LeahAndMark.com

First. My jeans.

I really don’t have too many clothes in my closet that have been there for ‘years’. Mostly because I’m like a kid who doesn’t take care of his clothes so they all get ruined. I’ll grow up someday. However, this pair has stuck around for… I think it’s actually been all of this decade so far so… it’s in the 8th year of life with me. This also means that it’s torn up. I started out patching small tears when they turned into large tears. Then they kept tearing at the knees in spots further and further away from the knee. Then the corners of the back pockets and a few other spots. These are the only jeans I’m taking on this trip so they have to last - not because I c0uldn’t buy another pair really easy and for cheap - but because I want them to come back with me - hence the heavy duty patches on the inside. At some point I’m sure the legs will just be completely covered in patches on the inside.

Lunch! Bagel Boys Cafe in Alpharettta, Ga. - Four Cheese Panini Sandwich.

So the Gear.

So those metal clips are great! I grabbed about a dozen and since my pack is about 10 years old (and rarely used) it’s not nearly as ergonomically awesome as Leah’s brand new super pack. SO. Mine sits poorly and it really doesn’t distribute the weight well and it makes your shoulders tired quite easily. These clips help pull the pack closer to my upper back and so it doesn’t stick straight out back horizontally as much. Anyways. My pack is considerably smaller when compared to Leah’s but it still holds a lot. Put the two side by side though and you see the difference - remember, the bigger one is Leah’s pack. It carries much more and she’s much more comfortable with it on her back. It’s all types of awesome - and about $180 more than mine was 10 years ago - and 10 years ago mine wasn’t really cheap either.

Also, her’s has an awesome mesh back for insanely great breathability - if you’ve ever worn one of these with a traditional back, or even a ribbed back, you know that you end up with your shirt soaked in sweat after a few hours of hiking and just generally carrying around the pack for a while. Leah’s is great and it makes it much more comfortable. Can you tell that I’m really really jealous?

So we’re packed. Basically we each have three pairs of pants, a 4 or 5 t-shirts, and other stuff, but really only about 3 maybe four different outfits to wear the whole month - of course, if we need to or feel like it, it’s not big deal to ditch an article of clothing and just BUY a new t-shirt or pants or anything else we need since it’ll all be relatively cheap to do so over there ya know? Some of the stuff we choose to bring simply because they are things that we can leave if we need to or feel like it.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Tomorrow!!! We leave for China TOMORROW! I’ve never spent so long planning and saving for a trip. Ever. As much as I appreciated my previous travels abroad, I think all the hard work that went into making this trip a reality will make me appreciate it that much more. And I’m so excited for Mark, because it will be his very first ever trip outside the U.S.

Yay! We like to take pictures of each other. We stopped by StarSux yesterday to grab some chai….because we were in Sandy Springs, and it’s hard to find cozy, independent coffee shops in the ‘burbs…and we couldn’t stop talking about how much we’re looking forward to a.) our trip and b.) our new apartment. Lots of excitement. Now…let’s get through work today, get home, and get everything ready for TOMORROW!

~Leah

This is a picture of most of my electronic gear that I’m bringing to China. Almost all of it will be carried in my ‘boarding bag’ that I got from REI so that should be awesome.

A quick list for anyone else liking stuff of this nature:

• Asus eee Pc Laptop (with Link decal!)
• Canon Powershot A570IS
• Blackberry 8703e (work provided)
• Um. Plethora of SD cards
• Mouse
• .Mp3 player
• 5 gig USB storage
• Gazillion batteries (rechargeable and not)
• Battery Charger
• Cables
• Oh yes… and then also my new purchase yesterday.

This is my MiniDv camera. After doing so much research and then not having money and then having money - yeah. It should be awesomely fine for everything and anything I use it for.

The main thing is that I just pull it out for a few minutes at a time - and not have a camera head — where it’s just permanently attached to my face or something. The view screen on this one is right on the back so I don’t have to put my eye in any viewfinder and ummm… it doesn’t pop out to the side - anyways, it should be great for filming stuff I can piece together into a music video.

Note to self: Learn how to do that.

Now, that picture up above isn’t all of the electronic equipment, there are still more power chords, and the tapes, and ummmm… probably a couple of other things that I need to bring.

Whatever. It’s all awesome and almost all of it fits in my small bag. So that’s cool.  Let’s get through today.

-Leah, Cartographer-In-Training

Sunday morning and we went to Pastries-A-Go-Go for a small breakfast. This has become our go to place for breakfast on the weekends, mostly because it’s a no-brainer and going there is practically like stepping out our door and into the restaurant. Sort of.

