It’s 5am and I can’t sleep. Jet-lag has been wreaking havoc with both of us. We’ve made plans to go for dinner twice and have ended up back in bed at the strangest hours. Despite our odd nocturnal tendancies of late, we’re both pleased to be back home and together again.

John and I only had a few days together after the wedding before parting ways to spend Christmas with our families. We didn’t want our first argument to be about where we celebrated Christmas as neither one of us has been home for the holidays in over six years. So, we decided to go it alone and have remained happy with our decision. We met up in Chicago on the 30th of December and arrived in Taiwan just in time to grab a big bottle of bubbly we had been saving for the occasion, the camera and our jackets. We booted it up to the rooftop to enjoy the Taipei 101 firework display and celebrated the new year as happy newlyweds together again.

My reflections on 2008 are short and simple. First and foremost, it’s been a wonderful year, but I’m glad the wedding is over. We finally have our lives back. Everything we’ve done over the past year has been in anticipation of this event. It was everything we hoped it would be; a dream come true. Secondly, it was wonderful to end 2008 with our family and friends. Thanks to all of you who made our time back home so special and to those of you who showed your support on-line. I am again reminded that there is nothing more important in the world than family and we are humbled by the absolute love and affection we have received at every point on this amazing journey of ours. It was hard to go…

And lastly, a very Happy New Year to all of you. May you achieve all your dreams and fulfill all your promises. I leave you with this quote from Ella Wheeler Wilcox:

What can be said in New Year rhymes,
That’s not been said a thousand times?
The new years come, the old years go,
We know we dream, we dream we know.
We rise up laughing with the light,
We lie down weeping with the night.
We hug the world until it stings,
We curse it then and sigh for wings.
We live, we love, we woo, we wed,
We wreathe our prides, we sheet our dead.
We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,
And that’s the burden of a year.

These last few weeks have flown by. I haven’t had any time to write at all, and to be honest, I’m glad I prepared in advance because the last thing I’ve felt like doing is sitting around at home on my dad’s dial-up connection. A big thanks to my students, who have been kind enough to keep things going here.

So where do I begin? At the moment, I’m sitting in a hotel room in Minneapolis. John and I just got back from a full day of shopping at the Mall of America. I hear a dreamy little rendition of the Love Boat theme song going through my head whenever I think of it. Whew. We’re wiped from shopping. There’s no place like the good ole U.S. of A!!

But, I digress. Let me backtrack a little. My first two weeks at home were spent in a haze of jet-lag. I found my favorite couch at home and sank into a fog for days. My mother has plied me with homecooked goodies and I’ve started to gain back some of the weight I lost this year from my illness.

My parents held a wedding reception for John and I on the weekend of the 22nd. I have oodles of pictures to share. Suffice to say, we were blown away by the 30 or so family and friends who came and celebrated this very special weekend with us. I have never felt so loved and cherished. The laughter, the tears, the reminiscing and love, love, love has me energized and ready to take on the world.

Last week, my best friend, Claire, arrived from England. We’ve spent the past week wandering through Ottawa. She has never seen snow before, and like magic, it snowed 5cm just before she arrived. We spent  Thursday through Sunday in Ottawa with my other bestie, Drew Morgan. The bachelorette was WILD! It was a rockin’ good time. Facebook fiends, catch up with me there if you can’t wait for me to upload here on My Several Worlds. I can say, with utter certainty, that I’m more than happy to give up my wild single days to become Mrs. John Kellenberger. I’ve never been more ready for anything.

We picked up my dress on Monday and made, yes you read correctly, MADE my wedding veil, finished the table pieces and bridesmaid accessories. I whipped out some spectacular bridal jewelry for me and my girls and da-da-da, here I am. I can’t wait!

Sorry this is so fast and furious, but sometimes that’s how things have to be. I’m on top of the world again. Mexico — here I come!!

PS>>>> Did I mention that I have the most amazing family and friends a girl could ever have? My sugar daddy is the bomb and I am truly blessed.

Well, we’re off.  I’m heading home for Christmas for the first time in six years. I have a wedding coming up in less than a month and I can’t wait to get home!  Wedding planning and work has kept me extra busy this last month and I’m feeling more than a little burnt out from the stress of it all. I’ve been sleepwalking through these last few weeks. I’m looking forward to relaxing with my family and friends in a few short days. However, I’m NOT looking forward to leaving John. We are parting ways in San Francisco. He is heading back to Iowa to spend time with his family while I travel on to Ottawa, Canada. 

I promise you won’t be bored. I’ve written up a few posts in advance and I’ll continue to blog when I can while I’m home. In the meantime, my students from my creative writing course will be taking over My Several Worlds. You’ll be able to enjoy an assortment of different writing styles from students of all ages. I’m really grateful to them for doing this for me. Be sure to check out their profile pages, which are located at the top of this page underneath Student Writers.  Thanks to all of you who have contributed. I’m going to miss you all very much over the next seven weeks!

