So what do you do all day?

Baby girl and I spend lots of time together.  She is my little bud during the day until Dan gets home from work.  

Before having Michelle I was really worried about how I'd feel being at home.  I had always hoped to be able to be home for our kids as they grew up, but with only one at home what would I do all day?  Would I feel depressed?  

If you're wondering what I'm doing all day in Taiwan while Dan is at work the answer is easy!  I'm just here eating bonbons and watching soap operas all day duh!

Ok I'm just kidding.

I have been blown away at how much I have enjoyed this time being a new mom.  I'm not trying to sugarcoat it.  It's hard work and I think I'm over the big humps of change now.  But this time has been extraordinarily rewarding and fulfilling.  And I love this little being like I never imagined I'd be able to.  I can't kiss her squishy little cheeks enough!  And what's weird is that I still have found that there is not enough time in the day to do all that I would like to.

What's not to love about this face?

Some days I do more of the following than others, but in a mixture of things I've been:

-Taking care of Michelle and playing with her lots!

- Keeping house and laundry.

-Working on art (sketching and some other projects).  I have realized that with this passion of mine I will never not have something to do.  It is a mountain that I don't know if is possible to reach the top.  What I mean by that is that I don't think I'll ever be able to get rid of the desire to draw and paint.  I am obsessed with it and I can't escape it and not do it.  And in all reality I hope I never get to the point where I think I'm good enough to stop trying to improve.

-Reading.  I just finished "The Help"  (Thanks Mom for this little present!)  Oh this book was so good.  I'm currently reading "The Infinite Atonement" by Elder Tad R. Callister. and WOW.  I highly recommend it.

-Skyping with the fam! And emails and pics and this blog.

-Exploring.  Most days I've gone out in between Shell's naps to do something.  Whether it's been around on the beautiful grounds here or I've gotten on a bus to go down to the city with her to walk around some low key parts of the city or to the market for lunch. We've met Dan for lunch too a couple times and that was exciting.

-And let's be honest. I gotta make time for pinterest! (hehe)

-Normally I would make dinner but I'm enjoying this break right now because it's cheaper to eat out here than to eat at home, although we do eat at home here one or two nights a week.  Although last week I met up with some women from the ward and a Chinese lady taught two of us how to cook two of Dan's (and now mine) very favorite chinese dishes (dumplings and mapudofu). SO FUN!

The best part of my day has been leaving to meet Dan halfway on his commute home!  Shell and I take a bus and meet Dan at the MRT station (or some other meeting point) to go eat and then check out some shops or whatever.

These are dumplings (potstickers) and we tried four different kinds.  One kind with curry, one with kimchee, one with bokchoy and the other pork and cabbage.  They are 5NT a piece here which means you can get like 6 for a dollar.

This is my "These dumplings are so good I'm gonna cry" face.

Oh and this particular night when we ate these dumplings we had brought very little money with us assuming that the other had brought more cash.  The man that is behind my face in this pic is one of the lawyers where Dan is working.  After our dinner we went to pay and the waitress/cook told us that our meal had been paid for by him!  Dan had never even really talked with him before this point! WOW!

So yeah... more pics of our night excurstions to come.