I think some of the servers are beginning to recognize us too - they’ve always have the same people working there - so you know it’s a good place for servers too apparently.

This is Leah. She’s reciting Chinese phrases and tragically failing at getting me to repeat and learn much more than the little that I know at the moment. But I guess I’ll load the Pimsleur lessons I have onto my .mp3 player and just listen to that for part of the 20 hour flight to China and re-activate the little bit that I do know - at least it’ll acclimate me to listening to the language again.

Packing a little today - but mostly doing all the laundry that we need to do - which is quite substantial since ummmm… well, it just is okay? We were going to do some yesterday but it rained the entire day yesterday and well… we have an odd setup at this current house.

See… this is the back of our house. We rent the upstairs and no one lives downstairs. Anyways, downstairs is setup for a stackable set of washer/dryer however, have you seen the prices for stackables? Insane. So we have a regular set.

Except the washer is upstairs, and the dryer is downstairs. Yes. I wash the clothes, load them up, walk down the stairs and throw them in the dryer. Then bring them back up when they’re done.

On the side of the building there is this long plastic pipe I bought from Lowe’s and hooked up myself so that the water could drain all the way down to the ground since it wasn’t originally set up that way - I can be handy in a half-assed sort of way - I’ll make it work… but it won’t really be pretty and definitely not correct for sure (most of the time).

So it rained all day yesterday and it’s pretty wet and gloomy today but there is no more time - we must battle the laundry!

Oh yeah. Today is ummm… the ING marathon and our friend Deanna J. is running the half marathon, 13.1 miles! Wow! I ran 8 miles once - but I didn’t really train for it - and then I slept for the next two days and didn’t really feel good for 2 more - ha. Yeah.

We crossed the street and went over the railroad tracks to check them out.

Wow. So. Mark and I have already found ourselves an awesomely awesome apartment to move into and we didn’t even have to do any apartment hunting. I’m so incredibly happy and thankful. It’s a gorgeous place, with vaulted ceilings, and in the Best. Location. Ever. For a while there last year, I kept wanting to quit my job because I was really unhappy at work. But everytime I would try to make plans to leave the job, I would get the same message: Stay. Don’t quit yet.

It was so frustrating, because I truly believe that if you are in a situation that is making you miserable, it is your responsibility to change it. Or change your attitude. I tried doing both, and it wasn’t working. And so I’d go to leave again, and that little voice would once again say “Stay.” (And no, it was not Lisa Loeb.)

So I stayed. And I got a new boss. And this new boss invites us over for drinks at his own gorgeous home in Inman Park, and when I casually mentioned that I would love to find an apartment in the area, his wife just so happens to have an apartment she wants to rent. Et voilà, without even looking at a single Craigslist posting, we have our new home.

I’m still a little in shock that this really will be our new home. And how easy it was to find. It was such a beautiful falling-into-place of events. Happy!!

Now - a quick nap, and packing.

-Leah

First of all, I would like to say that I am Awesome. And that Superman Dean Cain is really just the less asian version of ME.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s run down the events of this morning. First we woke up, then went down to the BofA and got our traveler’s checks and some cash. That was pretty easy and painless - swipe your bank card, sign here, and there and everywhere else and here ya go!

So we had some time to kill before we went to check out our potential living space and we decided to stop by Dancing Goats Coffee for a second. They have great coffee and the space is big and open and OMG. They have some of the most best (yes I know) plain sugar donuts.

And then after that we went to go check out our possible new apartment. It’s located deep in the historic Inman Park district and deep in the area where the Inman Park Festival occurs. Like literally right in front of our house. These are some of the houses next door to where we’re gonna live:

Apparently this is the house they used for the fortune teller’s house in that um, awesome movie Love Potion #9. But Yeah.

Below is the view through the dirty kitchen window into the neighbor’s back yard - apparently this was one of the primary Woodruff homes for a long time. (Inman Park has a lot of history that I have no clue about - but if you’re not from Atlanta, just know that the Woodruff family are like the Carnegies - except for Atlanta.)

Oh yes. Here’s our apartment! Isn’t it $&$(*#*# Awesome!

…no just kidding - it’s that apartment in the back over there. hahaha. We live behind this house. Here’s our actual place.

We basically live above a three-car garage - but we get one of the car spaces so that’s cool. And even then, if I have to park on the street - no big deal. It’s a one bedroom with washer/drier, central heat/ac, a dishwasher, AND they’re repainting everything, installing new bathroom fixtures/sink, two walk-in bedroom closets, AND they’re putting down all new WOOD FLOORING. It’s insanely awesome.

