused by their cancer treatments.


"Well, it's taken months to get to this moment," Winfrey says before getting down to business. "It involves a two-time Academy Award winner, a sharp object and me."


Swank, who won Oscars for her roles in "Boys Don't Cry" and "Million Dollar Baby," says she "wanted to find a way to give back."


"I've been growing it for the last six months to donate my hair," she says. "I've been taking a lot of vitamins and taking really good care of it knowing that it would go to a woman in need."

Jane Eyre @ Guthrie

Caught a production of Jane Eyre at the Guthrie Theater on Tuesday night. It was fun, but Rochester was a little too light and flirty for me. Am I wrong, or is Rochester supposed to be dark, brooding, and a little dangerous?

Good Day Cafe

Check out Good Day Cafe--good food, fun atmosphere. We did GDC for breakfast on our way to Iowa for the weekend. I totally recommend the sticky buns and German pancake with lemon and powdered sugar.

Les Mis @ Chanhassen

Caught a great production of Les Miserables last week. It was so fun!

Why I love Iowa . . .

. . . my fabulous grandparents!

I spent last weekend with them. We relaxed, sat around, drank coffee, and talked about the things God has sent into our lives. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for being great, godly encouragements to everyone around you!

I did it! It's gone!

After pretty much letting my hair grow for the past three years, I did what I love to do--put it in a ponytail, chop it off, and donate it to Locks of Love. If you've never done that, you should totally try it because it's SO fun!! The only downsides are that today's weather is rainy, which my hair hates, and that now I have to get used to not putting my hair behind my ears all the time.

Thanks to Megan Stuckey for doing all the work!

My New Place

I was going to post pictures of my new place, but my roommate just did that on her blog. Click here to check it out! Or better yet, come by for coffee or dinner sometime to see it for yourself!

A Huge Blessing!

A few weeks ago, I was praying with a friend. She mentioned that her young daughter wasn't sure about her own personal relationship with Christ, so we prayed for her specifically that night. The little girl, and that family, has come to mind a few other times since then.

Then last week I was in the blessed position of working half days (mornings) at good, old General Mills and spending my afternoons at my church's day camp, telling the daily missionary story.

Now, I don't know how many of you went to day camp or VBS/VBT when you were little, but I did. And I specifically remember the missionary story teller. Her name was Melanie Sieple (sp?). She told great stories with these old flip books and left us with a cliff-hanger every day. You know, "and all of a sudden, 8000 fierce warriors jumped out of the bushes!! If you want to find out if Missionary Mike survives . . . come back tomorrow!" I only pulled that once in the week, just to say I had. But I digress.

I never know how much kids are really paying attention and catching what you're saying . . . especially since little kids aren't really my thing. I'll choose adults any day! Anyway, this past Wednesday night, a day camp mom told me that her little girl's teddy bears had been learning Chinese while having a tea party that afternoon. How cute is that?! And last night (Sunday) another day camp mom told me that her little girl (the one I had prayed with the mom about a few weeks earlier) had come home saying that she wasn't sure she had peace in her heart like Hudson Taylor didn't have peace in his heart before he accepted Christ's gift for himself! I chatted with the little girl's dad later, who said he had seen such a change in her since then!

I'm rejoicing with the angels on this one!!

One of My Favorite TV Shows . . .

. . . is The Price Is Right. I've loved Bob Barker since I was a little girl, and I'm sure I could win it all (or at least a dinette set) if I were ever to actually get on the show. I had big plans to make my TPIR debut last summer while I was in southern California for a wedding and to visit family; however, it wasn't meant to be. I've missed my window of opportunity to give Bob a kiss on the cheek. Sigh.

I'm excited today, though, because I just read that the new host of The Price Is Right is Drew Carey. I'm so relieved--I was afraid Rosie might get the gig. Scary Larry!

On Falling Off the Face of the Blog-Earth

Yikes! I haven't posted since the end of May; however, that's not my fault. It just figures that as soon as I started my own blog, I almost immediately had no access to blogspot. My Chinese internet quit being able to find any and all blogspot sites. Grrrr.

The good news is that I'm back in the States and have blogspot access again. I solemnly promise to retroactively post in the very-near future . . . after I reestablish my identity (see a future post) and figure out minor life details like a car and an apartment. Sigh.

Where I Am . . .

The biggest part of life for me right now (after The Biggest Part of Life, of course)--I mean the thing that takes up most of my brain power--is teaching. Although I've been teaching for six years, this past school year has felt like first year teaching all over again, which is fun and exciting but also incredibly challenging and draining. But I chose it, and I knew what I was getting into when I did so. Here's a little bit of the story:




I spent the past two years teaching post-graduate oral English at Daqing Petroleum Institute above: DQPI in summer and winter) in northeastern China. I loved teaching masters degree and doctoral candidates and I loved life as part of Global's team there, but a big part of me wanted to move on to something more academic. Honestly, I was getting a little bored of oral English.


So, in June of last year, my parents and sisters came to visit (above: us in front of an Olympic countdown in Tian'anmen Square), and in our travels we moved me here to "The Duj." You might think "The Duj" is kind of a fruity name, but the vast majority of people who read this blog will have serious trouble with "Dujiangyan"! Dujiangyan is a "top tourism city" (below: that's what it says under the big gold horse) in Sichuan Province, southwestern China. Americans are more familiar with "Szechuan" which probably lets you know that the food (and the weather) here is spicy!!





The Duj is night-and-day different from the flat oil fields where I spent the last two years. Daqing is dry, flat, super-windy, and cold, but it almost always has gorgeous, clear blue skies. The Duj, on the other hand, has a super-wet climate and is often overcast, which makes for a gorgeously lush atmosphere . . . and, of course, lots of creepy-crawlies including sometimes-jurassic-sized spiders! Fun, fun!

For you history- and knowlege-buffs, Dujiangyan is actually the name of an irrigation system that is more than 2000 years old! It was just one of the major projects initiated during the rule of Qin Shi Huang (below: see us with his statue), the first emperor of China who also connected sections of the Great Wall and was buried in Xi'an with all the terracotta warriors (above: us in Xi'an).

I'm a blogger!

I'm finally a blogger! I should have started this three years ago when I first came to live in China full-time instead of just a month before I leave . . . but better late than never, right?!

Thanks to my sister, Meg, who's a great blogger, and thanks to Dana who's got a fun blog about our lives here in the Duj! You two are my inspirations, but you don't have to take the blame if this ends up being really lame.