Pay Check!

We got our first paycheck today! It is the first paycheck we have gotten since before Spencer was born over 3 1/2 years ago, so yea we are a little excited!

So we figured out that this wonderful paycheck which covered the last two weeks of work is more money than we made during the entire year of MBA school- proven by tax return that year, which at the time was so pathetic that all we could do was laugh about it.

So nice to have an income again, and it was well earned Devin worked from 8am-10pm Mon and Tuesday, left at 6:30am on Wed and did not come home until Thursday morning at 11am (he had to pull an all nighter on the second week of work) but got a 1/2 day off on Thursday, and then Friday worked 8am-midnight. Talk about yuck, we are hoping it will get a little better as he gets trained and gets faster. So paycheck well earned.

Great Story

On November 18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. If you’ve ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches. To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly is an awesome sight.

He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he reaches his chair. Then he sits down slowly, puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other forward. He then bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play.

But this time, something went wrong. Just as he finished the first few bars, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it snap --- it went off like gunfire across the room and there was no mistaking what that sound meant. We figured he would have to get up, put on the clasps again, pick up the crutches and limp his way off-stage to either find another violin or to find another string for this one. But he didn’t. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again.

The orchestra began, and he played from where he had left off. And he played with a passion, power and purity the audience had never heard before. Of course anyone knows it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just 3 strings, but that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that.

You could see him modulating, changing and re-composing the piece in his head. When he finished, there was a hushed silence --- and then people rose and cheered. There was an extraordinary outburst of applause from every corner of the auditorium. We were all on our feet, screaming and cheering, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.

He smiled, wiped the sweat from his brow, raised his bow to quiet us, then said in a quiet, pensive, reverent tone, “You know, sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.” That powerful line has stayed in my mind. Who knows? Perhaps that’s how life is. We, too, might have prepared all our life to play with 4 strings when all of the sudden we find ourselves with only 3. But we, too, can make music with those

3 strings that is more beautiful, sacred and memorable than any that we ever made before, when we had 4 strings. So perhaps our task is to make music, with all we have, and when that is no longer possible, with what we have left.

This story really touched me, we all have challenges in this life, I guess it is what we make of them and how we go through them that matters, hopefully we are better on the other side.

Our New Condo- The Warren

We live in on the 11th Floor, so we have a great view! The apartment is about 1100 hundred square feet maybe a little less. We are fitting in great and really like it. We are close to the Mall, Grocery Store, Library, and MRT. We have about 5 families that just live a few stops away from us. We are have some really nice pools, lap pool, main pool, fun/kids pool, a playground, a gym, a tennis court and sort of bbq pits, and a community room.

Entry way my cedar chest, a shoe rack and the closed window into the kitchen. it is nice to have these shelves here, I love the willow tree dolls and am glad to have space for them. there are not much shelves here.

dinning room Decor. We had to hire a handy man to hang up the larger pictures in our house, (cause thats what you do out here with these cement walls). The smaller pictures we hung with Sticky stuff.
Our beautiful view, this picture does not do it justice, Singapore has a nature reserve that is acres of trees, and we overlook that and a golf course, and in the far distance Malaysia.
View of the Entry Way, Kitchen table area, and Kitchen door.
family room, with Bookshelf, and Toy Kitchen, which I bought for a steel of ($20.00) at Kid to Kid, i think it needs a makeover though.
Opposite side of the room, our comfy cloud couch and red Chair. The bed has a very comfortable sleeper sofa, hint hint in case you want to come visit
The door that leads to the Kitchen, it is closed and the kitchen does not have any air con. What were they thinking, it is like an oven, and is practically outside- since it attaches to the washer and dryer area which is litterly almost on a porch. Which also means I have a problem with ants, and am working really hard to get rid of them. Yuck.
My tiny Kitchen, if you have a walk in closet, this Kitchen would probalby fit inside it. There is the tiny oven which hold a 9x13 pan but nothing bigger, the sink and the tiny fridge.
The other side, small counter and fridge
The Washer and Dryer (so grateful for both of these), it is right next to the kitchen and is open to the outside like a porch. , the silver door is the Rubbish Shoot, which you open up and you throw whatever you want down 11 story's to a dumpster.
This is the Bomb Shelter (literally) every apartment has. A lot of times it is used as the Helper's room (aka maid/nanny) it is small about 6feet by 4 feet. And is right next to the washer and Dryer. There is no aircon, since it is open to the porch by the dryer.
Master bathroom towels.
Our dresser which fits in the rather wide hallway, really well, a good use of the what would have been wasted space (the hallway)
The large windowsill which is a great storage shelf for Naomi's Sewing stuff, that it all those boxes.
And look a little messy but an alcove in our room, which is a perfect sewing area!!!
The Master suite
Here is Marianne's room, her room is considered a closet because it does not have a built in

