I Think I Have A Thing For Noodle Men.

                I don’t know what it is about them.  Whether it’s the way they make making the noodle dough right in front of you look like a piece of cake or the way they handle a flaming skillet full of delicious, mouth watering noodles – I completely adore them.  There’s something so appealing about a man who can cook; and let me tell you, making noodles this fantastic takes talent.  During my time here in China I have discovered a great truth: real men make noodles. 

                Noodle Man (well, boy) #1:  Juh Bah Kuh.  While I probably spelled his name completely wrong, I don’t know how to make Chinese characters on here so this will have to suffice.  We first met JBK during our first week here in China.  We wanted to go out to eat to celebrate a boy in our group’s birthday and one of the Chinese teachers here had suggested this place  (I have no idea what it’s even called, I should probably find that out).   It’s a precious little noodle shop with pictures of everything they serve on the walls – which makes ordering a breeze.  We each picked something off the wall that looked appetizing and hoped for the best.  Little did we know that we were about the have the best noodles of our lives.  The shop is so amazing.  They make the noodles right in front of you; you can watch the whole process – it’s so fun.  Since that time we have returned many times for two reasons:  the delicious noodles and the most adorable little boy (JBK), the owner’s son who hangs around the shop all day.  The first few times we went he would come wave and give us high fives – we would always ask him his name but he would never respond.  The last time we went – a few days ago – he came over and sat by us…and randomly started speaking to me in English!  He showed me his English book he uses at school and we had a nice conversation about animals and how he was doing.  He told me it was nice to meet me at least five times and finally responded when I asked him what his name was!  Juh Bah Kuh.  He asked what my name was and hopefully he will remember.  I adore him.  I’m going to buy him a toy and take it to him before we leave.  I also fully plan on getting a picture with him and his amazing father before I go back home.  Those noodles will be my last meal here and I might cry when I never get to eat them again.  They might have to come home with me in my suitcase.

                Noodle Man #2: The hot man at the night market who makes delicious, flaming (literally) hot noodles in his cute little noodle stand.  He usually wears a light blue and teal striped shirt (which does wonders for his skin tone), has amazing pearly whites (not something you see too often in China), and is just overall so attractive.  I’ve only ever spoken one word to him – and he responded in Chinese…go figure.  My goal is to make him recognize me…since we wander around there every night anyways.  I’m going to get a picture sometime when I go to buy noodles – I’ll post it when I do. 

Post O' Countdowns:

7 days until Rachel flies to Colorado to visit me for my birthday
7 days until Rachel and I go to PF Changs
7 days until Rachel and I get to see All Time Low (it has been far too long since I have been to a concert)
8 days until my birthday & I turn 21!
9 days until I'm done with work for the summer
10 days until I get season 4 of Gossip Girl in the mail (I've been going through Chuck withdrawals)
12 days until I leave for China
13 days until I will be living in Changzhou :)

The next few months is going to be amazing!!!  Hopefully I will be able to blog about all of my many, many adventrues.

finally! the video worked!

behold...the cute baby :)  randomly when he was laying on the floor he would start squealing. i love it.

what do i love more than anything in the world?

the answer:  my nephews.  i completely adore them.  jesseca, richard, and jaxton were here for the past few days and it was so much fun.  i love seeing them and especially love playing with the little baby.  he is so cute and i am completely in love with him.  i can't wait until amber, chad, and cayden come visit in july :)  here are a few pictures to sum up why i love them.

jaxton making faces in his swing.

my favorite picture of him.

my nickname for him shall be cheeks.  i think you understand why...

adorable.

his first experience with grass :)

can't you tell he's amber's son? 

best. face. ever.

cayden loves to play soccer with me.

and loves to wear womens' shoes.

needless to say, i have the most adorable, perfect nephews in the world.  i tried to upload a few videos, but they never work for me.  i shall have to try again later.

could i be more excited? i submit that i could not.

top ten coolest things i've found out about the place i'm going in china (changzhou):

1) it's located on the bank of the yangtze river.

