As I mentioned in an earlier post, it was difficult to sleep on the hard beds in China (I didn’t like that a third of the trip was spent in rooms with two separate single beds either. I had David push them together one night). But there were other factors that disturbed sleep just about every night while there.
- Cars honking. They honk all day and all night in Beijing. I think it’s part of the requirement for driving there. Even out in the peaceful countryside of Huangshan, we would hear cars blast their horn as they went rip-roaring the through curves in the road to warn everybody they’re coming. Our room had a great view of the bend in the road our hotel sat on.
- A construction site right outside the window.
- Someone buzz-sawing in the morning.
- Strong wafts of cigarette smoke coming from the windows or hallways.
- Someone ringing the doorbell (they have doorbells for each room) or calling your telephone at midnight or 6am.
- Tourists getting up at 4am and
talkingshouting in the hallway.
But now that I’m home, and thoroughly enjoying my soft bed, and I am even tired enough to sleep through the construction next door to our own apartment.
Back in high school, all I wanted to do in life was get married and raise a family. But as graduation creeped closer, I realized I couldn’t just sit around waiting for “Mr. Right.” I also remember wanting to stay a senior because I was having a lot of fun, and college and beyond was kind of scary to think about. But someone once said to me that “There is life after high school.” After striking out on a few adventures of my own, I adopted that saying for myself.
Our second year of marriage has strengthened our relationship with each other and with God. By now, we know each other’s faults and tendencies fairly well, but we both put effort to always think the best of each other. We’ve been committed to forgive and love as the Lord does for us. Sometimes it’s hard, but our closeness has been worth the effort. 
When I visited Jennilyn twice a week during our courtship, I always had a fun time photographing her cat. She is the loudest purring machine I have ever met. As we visited her folks for the weekend, I couldn’t resist taking a few new snapshots of our favorite feline.