blogland

Blogland is a strange and beautiful place. I actually really miss it. I feel like I have typed 17 million beautifully crafted posts in my brain over the past 4 months. And its amazing that time has flown by so quickly without a tangible post on this 'community journal' of mine. I am humbled that others want to read my heartfelt thoughts, and I love that I can share more about the people and land that we call home.

I have been visiting the States for the past 5 days, and its a taste of heaven to me. Seeing people who have shaped me, poured their lives into me and challenged me to live beyond myself - has been so therapeutic. I have cried lots of tears: joyful ones, healing ones. Thank you for listening, lifting, and asking deep questions. Being here for my sister-friends' wedding was perfect in every way. I am so grateful for this trip - and for Justin gifting it to me. I haven't been away from them ever....so this was a restful haven, and a wonderful time of reflection for me. Yet I miss them like crazy!!

I am leaving in about 24 hours, and I haven't even updated this blog like I had planned (in my brain). Its kinda on the bottom of my list, since the face-to-face connections rank above an impersonal online journal. Maybe someday I will have full access to the lovely internet once again, and I will catch you up on the happenings of our foreign lives. Also, know that we will stay safe. We are taken care of in such intricate ways. Our bodies and hearts are held by a Strength that none can fathom. We will do our best to communicate in creative ways as I go back, so stay tuned. The adventure is not over - and you know how we LOVE adventure! As I depart, I will paste something I wrote about the riots in our city, so you are aware of our situation. We love you dearly, and I return with hope & peace, feeling loved and encouraged. Thank you with all my heart. ~ Alia (my Uyghur name)

07-05 Riots in Urumqi

This afternoon, major riots broke out across our city. We never imagined anything like this could ever happen here. Many people have been killed, wounded and now arrested. This is the scariest thing we have ever gone thru in our short lives, and yet – because of secure nature of this country, we are not going to share much about these events on our blog. We do not want to share opinions or details of events without being able to share the entire story. Please take time to scour other news sites to get a better picture of the history of tensions out here. You can find more about these events on other news sites. Thanks for thinking of us!

The most recent news I could find: CNN Sept 8th, 2009, and China Daily.

neighbor friend turns 7!!

We were invited to our neighbors’ home for their son’s seventh birthday – with only a few hours notice. We went to an underground market and found him a neat fake-Lego spacecraft: perfect for him! We arrived on time, but the party didn’t really begin until hours later. We got to chat with the family lots, and help GeGe (哥哥 big brother) put together his new toy. The grandmother made an incredible vegetable soup, and we all were given heaps of cake with neon icing. I love that we are getting to know our neighbors more, yet not so fond of the smoking.

absorbed in a book....

I love this kid!! She gets lost in books all the time. Its so fun to watch her absorbed in a new book, and then reenacting the stories with her sisters! They love to pretend they are Mary, Laura & baby Carrie from "Little House in the Big Woods." Its so precious.

flower girl bliss

My sweet little flower girl looks so grown up. She loved curling her hair, painting her toes, wearing make-up and her new white dress and shoes that matched the bride. I hope every little girl has the chance to be a flower girl once in their lives – it is a magical event. The anticipation and excitement was almost too much for her, as the bride & groom were over 2 hours late to their own wedding! Asia waited eagerly, trying to stay clean before her debut. She practiced walking down the carpet, carrying the basket…and smiling for strangers. She stood up front a long time, video cameras going, cameras flashing – and she smiled so brightly the entire time. I am so glad she had this moment – and that she handled all the pressure so well. She got SO much attention, being a blond/blue eyed Asia amongst a sea of Asians. She is so adorable.

Ice Mountain Creamery - Grand opening!

We opened our shop today and began selling ice cream out of the front windows, on Children’s Day! We had hoped to open earlier, but things never really happen how we expect out here. Of course, Children’s Day is a wonderful day to launch an ice cream business – and there were lots of people outside wanting a sweet treat!! Both Justin & Raj were at the shop scooping cones, which easily draws a crowd too. Who doesn’t want to be served ice cream by a white foreigner and have a chance to practice your English? We really underestimated the crowds – and almost ran out of ice cream the first day! Students crowded around the little window asking “which flavor is best?” and all ordering “strawberry” since the person before them got it. There is a ‘follow the crowd’ mentality that runs strong – even when choosing your ice cream. We will have to figure out the supply & demand aspect of running a shop in this big city – but we are amazed that there was such an overwhelming response! We hope it continues!!

night market magic

About 4 blocks away there is a bustling night market that opens around 6pm for dinner and stalls of bargain goods. It is about 3 blocks long, completely shut off to traffic – so people can walk freely and enjoy the sights. The street completely transforms within minutes – while restaurants bring out tables and chairs to eat outside. You can watch guys making handmade noodles, frying chao mien, or barbequing kebabs of all types. It’s a lively atmosphere – and always fun to see the different types of food to try.