2) it was founded over 3000 years ago by the Zhou dynasty.

3) it has a palace.

4) it's the home of the China Dinosaur Park - fossils + amusement park + giant panda.

5) it's the home of the Tianning Temple - one of the largest Buddhist temples in all of China.

6) one if its largest imports is silk.

7) it's very close to Shanghai.

8) it's in FREAKING CHINA.

9) asians live there.

10) the picture at the top speaks for itself.

the most beautiful men...for your viewing pleasure.

i was having a grand conversation with danielle when somehow the topic of attractive men came up.  i then proceeded to think about who the top five hottest men were in the world.  this is what i came up with (you all know you care):

john mayer (OBVI)

cristiano ronaldo

chuck bass (ed westwick)

james franco

david beckham

i don't know what to do with my life.

this is what i have been considering the past 24 hours.


i am currently a psychology major with a sociology minor; however, i think i might do this:
 psychology major
sociology/advertising/french cluster (to take the place of a minor)


in order to have clusters become a minor, you only need two of them, and if i have to pick two, i would do sociology and advertising.  BUT, with all the french classes i have taken up at school, i only need one more to fulfill a french cluster, so what the heck.  why not do three.


the reason for this change is this:  i have always been interested in criminal psychology, a field in which sociology would be very useful.  but lately, i have been so interested in my roommate's advertising classes and found that a majority of psych majors actually go into advertising.  who knew they played such a big role in the way things are advertised?  not i.  i think it has the potential to be incredibly fun and would open up a lot more options career wise in the future.  and who doesn't love someone who speaks french.


i am a bit distressed about my future.  i need 19 more classes if i make these changes.  that's three semesters if i kill myself and do 7 classes one semester (at least 20 credits) and 6 classes the other two.  this has the potential to destroy me and my social life.  alas, i think it must be done.  


that's what's been going through my mind lately.


oh, not to mention i am so excited!  i am a part of a research group this semester and in a few weeks we get to go present at the RMPA (rocky mountain psychological association) conference up at school!  SO MUCH FUN.  and it can't hurt to have it on a resume... we are studying when students change their majors and reasons for why they change.  so far, it's been interesting.


i also love cocoa bean.  amber & jesseca, you need to go there and get the love potion frappe.  just saying.

one day...

si j'etait riche, je voyagerai en france.

tres, tres belle.

oy.

can i just say one thing: today has been the weirdest day of my life.  not only did i have the most BIZARRE dream (which will be explained later), but i have switched moods literally eight times.  my day started off great: i got woken up by danielle's ginormous stuffed teddy bear trying to sleep with me and upon looking at my phone found the most adorable picture of fabio (my cat) that my mom had sent me.  it was a good morning.  i even proceeded to sing good morning to danielle.  by the time class rolled around i was in the worst mood of my life and felt like i was going to throw up.  that quickly went away by my next class where i attempted to do a sudoku and failed.  then i was happy because i got gossip girl season three in the mail, and now i'm grumpy again - there is a good possibility that i am going insane. 

so back to this dream: my mom and i were visiting france where i kept speaking to a cute french boy in french so my mom couldn't understand.  she kept asking me what we were saying and all i would do is laugh and not tell her.  then danielle and joslyne paid us a visit and it ended with danielle's boyfriend, ethan, popping in for a few minutes. BAM. i woke up.  explain that one.

so tomorrow is Lent and katie, jos and i have decided that we are all giving things up.  we even posted them on the wall so that people can judge us if we fail.

so what am i giving up, you ask?  let me tell you.  it's going to be a fun (not) month.  but i am very excited to try.  it will be good for me.

seeing as how it is tuesday and Lent begins wednesday...i better get all my complaining in today:

my head hurts, my eyes won't stop watering, my hair is gross, i want shorter bangs, i have to clean the whole house, i have an annoying outline to do today, i don't know what to do with my major or life in general, i miss my family, i'm poor, i'm cold (my roommates like being eskimos), and there's snow outside.  i'll be sure to get all my complaining out of my system by tonight.