Four months to the wedding and three months before I head home and we still have a billion and one things to do before any of this happens! John and I are in full wedding mode now. This month has been especially busy with both of us taking advantage of the extra teaching hours that summer always has in store for ESL teachers in Taiwan. Despite our hectic schedules, we knocked off some major items on our wedding to-do list.

Well, I guess I should rephrase that. I knocked some major items off of my list. My flights are bought and paid for. I’ve also ordered my bridesmaid dresses, which will be shipped out sometime over the next two months. My dress has arrived and is sitting in storage, awaiting my arrival.

John has yet to purchase airline tickets. Nor has he figured out what his groomsmen are wearing.

I managed to get him to sit down for a day and help plan out the music for our wedding, and he has been extra helpful with the bridal favors, but I have to admit, I’m starting to get concerned with his lack of enthusiasm over his own attire and that of his groomsmen. I have a feeling this is going to be a last-minute affair. I tried being extra helpful earlier this month by finding a bunch of beachy wedding attire for him to consider, but alas, he has other things to worry about at the moment.

There’s still plenty of time to get things done though, and I’ve always been one of those annoying people that has things done waayyyyy ahead of time. This lady is usually well-prepared. At the moment, I’m fighting off the urge to get the luggage down to start packing.

I haven’t written much about my health lately, only because I felt like I was boring everyone to tears. But, I keep getting emails from friends and family inquiring, so I figured I’d better give y’all an update.

My hearing problems began almost a year ago this week. I still can’t believe the course it has taken over the past year. I swear, my doctors must be really happy to see me because I’m sure my bills alone keep them in business. I still see a doctor once a week, but my immune system is up and I’ve got my strength back. I never realized before how sick I was until I was able to start comparing it to how I feel now.

My ear drum is healed but my ear canal is still a mess and the infection comes and goes. I still can’t get through a week on my own without seeing Dr. Mao. It’s always a huge relief when I walk out of his office after each appointment.

Last month, I started to get really worried, as this is taking months to clean up. I finally told Dr. Mao that I’m getting married in Mexico in December. I will be home in North America for seven weeks and I’m absolutely terrified of being away for so long because I can’t get in to see a specialist back home. Then I made a few half-serious jokes about bringing him to the wedding.

Dr. Mao has been great, and he assures me that he will do his very best to send me home safe and healthy. He was also honest enough to admit that I need to get in contact with some doctors back home just in case. On his recommendation, I called my home physician in Canada and had him try to get me on a waiting list to see an ENT when I get back.

My biggest news is that I finally came off the medication that I’ve been on since April. Let me tell you, it’s a relief not to pop pills in the morning. The adverse effect though, obviously, is that I’m realizing how much discomfort the pills were masking. However, being off the pills means we’re finally getting somewhere, so I’ll do anything to stay off them.

Now I have to get my head around not being able to engage in any water activities ever again. Back when we booked our beach wedding, we dreamed about all the wonderful things we’ve always wanted to do together. Two of my biggest dreams have been nixed this year. I’ll never scuba-dive and I won’t ever swim with giant sting rays. Things like snorkeling, swimming, waterskiing, jetskiing, all these activities that I’ve enjoyed all my life are now things I can no longer do. Wearing ear plugs is completely out of the question. Washing my hair is a chore and we figure we should buy interest in cotton, considering how much I have to use to keep my ears dry.

But I keep telling myself that this will all be worth it if I don’t ever have to go through what I went through back in April. I’m going to follow my doctor’s advice and be smart about all of this. Hopefully, by the time Christmas roles around, this will all be behind me.

We were sitting in a travel agency in Taipei on Sunday night when my boss called to tell me I had Monday off. Typhoon Fung-Wong was heading our way with a force to be reckoned with and was due to hit central Taiwan sometime that night. By 1:00am we were experiencing heavy rain and wind, which howled its way throughout the night and shook our building with force. By the next morning, things were quiet again here in Banciao. The wind was bad and it rained most of the day. Cities along Taiwan’s eastern coastline sustained most of the damage from the storm with landslides and flashfloods.

Typhoon days are as common in Taiwan as snow days are back home. In addition to weatherproofing our home, John and I also use these days to catch up on things around the house. Since John can’t lure me out of the house with promises of exploring, eating and shopping, and I can’t go to the gym, it means we I have the time to catch up on things I don’t have time to do during the week.

We made the best of our lazy day at home by putting some thought into the type of music we want for the ceremony and reception. I spent loads of time on my blog and my unprocessed photos from Penghu, and I managed to knock off a couple of posts which can be kept on the backburner for our time away. I also got through a load of emails, which I’ve been putting off for weeks. And we finally figured out what was wrong with my pesky MP3, which I haven’t been able to load new music on for months. All in all, it was a rewarding day. I’m ready to tackle the rest of my week.

