WSW

So, I'm a bit behind because I'm on vacation but this week's edition of West Sisters Weekly is on Ie Li's blog.

More from the beach later =)

Girls Only

This past weekend, Ie Mei and I went on a little girls trip with some ladies from the English-speaking ward. 

Just a heads up, this is kind of lengthy, so feel free to just look at the pictures. We embarked on our adventure to Puebla at about 8:30 AM on Friday and arrived at our destination around 11:00.

We ate at the most delicious sandwich shop for lunch. If you're ever in Puebla, Mexico, I highly recommend you go and eat here. Cemitas Las Poblanitas.

You see those spicy looking things? I put those in my sandwich. They were delicious, but I did work up quite a sweat eating them.

Puebla is famous for a type of pottery called Talavera, so after lunch we visited a workshop where they showed us the whole process.

 It's amazing how these artists paint everything freehand. Everything was beautiful. Later that day we walked through a lot of different Talavera shops and Ie Mei bought me a serving plate for my late birthday present. I may be biased, but I think my plate is the most beautiful piece that came home in our van.

Puebla has the most beautiful colored buildings with these cute stone sidewalks. This is my favorite picture of the trip. I just love my sister. She is beautiful.

Right after this beautiful picture was taken, we had a crazy hail storm. 

Being a Californian, and it being spring and all, I was of course wearing flip flops, but it eventually died down and we were able to visit some churches and go to dinner at an Italian/Poblano restaurant. Puebla is also famous for its mole which is a chocolate chili sauce. I figured I had to try it. Not my favorite, but I'm glad I tried something new. The churches on the other hand were lovely and I really did like those. 

By the time we were back at our hotel we were ready to pass out. The next morning we ate breakfast and we were on our way to Tecali, the Onix capital of the world. Ok, I made that up, but we shopped for hours and hours looking at all these different shops with all the same things made of onix. I found some good finds though. 

After all the shopping, I was glad to take a break and take a look at the church. I love this picture of this cute church with the bright blue sky. 

We walked down the street to the convent which is now ruins and it was really cool. It hasn't had a roof in I don't know how many years so now instead of an interior floor with stone, it is a beautiful grassy field. 

It was such a nice weekend with my sister and I'm glad I was able to visit so many interesting sites. The only down side is the sickness that Ie Mei and I have been experiencing all last night and today, but other than that it was a delightful, delicious, de-lovely trip. Thank you Ie Mei Lynn for a wonderful weekend!

I'm a Warrior.

At least I feel like one after posing like one for so long. 

Mondays and Wednesdays in Mexico City include a yoga session in Bosques de Las Lomas. For some reason when I was younger I imagined yoga as a meditation rather than a form of exercise. Last Monday was my first session and I was surprised by how hard it was and how sore I was for days and days afterwards. After 10 minutes I was sweating, wondering when the pain was going to end, but I couldn't ask because everyone is silent during yoga. However, I have lived to write about it and it turns out yoga is 2 hours long.

Today was my second time at yoga and once again, I was dying.

Downward facing dog. Upward facing dog. Warrior 1. Warrior 2. Warrior 3. Flow. High Plank. Low Plank. Triangle. Airplane. Crow. 

And those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head right now. As much as it hurts, yoga is amazing because you get to work all these muscles you didn't even know existed. 

The last thing we do in our sessions is Savasana. I just looked it up on Wikipedia and it's apparently also called the corpse pose, in which you lay on your back on your mat and close your eyes as you listen to music and slowly release the tension in all your body parts. The instructor, Lisa, then comes around and places a washcloth over your eyes and then drapes a blanket over your body all the way up to your neck and it is the most amazing feeling. Ie Mei and I agreed that it only feels so good because we worked our bodies so hard. It turns out I can get through 2 hours of yoga a lot better when I know Savasana is coming.

Ailee joined us for yoga today and copied some of the poses on her own mat. She is a really cute warrior.

I'm in Mexico!

My adventures in Mexico City began on Friday when I woke up at 3 AM to get to the airport at 4:00. I realized later that this wasn't necessary for a morning flight, but they said that for international flights I should be 3 to 4 hours early. Ie Mei and the little girls picked me up right on time and we made our way home to unload my stuff and picked up Lance from school.

