Shawn's trip to Korea

Remember a couple of posts ago where I talked about being a single mother for a couple of weeks??? Well, due to my husband's request...today is all about his Korea trip!

So my husband Shawn and my brother Stephen recently got home from a 2 week trip to South Korea. There was a group of about 20 people from the university...mostly faculty/staff and a few students and they visited a university that has a strong partnership with Murray and receives a group from here every year. They had a fabulous experience but were very ready to come home! The pics below document some of the cool things they saw, crazy things they ate, and will introduce you to a bit of Korean culture. Enjoy!!!

Lets start this post off right. Anyone who knows my husband knows that we hardly go to Wal-Mart without snacks on hand. Imagine the fright that he gets thinking about going to Asia! Needless to say....he loaded up on snacks before leaving. And from what I hear took advantage of everyone else's snacks too. He claimed that he starved on the trip. All I'm going to say is that their itiniary said in multiple places.....Dunkin Donuts, Outback Steakhouse, TGI Fridays, McDonald's, etc. Can I get a witness???

They finished their 2 week stint by visiting Seoul and also getting to visit the DMZ (above). I'm assuming most of you are familiar with the DMZ....but if not....this is the border between North and South Korea that is considered neutral (in theory) territory. But it was as recent as '95 that a North Korean was shot and killed trying to cross.

Please note how nervous Shawn looks. Also note dude in glasses and helmet....he does not play.

One of the highlights for Shawn and Stephen was that they were both able to get an eye exam and buy glasses for a grand total of $50. Shawn got two pairs and the frames are super cute and trendy. And as he said..."we spoke no Korean, they spoke no English, but we were both able to have an eye exam and order glasses in an hour". And they were perfect by the way when they picked them up!

Let me just get it out there that America is a generally wasteful country. We are all the time realizing that when we travel abroad. For example, almost any hotel we have been to outside of America requires that you insert your key into a slot in order for the lights to work. Therefore you cannot leave your lights on when you are not in the room . Smart eh? Above is an example of the Koreans not wasting space and/or water. What you are seeing is their bathroom...and what could be easier than just sitting on the toilet to shower!!! Oh nothing like having to clear all of your stuff out of the bathroom every time you shower. The other fun fact is that this shower is timed. So you can hurry through it....or if you don't finish in time then you have to turn it back on. What a joy it must have been to shower there:)


Shawn with his taekwondo buddies


Please note the caption on the first picture regarding Shawn's picky eating before reading this.

So above is my little brother Stephen eating a silkworm. Yuck. I will try most anything....but a worm? No thanks. Apparently he told my gullible husband....oh these aren't bad at all. So Shawn did. Only to find that Stephen had told a big fat lie. Stephen you should be ashamed:)

Incriminating evidence that he did in fact, not starve while in Korea.

This is just a small portion of the pictures and stories from their trips. In fact we have about 350 pictures waiting to be picked up at Walgreens if you ever care to look:)

Oh and just b/c a post would not be complete without my baby....here she is!!!

Well....the weekend is over and back to work it is. I find myself every Monday just wishing for the weekend....and then realizing that I'm essentially wishing life away by doing that. So I've made a pledge to stop. After this next weekend:)This post is mostly going to be pictures. I promised my family more pictures from the Michigan trip. So here goes...

Olivia's babysitter is so sweet and emailed Shawn and I these pics of her this morning. She's in Candace's jumperoo for the first time and obviously loving it! By the way....these pics have nothing to do with Michigan but I had to put them in:)

So this is one surprised lady. She had no idea we were all traveling from AR and KY for her 60th bday! Happy birthday Aunt Nancy...hope it was a great one!!!

Show us where you live Friday!!

My blogging inspiration comes from a cool Arkansas girl named Kelly. She has started a great thing on her blog called "Show us where you live Friday". Each Friday is a different room and fellow bloggers can post their links to share. Now that I'm a "fellow blogger", I'm participating! I figure that if I get to snoop in everyone else's houses via the Internet then I should share my own. I'm always getting ideas from other people. So this Friday's room is nurseries/kids room. So enjoy pics of my nursery!
Oh...go here to check out Kelly's blog and the rest of the rooms people have posted.

I got the crib and the dresser from Penney's.com. I love them and the price was excellent! The "diaper cake" was a gift from a friend at a shower and has since been used! The monkey is waiting patiently to be hung on the wall...it came from a super cute kids store in Jonesboro.


This is obviously the crib:) The bedding came from Pottery Barn and I have been so happy with it. I always said I would steer clear of an overload of pink...but I loved this. And decided that the grey walls would offset it. I got the throw hanging over the edge in Munich, Germany several years ago. I was soooo pumped to see that it looked good in there.