Shy lady making dough for noodles and baozi - by hand!!

Sweaty man over the barbeque - all types of meat, from all parts of the animal!!

Chao mien guy - action shot!!

Daddy and the girls roaming the market area

Q&A with my friend Bianca Jane

"Hi McNabb clan! ….so exciting to hear the doors are opening for your Ice Cream business! What kind of shop will it be? Cold-Stone style or are the flavors already set...or do you deliver? Such a fun/interesting business – I’m curious how it came about!" ~ Bianca

Well – we are always eager to feature new Q&A times on here – so thanks for the great questions!

The ice cream business requires a ton of time & work. We finally got our business visas approved, but actually getting it up and running requires a bit more time & energy. Right now -- we have a tiny production site that is ready to go. There is a small kitchen, with all the machines we need to make our special dessert. We don't have a sit-down shop YET, but that would be a great by-product once the ice cream begins to make a profit. We decided to start small at first, which also helps with the amount of money we needed to invest up front.

We will launch (hopefully) in early June -- with about 8-10 flavors. We'd like to have seasonal ones too, but it’s hard to know what we can maintain at first. The basic flavors: vanilla/sweet cream, strawberry, coffee, almond, cookies & cream, banana, red rose tea -- those are the ones for sure. We are hoping to experiment with chocolate (hard to do well out here), melon, peanut butter, green tea, and a few seasonal ones like pumpkin, peppermint, pomegranate, peach/apricot....we will see. We have to get our recipes figured out....so those seasonal ones are still experimental. For each ingredient we have to get a supplier, which is hard out here!! We have to get paperwork, quality clearance, etc. More work than we thought!!

We also deliver! We are hoping to supply nice restaurants and cafés around the city – so we bought a delivery van! Justin made a Styrofoam cooler to go in the back – and we will deliver the ice cream buckets in the van. We still need to get our logo put on the side – but it’s a great mode of transportation! Justin is working on getting his drivers’ license already (which is a story in itself)!

Here's a pict of the shopfront!!

honey truck guy

Today we saw a man selling honey (蜂蜜 fēngmì) off the back of his truck. We thought it was interesting, so we stopped to talk and ask about his special honey! He said this honey was better than the stuff you buy in stores – and he let us taste some right out of the barrels. If you look closely, there are lots of bees that think his honey was good too. But now they are stuck in it. Just wanted to share some picts of this random sight in our neighborhood....we are always learning over here!

south park 南湖公园 party

A beautiful spring day calls for a visit to the park! A little friend (小朋友 xiao pengyou) turned one today so we all gathered to celebrate her! Kids from 4 nationalities all came to celebrate her first year! The grass is so green and fresh – I just LOVE springtime!

our little girl is growing up so fast!

Eden Sofia is getting so big! I still remember the exact moment she was placed on my chest four years ago – blue-faced and so quiet….skilled hands safely delivered her even with the cord wrapped around her neck. Her precious life is a miracle and she is an amazing gift to our family. Turning four feels like a milestone to me – almost overnight she seems like a mature little girl. She is full of spunk & joy – and her playful spirit pervades everything she is. Her outlook on life is a breath of fresh air! Everything she does is full of imagination and wonder! She loves to jump or run or bounce everywhere – and she keeps us on our toes. She loves being outside, shopping at the market, riding her scooter or running at the park. She is already eager to write and spell like her Jiejie (姐姐 big sister)!

This year she requested a butterfly party – so we got creative! Eden does not like lots of attention – so we invited 3 little girls over for games, learning crafts & butterfly dancing. Each little girl went home with butterfly antennae, a purple skirt and colorful wings! I admit that the prep was a bit time-consuming – but I started early and the kids loved having their own butterfly costume to take home. I also loved having a smaller party, which helped Eden not get too overwhelmed. I love that each of our girls are so unique in their personalities and loves. We are incredibly blessed with our sweet 4-year-old who is growing into a beautiful & imaginative little girl!!

Elvira, Asia, Amina, Sydney, Jennifer, Eden!