Friday night we went to an event at the children's museum for Mead Johnson and it was way fun. We watched a 3D movie and played.

The clowns (payasos) made things out of balloons for the kids. Flowers for the girls and swords and belts for the boys. After they finished with Ailee's, she said, "Muchas gracias, clown!" 

We got free yummy snacks and took a picture with Pancho Pantera, a mascot for Mead Johnson. The popcorn was no good. Pizza was no good. My crepe on a stick, delicious. And that spiral thing that Ie Mei has, it's potato with ketchup and hot sauce. I liked that one too, but it would've been better warm.

Saturday we made a little trip to the temple to look around and then headed to Coyoacan. It only took us a couple hours to get there because we got lost, but we made it eventually. It was a really picturesque place. There were so many vendors along the streets and places to buy ice cream and candy. My first meal out in Mexico was at Cafe Kowloon, a Chinese restaurant. I think I will stick to my Golden China in South Pasadena, CA, but it wasn't the worst thing. If you zoom in and see that middle dish, it's Kung Pao Chicken. It was very different than the stuff I get in the states and once again, not my fav. 

Sunday I went to Ie Mei and Brad's ward. They go to the Palmas ward which is a Spanish ward. I took 4 years of Spanish in high school, but it's been a few years since I've used it except for a little conversation with Jonathan. The talks were harder to understand except when Elder Olson spoke because he's American and spoke slowly and clearly. He is the man that introduced my mom to the church and baptized her and is now on a mission with his wife in Mexico City.

Understanding Sunday school and Relief Society was a little better and I was able to converse with some people after church. The Mexican people are extremely kind and very eager to make everyone feel welcome and loved.

After church we went and visited El Castillo. It was lovely indeed. It reminded me of my time in Spain and France when we would tour lovely castles. The gardens on the roof were my favorite. 

Mother's Day in Mexico is celebrated every year on May 10, so Ie Mei decided that we would have all the missionary couples over for dinner since they weren't able to be with their kids. Brad went to the flower market and bought a beautiful array of gerber daisies and fillers and we made several bouquets. I felt like we had our own little flower shop in the kitchen. I wish I had some of Jennica's flower arranging skills, but I think we did a pretty good job.

I was so impressed by Ie Mei's willingness to host 6 people despite her already full house. She is always thinking of others and I'm so glad I get to spend all this time with her. She is such a good example to me. 

And since I didn't get a chance to post about my mom on Mother's day, I'll include a little something about her. My mom is amazing. She is so hard-working and tender-hearted. Always willing to help anyone in need. She teaches me so much still and I love her so much. She is beautiful. Inside and out. I am striving every day to be more like her. 

A visit to Coronado

Friday: July 30, 2010

Today we made our way down to San Diego and Coronado island (which is really a peninsula). Our first stop was Seaport Village. It is extremely picturesque. Cute stores, interesting vendors, and a beautiful view of the harbor. We stumbled upon these beauties from Brazil:

Some other cute pictures from the village:

We also took a little walk around the Hotel Del Coronado. I don't have much to say except it is beautiful.

 I stayed there once in high school with Mom and Dad and Jonathan. You don't get opportunities like that every day. I'm a lucky girl. 

We hit up the outlets afterwards and finally arrived back in Escondido. I am watching Dan in Real Life with my parents and Jonathan right now as I type. Everyone else is out for date night. One day I'll get to join them, but until then, I'm happy babysitting sleeping kids and relaxing with my parents. 

Virginia is for Lovers: Day Fourteen

Another Costco run. Mei Li didn't really want to go shopping with us, but I told her that we'd find some treats to eat. I think she realized that it was worthwhile after the chocolate ice cream cone sample.

Jonathan and I have a new tv addiction: Castle. There is something so interesting about murder mysteries. It reminds me of old times when I would sit and watch Diagnosis Murder with Dick Van Dyke. So, we started watching it a couple days ago and let's just say we don't have too much more to watch before we're caught up to real time. We should probably find better things to do, like watch the Bachelorette!

Jokes, jokes. It's definitely not the most worth while show, but it can be very entertaining. Ie Li, Steve, Jonathan, and I sat down to roll our eyes and chuckle as we watched men fight for Ali's love and attention. There were more than enough scenes where Ali ran into a man's arms so he could twirl her around. Most of them were with Roberto for sure though. He's definitely a top pick, but enough of that.

