My name translated into Chinese:

LOVELY EXAM

my family still wonders... will anyone ever pass?

Grand Steps in Life

I FULFILLED A LIFELONG GOAL BY CLIMBING THE GREAT WALL of CHINA!

IT WAS AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE!!!

First night in China

It was my first night in Beijing, China. After clearing customs and immigration, and making a stop at the toilet and ATM, I caught a taxi. The man, (rather a kid!) had a big smile and spoke NO English. Since I was getting in so late, I had previously made reservations at a Super 8 so I had a place to stay that night. I showed the taxi driver the address and he had to call his friends for directions!
As we drove around, the most interesting thing to me was that I couldn't read the signs!!!! Some had English, but for those that didn't, I felt like I was three-years-old again and wishing I could read! We drove and drove and drove. When we got to the area of the hotel, we drove through these skinny alleys w/ bikes and rickshaws lined up along the walls. We drove in and out of them, and in and out of the next one. Clearly,we were lost, he could NOT find the place. We would stop now and then to ask a passerby for directions. Each time, it was clear that nobody knew where this place was.
It was a scene out of a movie... It seemed as though nothing had been touched in hundreds of years and everything was covered w/ about a half an inch of dust. What I realized is that it was SNOW! and b/c of the pollution, it has a grayish hue to it. Strange... (btw, it IS totally Brrrfreezing!). The only reason I knew we were not in a ghost town were the occasional little snackshops and barbershops open (who gets their hair cut at 10:00 p.m.!?) I started to wonder what was going to happen; if we couldn't find the hotel, did it even exist or was it one of those internet scams? Also, how on the planet would I tell him to take me to another one!!!
As I was contemplating my situation, a BIG YELLOW 8 appeared around a corner! A-ha! There it is! We both cheered out loud in our own languages. :) The 45-minute adventure came to a total of about 20 bucks (US) and I said goodbye to my little cab driver friend. I wonder if he was able to find his way home...
Next stop: Checking in at the hotel.Lucky for me, one of the gals spoke English. Also lucky for me, my reservation went through so they had me in the system. It was 180RMB, which is about $23. It is required to show your passport for checking in and to put down a 100RMB deposit. Then I went up to my room. At first I couldn't figure out how to turn on the lights. Then I saw that you had to put your key in the wall to get power! My room was SMALL! All it had space for was the bed. And it was warm in the room, thank goodness. That was all I needed.
The only problem was that the walls were absolutely paper-thin. I could hear everything the guy on my right was saying to his friend on the phone in Chinese, and there was couple on the left and, well, that's the same in any language... I had to roll my eyes, and hope that both parties would go to bed soon, as it was nearing midnight. Once I got settled in and went to bed, all was quiet... at least for a little while.
I was sleeping peacefully. I was warm and comfortable and thoroughly tired. I was dreaming a happy dream. Suddenly, I was awakened by the most dreadful sound - the man to the right was SNORING.... Now, if someone is snoring in my ear, usually it's my own fault, since I've fallen asleep in the same room as the snorer. It's not supposed to happen when you're sleeping in the NEXT ROOM. It was like he was lying right next to me!!! I got up and read a little while, each minute ticking by I'd get a bit more frustrated! Then, I remembered something that SAVED me! I switched on my new MP3 player, turned on Enya and turned up the volume and went back into my la la sleepyland. It did help, although I could still hear him in the background! My only hope now was that he would wake up early so I could sleep.
He did wake up fairly early. However, he was not quiet. Every few minutes for the next two hours, he would clear his nose and throat and spit. It was ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING. ICK. Needless to say, sleep was not an opion anymore! I got up, packed up my stuff, showered, and went to check out. As I was leaving my room, who comes out at the same time but Mr. SNORESPITTER himself.
I couldn't help but laugh, all the way down the hallway, in the elevator and through the lobby. When I went to check out, the gal asked, "Will you be staying another night?" I looked over at Mr. Snorespitter standing in market across the way buying a drink. "No. No I don't think I will," I said. I collected my deposit, grabbed my bags, and walked away, very grateful that my first night in China was over!

Funny Sign - Japan

In Narita, Japan's airport, the bathrooms also have bidets. The picture is a bit funny to me. But I'm sure it's necessary; as other countries (namely, America), do not widely have bidets in their bathroom facilities.