Spencer's room has a double bunk Bed, which takes up most of his room, but the bed has also become a play area and a fort, space ship, and a lot of fun.

another picture of the master bathroom
Hallway leading towards the Family room
The guest bathroom sink, decorated with a green hand towel and an original painting by Bridget Smith of the Utah Mountains- We love it Bridget thanks so much!
Guest Bathroom, with Shower.

Qian Hu Fish Spa

They feed on the dead and unhealthy skin cells on the human body, leaving the skin feeling smoother and softer. As the fishes have no teeth, the process is not painful and can be quite a pleasant sensation after the initial ticklish feeling has subsided and you have relaxed into the treatment.

This is really a cool thing to do out here. Kind of like getting a peticure. If anyone comes to visit this is a must. I have to say I was a little (a lot) jumpy for the first few minutes and then it actually got to be very comfortable massage feeling. We did this for 20 min and now we have very soft feet!

A few fish at first
lots of fish
You could even go and do the big fish "for the bigger sensation" It was fun, Naomi was a little to scared to put her feet in. She stuck a town in the big fish tank and then jumped up screaming :)

China Town, The Park, Etc. . .

Put these amazing sunglasses on for me!
Cheeeeese!This is our Park in our complex. It is awesome and shaped like a Pirate Ship!
Here is the kids pool, which is really close to the park. We love it the whole thing is only about 2 - 2 1/2 feet deep, so Spencer is all over the place and I don't have to hold him. Which is great cause Marianne has to stay right next to me.
Good thing the water is safe here unlike some places we have been, ie Philippines.
The park that is across of the street on top of the mall. We go here a lot. We love the splash pad that is right next to it! The mall which is litteraly across the street from us holds

On the us saying Cheeeeese
Here is Marianne as pleased as she can be because all her animals are shoved into her pocket.

There is a part of Singapore called Chinatown they have lots of souvenirs and fun shops and restaurants. We headed over there last Saturday with our friends Kyle and Jenifer Larson

This is Smith Street in China Town (my middle name is Smith) so we had to get a photo.
The coolest dessert Snow Iccee, this one is mango strawberry and the other is chocolate, yummy
Oh and don't forget Marianne has to bring all of her animals with us, which she refers to each one by their sounds, so the horse is a neh-neh, and the chicken is a cluck cluck. At dinner tonight we had chicken and she said More cluck cluck. I thought it was funny
We wnt to a dessert spot and

We love hanging out with Daddy

Malaysia

Last week we took a half day trip to Malaysia. But we went to the wrong spot. It is kind of a process to get there first you have to get on a bus drive for 20 min, get off the bus go in Immigration on the Singapore side, wait in line show your passaport, get on the bus drive 10 min get off the bus go through Immigration on Malaysia side wait in line show your passport and then get on another bus to drive to the part of Malaysia you want to go to- the whole process took about 1 1/2 hours to arrive in Malaysia from our house.

So we did all that, but then we got on the wrong bus so instead of going to a normal shopping tourist area we went to kind o fa dirty truck stop where all there was was a wet market (food sold on the street or in a wherehouse in stalls) and other things like purses and shoes and stuff sold in the stalls. So we walked around the stalls ate at KFC and then went back through the Two Immigration centers. All in all not too successful we'll have to try it again another time.

On the bus
There were scary sick cats every where

The market
KFC, that was the best part

Oh here is a random picture of Spencer at playgroup with his friend Gage