A few days ago we were in Wegman's and we saw some toy lacrosse sticks with a ball. We decided that we couldn't pass them up and took them home along with our last minute groceries. Before our family viewing of the Bachelorette, Jonathan and I thought we'd put those sticks and ball to use and play some LAX. That's the cool way of saying lacrosse.

I've really come to like lacrosse a lot. Somehow I became acquainted with lots of Virginians this year and they ALL play/played lacrosse. I think "playing LAX" is maybe my way of transitioning from a west coast gal to an east coast gal. One day I'll live in Virginia.

Virginia is for Lovers: Day Twelve

Happy, Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister, Ie Li Anne Zackrison. Even though we're 7 years apart, she is still one of my dearest, closest friends. You might call us kindred spirits. I am so glad that I get to spend these three weeks with her in Virginia. Words can't describe how lovely she is. Her name means overflowing beauty and it seems to match her perfectly. She is beautiful inside and out. She is a wonderful mother, friend, and sister. Thank you for being a wonderful example to me, Ie Li Anne. Happy Birthday! I love you!


So, in honor of my lovely sister's birthday, my brother-in-law, Steve, made a delicious french toast breakfast. Apparently it's Alton Brown's recipe. There were also fresh berries and cream to put on top. I should've taken a picture, but all I could think about was eating it.

Jonathan and I babysat the two older kids so that Ie Li and Steve could look at some furniture stores. I convinced Mei Li to let me do her hair in a couple French braids. They were very cute. We went to the park for a little bit to play.


I got a phone call from my friend Jon-Michael tonight. It was good to hear from him. He's a good friend.

It's weird that another week has already passed. I'm only here for another week and a half, so I'm going to make sure I continue to live it up in this beautiful place.

Virginia is for Lovers: Day Eleven

Jonathan and I took the kids in the stroller and went on a run down the W&OD trail, which I found out stands for the Washington and Old Dominion Trail. Cool eh? It's a wonderful path that goes for miles and miles. It's lovely.

One thing I'm seriously loving about Virginia is the outlets. Yesterday we went on another family outing to the outlets. It's not quite as fun with 3 kids, but still enjoyable. I've already done enough shopping, so it was nice to be able to help Ie Li out with the kids so she could do some shopping for herself. Note: When shopping at the Leesburg outlets, I would advise you not to eat at the food court--I'm not a fan.

When Stephen woke up from his nap we made a short trip to the pool to cool off. A nice man let Stephen play with a toy boat. He LOVED it.


Mei Li met a friend named Samantha.


Kids are funny. They can meet someone and be friends with them instantly. Mei Li is really good at that. When I told her it was time to go, she decided she needed to hop back in the pool to give Samantha (the girl she had met only minutes ago) a hug goodbye. I wish I were better at making friends. I think that will be a new goal for me. Thanks, Mei Li, for being a great example of friendship.

Ie Li picked up some delicious pizzas for dinner and Mei Li and Stephen had some blueberries for a side. I only got Stephen on camera though. I think he liked them.

After the kids were in bed we all watched Sherlock Holmes. I may or may not have taken a nap during it, but it was ok, because I had already seen it. Once upon a time when I lived in Provo I had a friend named Jon-Michael who would randomly invite me to see movies with him. Sherlock Holmes was one of them. I'm excited to go back to school in Provo and be with wonderful friends.

Virginia is for Lovers: Day Ten

We went on our first family outing. Three babies and three adults piled into the van and we headed to world market to look for some things to decorate Ie Li's new house. We bought a couple curtain rods but Ie Li thinks she's taking them back.

After Ie Li put Stephen to sleep, Mei Li asked me to play Hello Animals with her. Hello Animals is pretty much Mei Li's life in animal form. I usually play mom, dad, and aunt. I'm not very good at it. At least, I get pretty bored with my dialog. But Mei Li usually doesn't mind. If I'm slacking off, she'll tell me my lines.

I baked a delicious treat yesterday. I call them oatmeal fudge bars, but I don't know their real name. It's pretty much oatmeal cookie dough and melted milk chocolate with sweetened condensed milk. It's pretty delicious.

I didn't take any pictures yesterday. I'll try to take more and keep up with blogging.