How does that compare to our current place? Well. Take away the washer/drier, central heat/ac, dishwasher, insulation, painted walls, a vanity sink in the bathroom, walk-in closets, did I mention insulation? and add rotting wood frames around the windows and you basically have the current place we live in now.

So yeah. Big upgrade and seriously for only $150 more a month. INSANELY good fortune.

We’ll be moving in July - two months after we get back from China. So look at all of these happy occurrences. If I was a less confident and deliriously positive/stubborn person, I would think that something bad is bound to happen now - except this ride that Leah and I have been on together ever since we met has never stopped and although many ups and downs have occurred, nothing can possibly stop us.

Even during the hard times or the worst moments, when brought down to a realistic perspective - we’re way better off than many - but that doesn’t mean that we haven’t worked insanely hard - and will be forced to continue working even harder - because obviously life, the universe and everything else that moves you will keep raising the bar and Leah and I definitely don’t have time to think about anything other than how to beat those expectations.

Ah, and now a cat picture - hey, I’m not gonna see my cats for a month, don’t make fun of me!

Oh yeah, one more thing. I caught these two people taking photos as we were passing through L5P - which by the way if I may brag just a little more - is less than a quarter of a mile from our new house. Okay I’m done.

After a grueling day of work (more preparation in general for the telecommuting from China, and then also just general stuff that I had to get done that… is actual work but it’s the type of thing that no one knows you do even though it saves everyone a lot of extra work if you do it) and then it was time for the Yelpy Office Hours Event @ Java Vino.

This event was run/submitted by the regional Yelp boss, Deanna J. and she rocks - because when it’s an official yelp event (or somewhat) you get free stuff, like free drinks and then of course… there’s always free yelp junk like um, yelp stick, stickers, buttons, and all this other stuff that I never really take. But it’s still cool cause again, we get to hangout with people that we can have great conversations with and who actually have lives and goals. It’s just so different from other online social groups - AND it doesn’t have that whole ‘networking’ feel that most ‘events’ have for people in our age group.

Deanna is the one in red wearing the I *heart* Yelp - of course.

Java Vino was a nice spot for this, especially since it was a small group of around 7 people and we had a good time talking to each other about stuff - even though as far as guys, it was just me and one other guy. But our friend Yuna was there and it was really great to get a chance to talk to her for a bit about Korea and just getting to know her in general. (She’s the one the first picture with the blurry hands.)

We also got to talk to Laura D. - the person there sitting on the table. Here’s the thing about Yelp events, you never really have to worry about not getting around to talking to people because eventually, you’ll get a chance to actually talk to them beyond the ‘hello I’m Mark T.’ introduction. You initially want to have some sort of conversation with these people who you’ve known ‘online’ but then if you’re awkward like me, you freak out when you actually have to meet them in person the first time… so usually I don’t actually talk to these people until at least the 2nd time I meet them at a yelp event.

I know. This may have been a totally boring entry. But still. I can’t keep talking about China - it’ll get better when we actually fly out on Tuesday morning.

Oh yeah. I got a haircut - by my favorite Cambodian lady who cuts my hair at the GreatClips on Windward Parkway.

Oh, and one more - This is Three-Four, I’ve been giving him reiki everyday since I got my chakras attuned. He’s really come around. Whereas when I first started, he really wouldn’t sit still for it, and he didn’t really absorb any at all. But now he totally relaxes and stretches out - more than he’s ever done before in his life - and these last few days he’s been absorbing A LOT of energy. It’s an interesting feeling and when I reiki either of our cats I feel them pulling much more energy than any of the actual humans I’ve given reiki to… anyways… it’s just cool.

I spent a semester in China in 2002.  August through December.  The first day of orientation, our program director looked us all in the eye and said, “Welcome to China.  You’ll be back.”  She went on to explain how no one can spend more than a few weeks in China and not be sufficiently fascinated, impressed, and…hooked.  She was right.  I’ll be interested to see how different China is now.  How differently I see it, looking through my current lens.

Forgive the atrocious quality of these photos- they were taken with a  35mm and scanned back when technology wasn’t quite so great.  2002 is already ancient history, people!   But here was China in 2002:

This is my fave eggplant dish, hongshao qiezi.  No two restaurants make it the same.  I remember this exact date because I was in Xi’an and it was James’ birthday, Sept. 27.  He was turning 20.  I wanted to celebrate somehow, but…I was in China.  So I ate eggplant and toasted James.  And yes, my tongue used to be pierced.  I was a wild child.