This is the view that Olivia gets of the mobile. The picture really doesn't do it justice. My friend Beth found it on Etsy at this site and sent it to me. I LOVE it and am so glad I got it.


Ok a little bit of background information. My husband and I are avid travelers and tried to bring that into the "theme" of the nursery (or maybe we just hope she will absorb the love of it by laying in her crib...ha!). Anyway, the pics above are ones that I pulled out of our travel pics and are of children around the world. I think we have Egypt, Denmark, Poland, China, Italy and Belize represented! I bought $3 frames at Walmart...spray painted them with a million coats and had mats cut at hobby lobby. Cheap artwork!!

This changing table came from a great thrift store in town for $20!! My mom saw it and saw its "inner beauty". She stripped it and refinished it. I love it as a changing table but am also excited about using it in the future for something else. Versatile baby furniture...what could be better:) The pic above has the chorus to "Jesus loves the little children of the world" on it. One of my good friends had her sister make that as a shower gift. I love it and it ties in the theme of the room together perfectly.

This shelf has the "display books and toys" (in other words....don't touch them Liv!). Every time we visit a country we buy a children's book and some toy from there. I can't wait til she gets older and we can show her different languages and cultures.

A view from the door. See the rocker? Ok...it's a "Best" brand rocker and is amazing. I wanted one so bad after sitting in one at a specialty baby store. But they were a bit expensive for my taste. I ended up getting it off of Penney's.com for a great price and free shipping!

Thanks for touring my nursery....nothing is more fun than decorating a room for a baby!

Life as a single mother....for a couple of weeks anyway!

My husband Shawn just got back from a 2 week trip to South Korea with the university where we both work. Now before you judge him for leaving his wife and small baby, know that I fully supported him in going on this trip:) No seriousely....what an opportunity! I figure if we can't both go then at least one of us should be able to. But even though I had help from my parents and in-laws...it was a long two weeks.

Let me help you understand how much Shawn contributes to the home and then you will realize just how ready I was for him to come home. He is the chef. Of his own will. Granted, cooking is not my forte...but I would do it if I have to. He loves it though! He also has a strange love of doing laundry, ironing my clothes for me in the morning, and basically gets me through the day. Now I'm not helpless by any means and I always step up to the plate when he is gone. But....it's so nice to have him home!

Our dear child developed her first "illness", which was a cold. This started a couple of days before he left. But as soon as he was gone her sleeping through the night habit made an exit due to the cold. Right. So as I was up a million times a night and overanalyzing what in the world could be wrong with her I had to tell myself...this too, shall pass. And it did.

We started out the week with his parents coming to stay. They were fantastic. They cooked, cleaned, and Stan did a million small projects that we would probably have never taken on ourselves, but that needed doing! I tell him and my dad that it is not a criteria for them to do projects when they come. But they both claim they like it and I will not begrudge them of this:)As they left my parents came. They had not seen Olivia in quite a while (or me but I've discovered that does not matter anymore) so that was fun. Kathryn and Erik came in for that weekend too and we celebrated her birthday. Mom stayed with me the whole next week and we had lots of fun despite Olivia's cold and sleepless days and nights. We ended the 2 weeks without my other half by going to Michigan to visit family. This was a blast! I was so nervous about having Olivia in a car seat for that long but she was great. What a trooper! I think she knows that she has to love travelling due to the family she was born into. I've posted pics below documenting these two weeks.

By the way....Shawn will not be leaving for that long again:)

Getting some love from Grandma Lois


This toy offered entertainment for approximately 11 minutes...

We have arrived! See this sweet dress? It came to her all the way from dear friends in Australia!

Nana time. Look at that hat. Couldn't you just eat her up!?!

Break time in driving. Ok. Here's what happened when we stopped. Everyone else would go in and enjoy a great sit-down meal while me and Liv kicked it in the van. We would eat, change diaper, and (as you see above) she would then get to lay on the van seat and kick and play. I know. I'm a great mom.

This is one cashed out baby. The fun is officially over.

More pics from the trip to come later. Who knew it was so hard to format these???

Here I am blogworld!

Well, consider me officially a part of the blogging world. I have recently picked up the obsession of reading other people's blogs and have wanted to start my own for a while but keep putting it off. So I figure if I start one and put it out there then maybe I will feel obligated to maintain it.

Since moving to Kentucky and having our baby 4 months ago we have used various methods of online communication to get pictures and updates to the grandparents, friends, and family. So....my hope is that this will be the answer. So apologies in advance if you do not want to see millions of pictures of my sweet girl!

Bear with me friends and I promise that my posts will (hopefully) improve as each day goes on!