Virginia is for Lovers: Day Six

The fourth of July is one of my most favorite holidays. I don't remember the last time it fell on a Sunday, but it did yesterday. I feel like most wards sing patriotic songs the Sunday before or after the fourth, but yesterday we sang patriotic songs and it was the real day--what a treat! I can't say that I'm extremely patriotic year round, but when the fourth rolls around, it's hard not to be.

I love this country and I love the freedoms we have. I am so grateful for all the sacrifices the founding fathers made for this country and the sacrifices that soldiers make for this country every day. And in the words of Lee Greenwood, "I'm proud to be an American." We sang America the Beautiful for the closing hymn and everyone stood up and I couldn't help but get a little teary-eyed. America is beautiful.

So, if anyone looks on my facebook, there is a little box under my picture that gives a pronunciation guide of my name because it's not uncommon for people to say it wrong and after the 3rd or 4th time of correcting someone I pretty much give up. Another thing that should be noted is that there are quite a few people in my family that have similar names. I'll just write down the ones that kind of sound alike:
Ie Mei
Ie Li
Ie Ling
Mei Li
Mylee
Ailee

Well, yesterday I attended my sister's ward and they read in all the names of her family. I couldn't help but chuckle when they said "I" Li Zackrison because it's not only a mispronunciation of Ie Li's name but also the name of my niece. Then we went to Relief Society and there was a conversation like this:

Nice lady 1: Are there any visitors?
Me: We're Ie Li Zackrison's sisters.
Nice lady 1: Well, we're glad to have you.
Nice lady 2: Oh, you have to listen to their names!
Me: I'm Ie Ling.
Ie Mei: I'm Ie Mei.
Nice lady 3: Oh that's beautiful! There's Ie Li, Elaine, and Ie Mei. (I'm not sure why everyone hears Elaine when I say my name)
Nice lady 1: Oh that's right Eli (Like the boy's name, Eli) was telling me that all the girls have Oriental names and the boys have American names...and it looks like she's doing the same!

It cracks me up at least. I don't ever really get upset when people say my name wrong, it makes for good stories.

After church Jonathan and I piled into the Tay Team vehicle and went on a tour of their old stomping grounds in Oakton. I was partially asleep while we were driving, but we pulled up to their old ward building and I sleepily said, "Holler if you see Sister Livingston (The mother of my dear friend, Gregory.)" There were obviously slim chances of that, but then Brad said, "There she is!" So we pulled up and she looked surprised to see the Taylors after a four year absence. She didn't realize I was in the car and said, "Greg's really had fun getting to know your sister!" to which Ie Mei replied, "Oh she's right here." And that was when I was introduced to the famous Sister Livingston who I had only heard about. This was the woman who sent grand packages to Greg during the year and after our brief meeting, it has been confirmed that she is indeed lovely.

On our way home we stopped at Bull Run which was pretty cool. We snapped a couple good shots.





We then hurried home so that Jonathan and I could grab a quick bite to eat and head to downtown for the fireworks display. Steve made us some delicious brats and then Barrett picked us up and we were off!

I don't think I'll ever be in D.C. for the fourth of July again, so I'm glad I was able to go to downtown. There is nothing as beautiful as watching the fireworks on the 4th of July, in the nation's capital, under the Washington Monument. I'm so glad I got to go and be around so many monuments dedicated to our nation's leaders and heroes on that special day.



We ended up walking about 1 hr and 45 min. to get back to our car that was parked at the Pentagon and then we were on our way home. It was a wonderful day. God Bless America.

Virginia is for Lovers: Day Three

Jonathan and I made a trip to Costco with Mei Li and Stephen and enjoyed the food court and lots of samples. But this was only after a little incident this morning. Jonathan and I were getting ready for the day and Mei Li came down all dressed with her hair in pigtails. She saw a flower that I had in my hair and ran upstairs to get a bow for herself.

Well, I went upstairs and thought Mei Li had pulled back her bangs a little funny. Not exactly what happened. Ie Li chuckled a little and said, "Mei Li, what'd you do with your hair?" and as Mei Li approached, we both realized that she had taken scissors to her beautiful bangs. Ie Li and Mei Li cried for a little, but everything will be alright. Hair grows back.

The funny thing is that when Ie Li was about Mei Li's age, she cut her own bangs as well. She was ironically in pigtails too.