Hmmm….indeed. Where did my vacation go? I was off for a week and like all vacations, it flew by in the blink of an eye, BUT, I took loads of photos and there are good things coming down the pipeline.

John and I started the weekend off with an event I’ve been anticipating all summer, the 2008 Taipei Toy Festival, which kicked off on July 10th and ended on July 13th. I dragged John to the Living Mall so I could moon over my beloved vinyl addictions, hang with uber cool toy artists and meet some new up-and-coming Taiwanese toy designers. I spent way too much money and came home with an armful of goodies. Photos and details are on their way.

Then it was off to Penghu County for two firsts. It was my first vacation without John and my first vacation with a group of Taiwanese friends. The journey was an interesting one. I snapped some amazing photos and lived in sticky sweet hell for days, but it was worth every second. Penghu is great and I can’t wait to go back. We’re looking at a short stay there over the October holidays. It should be a nice retreat before wedding madness kicks in.

I ended my week back in Taipei. We shopped for wedding bands again over the weekend. This is harder than we thought it would be. All along, we thought we’d be going with matching bands, but it looks as though we’re going to have to scrap that idea. John is hard steel and I’m a glamour girl and while neither one of us is unhappy with the other’s choice, we both feel that we should get what we want. Actually, John seems to have his heart set on getting me a band that can be matched to the engagement ring he designed for me. It’s not an easy feat, but we think the results are going to be stunning.

Whew! My mother is right. I’m like a cat with nine lives. Throw me off the roof and I always land on my feet. Summer has arrived along with torrential downpours every day, but things are really happening fast around the Kellenberger/Marshall household. Two months ago I was in the doldrums and now I’m back on top again and in fighting form.

I’m still seeing a doctor once a week for my ear, but I’m healthy again and I have my strength back. My immune system is no longer telling me to STOP! My doctor is confident that things will be almost back to normal in as soon as a month. Since this has been going on for almost five months, I figure another month isn’t going to kill me if it means my doctor and I won’t be attached at the hip anymore. Two weeks ago, I reached the point where I didn’t need to see him before he needed to see me! I can’t tell you how good it feels to know that I won’t have to give him an invitation to the wedding just to keep me in good health! LOL.

So, what’s new and exciting? I’ve signed on for another year with my school, and they’ve given me a good incentive to come back to them for another year. Plus they are working around the wedding, which takes a load off of my back.

Two weeks ago, I started another short-term contract. This one’s kind of cool. Apparently, my voice is dull enough to record a dictionary. Yep. Those electronic dictionaries that my students can’t seem to live without will have my voice talking to them even when they aren’t in class! A teacher’s ultimate revenge! It’s a nice change from teaching, and I’m hoping it leads to more promising work for television jingles or radio work. You just never know.

John and I are deep in the land of flight reservations. We can’t believe how much airfares have shot up over the past few months. I’ll report more on our travel itinerary later this week when the 10th roles around and then it’s FIVE MONTHS TO GO!

Yours truly has also broken into the world of dance. I started taking belly dancing classes about two months ago, and I love it! It’s so much fun. I wish I could take two classes a week, but my schedule doesn’t permit, so this little lady waits on pins and needles each week for Saturday afternoon to come around so she can go and shake it with the best of them. Fun fun fun!

Last but not least, I’m finally, FINALLY, meeting up with my on-line Flickr friend, Yu-fen. I’ve dying to meet this lady. I featured her work earlier this month as a guest author, and we seem like two peas in a pod. I’m terribly excited.

So that’s it in nutshell. The final countdown has begun and we’re both getting really excited to go home. Summer is going to fly by. I hope you all enjoy your summer holidays. I know we will!

Yeesh. We’ve learned our lesson. Never ever take a four am flight when you’re leaving the States to fly back to Asia. We are so incredibly jet-lagged and ass-backwards that we can barely stand. Add 36 hours of flight and travel time to the mix just to get to Bangkok and presto – you have two very stained, tired and bitchy travelers boarding their last flight to take them home to Taipei.

I can’t tell you how much we are looking forward to our own apartment and our own bed after living out of backpacks for the past three months. The vacation is over. It was fabulous and we are ready to get back to the grind. But, not before a long long nap.

Yours truly waiting for a river taxi in the beautiful city of Bangkok.

John and I finally decided to take advantage of some of our airline miles and upgraded ourselves to business class, which is where I’m writing you now. Ah, it’s nice to live the life of luxury every once in awhile. This is the last leg of our journey. Four hours to go and we’ll be setting down in Taiwan for another year of fun, adventure and laughs. Taiwan, here I come!