This is the professor.  He lives in Corn Town.

My memories of China 2002 are of visiting many places I didn’t know the name of and meeting many people whose names I could never fully understand or remember.  So I named them as best I could.  This picture was taken in a rural area west of Xi’an.  The town was filled with ears of corn.  Hanging from the roof of each building, corn husks littering the ground.  They even spread corn kernels out on the street and waited for cars to drive over them to grind them into corn meal.  I don’t think this guy was actually professor, but with his glasses, pipe, and intent gaze, he seems to fit the stereotype.

Ignore the date on this picture, my camera was messed up.  We visited a school in Apple Town.  (Guess what they did there.)  It was awesome.  The kids alternated between enthusiastic hyperactivity and cute bashfulness.

So, that was China then, for my 21-year-old study abroad self.  This trip is going to be totally different in a lot of ways.  But I’m sure it’ll be just as amazing, if not more so.

Sorry about the poor quality of this photo - but this is our friend card. Basically as we walk about China and meet people that we think are awesome, we’ll give them one of these cards so that we can keep in contact.

The background color is actually a lighter brown and everything is ’softer’ than this picture leads you to believe.

So yeah. That’s our friend card. So hopefully we’ll meet a lot of people that we can hand them out to and then our next trip to China will be so that we can visit friends who will show us more of the cities and everything that tourists wouldn’t dare do while they’re there.

We were going to buy some of those minicards from Moo.com, but they ship from the UK and we didn’t have time for them to arrive so we’ll have to do those when we get back - cause they’re cool.

This is Anna. She and her boyfriend Chris are going to be watching our cats One-Two and Three-Four during the month that we’re away. We furiously cleaned our house over the past two days so that they could come over and we could give them the rundown of how to refill the automatic feeders and change the automatic waterfall that they drink from. And then also give them the calendar of days that they absolutely must come in order to refill the feeders.

So then I’m trying to explain everything and show them how to work the machines when Anna is like… can’t I just come over everyday and feed them?

Ha! We bought all these electronic gadgets to feed them automatically so that they wouldn’t absolutely have to come over everyday, and could come over at least every other day and have some leeway. And then Anna’s just like… it’d be much easier if I just came over everyday. She totally side-swiped us with both the simplicity, but mostly her efforts. We just didn’t want to be THAT much of an imposition (even though we’re paying them a fair amount of money - but it’s not about that obviously.)

So they came over last night, we had a pizza from Mellow Mushroom and then Leah and Anna went in the back room and Leah gave Anna a Reiki Session.

They’re awesome and although both Leah and I were slightly worried about leaving our cats for a month, it helps to feel much better knowing that we have Chris and Anna to watch over them and that they would do anything to make sure they’re both safe and doing well while we’re away.

It’s tricky. Balancing everything and not getting run down or losing your head. The first half of today was quite easy and generally okay, no real problems and I since things at work weren’t working (the internet) I went home to work from there. Unfortunately, the VPN to my desktop still doesn’t work and I’ll try a last ditch effort and allow the IT people to log into my home computer, snoop around in the settings, and then also snoop around in my router just to make sure it’s nothing on my side (I already hooked directly up to the cable modem and still no go). So we’ll see.

On the reiki front, I feel it. It’s interesting. It’s much stronger when I’m giving reiki to another person (or the cats) than to myself right now. I feel it in the bones of my hands, and closer to the wrists. But I do feel general warmth and tingling from the surface of my palms. I’m going to keep it up for at least 21 days straight (as instructed) and try to notice any differences in me, and… really everything around me. Mostly opportunities that present themself, no matter what they are… things that I can truly attribute to this experience, which I’m hoping will only aid in my general goal of living life deliberately.

Okay. So these aren’t my pictures. Yet. But I can’t wait. Ok. Promise. No more pictures of China until we’re actually there taking our own. Got it? Got it. Promise.

My latest thing (this week) is listening to Pandora.com - their music genome project is pretty cool - introducing me to other music similar to the mood that I’m in. Right now my ’station’ is other artists/songs sounding like Imogen Heap. So I get Regina Spector, Jem, and som Sarah Mac - all good stuff - and then I can switch moods and throw in Our Lady Peace and again, other bands with the same sound or technique come up… it’s perfect for discovering new music similar to what you already like or are in the mood for.

It’s getting late. We’re flying out soon and I’ve still got some other writing to do. Goodnight!