Virginia is for Lovers: Day Two

We woke up to the high-pitched voices of Mei Li and Stephen saying: "Auntie Ie Ling, Uncle Jonathan, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!" And if you know how cute they are, you know they can't be refused. We got ready for the day and while Jonathan made a trip to the IKEA in Maryland, Mei Li, Stephen, and I went to the park and played with sidewalk chalk. It was the most beautiful day and to top off our morning at the park, we came home to Ie Li preparing a little picnic for us out on the deck:


This year I've become acquainted with a lot of great people from Virginia, including Barrett Johnson. He paid us a little visit on his way home from work. Mei Li and Barrett got along splendidly. Within the first 5 minutes she was already holding his hand on his way to the park. He was only with us for a little while, but I hope I will be seeing a lot more of him in these next 3 weeks.

Jonathan and I let Ie Li take a little nap and we attempted to entertain the kids. Mei Li came up with idea of making cheerio bracelets. It was a definite success:

Virginia is for Lovers: Day One

Our adventure began on a Monday evening at the Long Beach Airport. We departed around 10:30 and my plan was to sleep the ENTIRE flight. I even took some dramamine to knock me out. Unfortunately, my plan backfired and I was awake for most of the flight, which left me with nothing to do but browse infomercials. I saw a couple funny ones like Body Gospel .

We finally landed at Washington, Dulles at 6:00 AM and arrived in Ashburn around 6:30. Jonathan and I were exhausted, so we took a nap for a while but eventually woke up to play with 3 beautiful little munchkins:



There's nothing I love more than little newborns who let you cuddle with them all day long. In addition to cuddling with baby Mi Na Anne, we played hello animals and read a Dr. Seuss book entitled, "Put Me in the Zoo." It's a good one and I highly recommend it. But I'm sure by the end of this trip I'll have it memorized, so I can just tell you the story.

After the kids went to bed, Jonathan and I went for a little run and enjoyed the unusually cool Virginia air as the sun set. We even spotted some fireflies while we were stretching. They're amazing.

M.O.A.B.

This past Memorial Day Weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Moab with a wonderful group of people. There were 15 of us total and it was a definite success. I headed out Thursday evening with Greg, Liz, and Preston and we made a claim on a couple camp sites. We were pretty famished, so we headed to the Moab Diner where I had a delicious taco salad. After dinner we set up camp and then went to sleep.

In the morning I dropped of Greg and Preston at the Slick Rock Bike Trail so they could go biking. I went on a lovely jog and then bonded with Liz on the top of our little mountain next to our campsite. We spent the rest of the day hiking and eating and enjoying each other's company.

The second wave of people arrived that evening and we played at the most wonderful park that had, for some reason or another, several xylophones. It was extremely cool. We then hiked to our mountain to watch the sunset which was exquisite. There is nothing more beautiful than watching the sun set.



Saturday was a big hiking day. All 15 of us set out for Arches National Park where we hiked to Delicate Arch, Landscape Arch and Double O Arch. The weather was amazing and I think we all had a fun time. I'm usually not very adventurous, but I decided to stand on top of Double O Arch. It was pretty exciting and thrilling and I'm glad I did it.

Once again, we returned to our mountain for sunset and then bonfired the night away. I left Sunday morning to get back in time for church and I had never been so excited to take a shower. Although camping can get a little uncomfortable and dirty, I love being out in nature and being able to appreciate all the beauty that is around us. For those of you who haven't taken a trip to Moab, I highly recommend it. It was one of the best weekends EVER.

Spring School

Winter Semester ended and I'm now in school for the spring term. I love taking school in the spring/summer. Campus is empty and relaxed and everyone is playing outside. It is a wonderful sight. In between winter and spring I took a little vacation home to South Pasadena and brought some friends along:




A few people went to Knott's Berry Farm and we made a trip to the beach. It was the perfect day. I think Mom had a fun time meeting my friends and cooking for them. Thanks mom, for letting us invade the house!

I really enjoyed driving 20 hours to and from California, so I thought it'd be fun to do it again for Jennica's wedding. It was a gorgeous day, and the bride looked absolutely stunning. I was also able to make a little stop in Berkeley to see my long lost friend, Adelaide.



And now I'm back to school. I'm loving my classes and it's good to be at BYU. =)