There is always someone
For each of us, they say
And you'll be my someone
Forever and a day
-The Seekers
Our marriage is like green plums and a bamboo horse. No, I'm not talking about under ripe fruit and animal statues. I'm talking about love, baby.
I first laid eyes on my husband when I was thirteen years old and he was fifteen. birdMAN was wiry, sporting a 90s skater look, reminiscent of Leonardo DiCaprio as troubled preteen in 80s/90s sitcom Growing Pains. I had frizzy long hair and wore long hippy skirts. We were just two green plums.
A few years later, we ran around with the same circle of friends. We went to movies (You Got Mail and The Wedding Singer come to mind), bowling, snowboarding, or just hanging out at our houses. Just innocent fun, like a child rocking on a bamboo horse.
Fast forward a few more years to September 30, 2001, the day these plums got hitched. We were barely old enough to (legally) drink alcohol, but according to the state of California, old enough to say "I do". Seventeen years! If we had kids earlier, we could have a teenager. Instead, we went to school, worked full-time, bought a house, sold a house, moved to China, and then had a baby. Now these green plums have gotten a bit riper, softer and purple.
So like I said, our marriage is green plums and a bamboo horse. That's love, baby. Seventeen years of marriage done and done. Only forever to go.
Chinese Saying of the Blog: 青梅竹马
Qīngméi zhúmǎ (literally green plum, bamboo horse)
English Translation: childhood sweethearts that grew up to became a couple
A picture for every year. Watch us go from green to purple plums.
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| I do! September 30, 2001 |
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2002 A picture of a picture. This is before the
days of digital cameras. |
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2003 This is the only picture of us at my sister's wedding. Why
did the professional photographer not take a decent picture of us? |
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| 2004 Fairfield, California |
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| 2005 - Kona, Hawaii |
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2006 Disneyland, California. birdMAN vowed never to go back
and we never did. But if Dumpling has her way... |
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| 2007 San Diego, California |
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| 2008 Ashland, Oregon |
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| 2009 Napa Metric Century |
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2010 Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yunnan, China Our first trip to China.
We had no idea we would end up living here for so long. |
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| 2011 Sausalito, California |
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| 2012 San Francisco, California |
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| 2013 Chiang Mai, Thailand |
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| 2014 Great Wall at Gubeikou, China |
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| 2015 Lombok, Indonesia |
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| 2016 Beijing, China and pregnant with Dumpling |
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| 2017 Beijing, China |
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| 2018 Atlanta Georgia. Three's a party! |
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| 2018 Dumpling celebrates with a fried bread stick |
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And a ricotta and mozzarella stuffed concoction at our
favorite Beijing Italian restaurant, Bottega |
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| We love food! |
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| Seventeen years: the Cheesecake Year |