Angels in the Snow by: Larry Haddock y Cocina Limpia

Larry is one of my best buddies in Ogden, Utah. I flew out and surprised him for his birthday! Here is our fun adventure, written from HIS point of view!!!! (After a bad car accident 7 years ago, Larry has been on a long road of recovery. Here you can see how far he's come! Awesome, Larry! Great job!!!! )
It was the day after my 30th birthday. (Happy Birthday to me!) I excused myself from work so I could spend more time with my good friend, Clean Kitchen (Colleen Kigin-that's me!), who came into town for my birthday. I was trying to go about my life in a normal fashion. What I forgot is that NOTHING is normal when it comes to Clean Kitchen!
A few days ago, it snowed at least 20 inches. It continued to snow on an off over the next couple of days. My idea of normal life in the snow is to be inside, out of the snow, playing computer games. Clean Kitchen's idea is a little bit different, (or maybe a lot!).
She asked me if I'd like to go outside to make snow angels. Of course, the idea sounded a little bizarre at first, especially for a guy in a wheelchair; not to mention the freezing-cold temperatures involved! After she insisted enough and Mom offered me warm dress, I finally agreed. My boots weighed about 4-tons each, making it hard to walk. But I got out of my wheelchair and walked across the seemingly 3-feet deep snow, with Clean Kitchen in tow.
It was so fun walking through the snow because my left leg picked up and cleared the snow pretty good (considering the 4-ton boots!).
It was also neat becuase we could fall and not die! We would count, "ONE, TWO, THREEEEEEEEE!!!!" and then purposefully fall backwards into the snow!!!!! It was a nice, cushy landing every time. Then we would flail our arms and legs around and when we got up, 'VOILA!' siamese-snow angels!
Instead of making one snow angel, we made three. Instead of fifteen minutes, we stayed out there over an hour. We even made a mini-snowman, caught snowflakes on our tongues, and walked a mile uphill both ways (ha ha ha). And we got it all on camera!
Clean Kitchen and I also took some of our own self-portraits. Not bad, either... at least because of the subject-matter!!!
The end of the trek involved going all the way into the house was long and hard after playing for so long, but I am better and stronger because of it. Now I can say, "Been there, Done that, Let's do it again sometime!" And I hope you'll join me.
The End. Goodbye. :)

Scissors aren't allowed through Security... and shouldn't be given to certain people, either!

Have you ever had a haircut from you-know-where?


I hadn't... until yesterday.







It all started when I asked my friend, Christa, to cut my hair so I could donate it to Locks of Love. So, we measured 11 1/2 inches, braided it, and snipped away! And WOW, was it cute, for just cutting it from the top of a ponytail!


The next morning, I went to a salon to just clean it up a bit. That proved to be the biggest mistake in hair history... When asked what I was looking to do w/ my hair, I said, "I'd like to keep the length and the slight A-line cut. It just needs to be cleaned up a bit in the back." I thought that was clear. Apparently, it wasn't.


The woman snipped and snipped and snipped. I had to tell her twice she wasn't doing what I wanted. "Oh, I fix it, I fix it." I gritted my teeth and let her continue (I should have stopped her right then!!!). She kept snipping away, and when she said she was done, I looked in the mirror and I was absolutely HORRIFIED. It was a blunt cut almost up to my ears in front and the back was chunky in all the wrong places!!! I looked somewhere between a 3-year old who got a hold of the scissors and Britney Spears! It was the World's Worst Haircut!!!




Well, I just started crying my eyes out!!!! "This isn't what I wanted, this isn't what I asked you to do!" over and over again. "Oh. I fix it," she said, "I fix it. Just sit. Give me more time. I cut more. I fix it for you."



Fix it? No way jose! Not a chance! I stood up, pulled the cape off and said through my tears, "I think you've done enough. I'm sorry, but this is a really bad haircut. I have to go." I walked up to the front and the gal at the desk just said, "no charge, no charge..." I thanked her and walked out bawling.



I came across another salon, walked in, tears streaming down my face. The lady took one look at me and said, "Oh honey. Don't worry. I'll fix it for you." (it was that bad!!!) And she did what she could with it. And it actually turned out kind of cute...

(my crew - Summer, Danni, me)

Now the challenges are: what to do with/how to style short hair, how not to eat it when it falls in my face, and how to get people to recognize me (especially when I don't even recognize myself when I look in the mirror!!!!)



It was a drama-filled and emotional day... but I survived my haircut from you-know-where. And the best part? It will grow back... in approximately three years, ten months and twenty-eight days!!




p.s. Here is a photo of Mrs. Getty, Gabi and I (w/ my new do). And no, they didn't recognize me, either!!!! But how fitting to bump into them in the San Francisco Airport. Hannah, where are you?!?!