on a happier note...i got these:

and the only thing i have to say about them is that i'm in love.  

happy highlights of the past week:
- midterm grade report: 6 A's, 1 B+  (not too shabby for 18 credits)
- the cute (and very taken) sign language translator for my class
- going to green canyon.  swimming, playing water basketball, and sitting in a very hot hot tub :)
- seeing salt
- speaking in british accents for two consecutive days
- pretending to be kungfu warriors
- watching all of the x-men movies
- playing WALLYBALL with the best fhe group ever (volleyball...only with a rubber ball and you play off the walls)
- planning dance parties
- john mayer.
- spending five hours working for the parking committee with the hilarious mustache man that works there.
- having a shadow puppet show with alyssa
- getting letters in the mail
- the snow finally melting enough that i can wear my cute new flats
- danielle and i turning our room into a cave by blanketing up the windows
- nesting on the couch with katie, jos, and danielle whilst watching glee
- running around on the snow barefoot
- deep cleaning my room

:)  this was just for jesseca, since she wanted me to write a happy post once in a while.  so i did.  that's what been going on in my life the past seven days.  and can i just say that i am happy.  i love school.  psychology is the best major i could have ever picked and i completely adore all of the amazing people up here.

shelle.

in my 20 1/2 years of living on this earth, i have found that many people have interesting names.  especially mormons.  what i've recently discovered is that there are quite a few versions of my name out in the world...and they all suck.  

Exhibit A - Versions of my name that make me cringe:

Trishelle

Crishelle

Kashelle

and saving the worst for last...

Luchelle

seriously? SERIOUSLY? words cannot describe how i feel about this.  i am most seriously displeased.

best moment of the day:

danielle and i got to watch gossip girl :)

i made beef with oyster sauce for dinner.  yum yum.

current annoyance: 

people who think it's ok to not change the toilet paper roll.

things that really bother me:

up at this school you find all kinds of weirdos, most of which are tolerable, i suppose (but not handsome enough to tempt me).  however, there are just some things that i cannot handle.  they are as follows:

1) men who think it's ok to wear a top hat, floor length trench coat, and a bright blue shirt with a larger than life cat on the front and the words "i love cats".

2) uneven couples.  no, it's not ok that you're a girl and a good foot taller than your man.  find a new one.

3) girls who wear eyeshadow, but no mascara - also not ok.

4) SINGLE girls who wear a ring on their married finger.  

5) girls who originally have dark hair going blonde.

6) mustaches. i'd rather this school allow beards.

7) boys who walk around the third floor (apparently this is the floor for you if you are looking to hook up) giving massages to every girl they come in contact with.

8) pedestrians who DON'T LOOK before crossing the road.  what if i didn't stop? next time, i will hit you.

9) people who think it's ok to suck at parking and take up two or even three spaces.  thanks to you, i had to walk a mile from the parking lot to the ricks building.

10) class cuddlers. nuff said.

many moons ago i started a blog for the sole purpose of conforming to society and having a place to put words about how i felt - this was an epic fail.  and because i don't feel like redoing my old blog and making it something that i actually like and will write in, i made a new one.  a blog of all my thoughts about life and its adventures.  it will also be used to update my family about my life volunteering in china.  yup, that's right, CHINA.  feel free to be jealous, i know i would be if i weren't myself.  i'm finishing up all the documents i need and will be heading overseas come the end of august - a great birthday present, if i do say so myself.  

i have promised myself to update this regularly - maybe not everyday -  but more than once or twice a year.  but if i'm going to commit to it, that means that you will have to commit to it, too.  those few of you who care enough about my life to read this (you know who you are, a.j.&m.) 

if i were you, i'd look forward to my ramblings.  

mulan, anyone?