Signs of Life : The Brownie Chronicles

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A Review: Maya Chan Beach Resort In Costa Maya, Mexico

October 09, 2021

Maya Chan Beach Resort A Great Way to Spend a Port Day! In a Nutshell Do yourself a favor and go. Just go. My bet is that you will not regret it. It’s the relaxing day you may not have realized you needed. The location is dreamy. The staff are kind and attentive. The owners have set it up to make it very comfortable and stress-free for the guests. Just go. Video Review in ASL Getting There and Back The walk is a bit of a trek, but the people at Maya Chan send you a very clear map and instructions. If you look at Google Maps satellite or the picture below, you’ll see that the port dock is long. Great for taking photos, though! We walked quickly through the maze of shops without stopping, following the instructions and photos from Maya Chan and found the spot with no problem. They were waiting with a covered area and some seats while we signed a form, then got on the taxis to head over. You may read about the bumpy ride. Due to the reviews I read, I expected a horribly uncom

Celebrating Lunar New Year 2021

February 22, 2021

Just before the storm blew in, we celebrated Lunar New Year. The plan had been to have some extended family join us, but once we knew the weather was going to be a problem, we shifted gears and made it a celebration for the 6 of us in the house. I'm typically a procrastinator but was so proud of how well I had prepared for this celebration. I had ordered food a week in advance. We weren't able to reduce or cancel or food orders but were happy to support these businesses and ended up eating almost all of it over the next few days anyway! It was so good! I'll let the pics do the talking. Red "lanterns" and cutouts Papercut-looking designs Traditional Chinese banners wishing prosperity and health on the home and people in it. Plow Bao serves delicious plant-based dim sum, bow, etc. We ordered 2 of their sweetboxes. "egg" tarts, mini sesame seed balls, mochi, and donuts Next, we picked up dim sum from Shanghai . The food was delicious! I want to go b

Texas Snowstorm 2021

February 20, 2021

TJ and Tian enjoying a warm fire. We are not built for this. I say this a lot when referring to cold weather in Texas. Also, personally, I've spent the past 20 years in either Las Vegas or north or central Texas where it rarely dropped below 30 and when it gets that cold, it's short-lived. Since quarantine, we've been pretty good about keeping our food supply stocked up to last at least a couple of weeks or even a month if push came to shove. We have a deep freezer and we use a water delivery service. That's about as far as have gone with prepping. Then, early in February, we learned of record-breaking low temperatures headed our way. While we knew it would likely snow and be very cold, we had no idea what was in store for us. We certainly put too much trust in the state and city infrastructures that provided basic essentials such as electricity and clean water. We also didn't imagine the cold would knock out internet services and impair our cell service a

Leaving 2020 Behind - Texas Snowstorm Edition

February 18, 2021

Before this week, I had drafted a blog post titled "Among Us - 2020 Memories." I had planned to reflect back on the neighborhood walks, hikes and baking we did early in the pandemic, then how the routines became so mundane after 8 weeks or so. Then this storm blew in and I couldn't even focus. But before I move to February 2021, let me start with a few ways we've stayed distracted and busy during the past 11 months. The upsides to the hellish year of pandemic. For years, Ken had been looking at electric bikes, so he decided to take the dive and order a couple of Rad Power Bikes . That was something fun for the people over age 16 in the family. Eventually, we got a child seat for the bike so our grandkid could also enjoy getting out. We also found other family fun distractions like: playing Among Us having video chats on the Facebook Portal jumping on the trampoline that was handed down to us the week we moved to Austin. (Thanks, Suzie!) chalk art on the driveway d

Changed Thoughts on Adoption

January 01, 2021

I have SO MUCH to learn. I'm like a first-time mom all over again. 10 years from now, I'm sure I'll look back at some comments I've made over the past year and laugh at myself. But I don't believe I'm going in blind. Tian with a grandfather from his foster family in China. Well, it's been just about 10 years since I wrote that , and I was right and wrong. I DO look back at some things and laugh, but I also cringe at a lot. I wasn't going in blind, but as I have learned, the more I know there is to learn. I cringe at posts like this . My statements about provision for the adoption are not even theologically sound. It's just something I learned to repeat without really thinking about the implications. " This was God's plan " and "God provided the funds for us to adopt," are now phrases that I totally disagree with. How can I say that God decided to give us tens of thousands of dollars to adopt, but not provide a fr

Christmas 2020

December 23, 2020

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! No matter how long it's been since we last connected, reach out! And if you're ever in the Austin area, let us know and hopefully we can plan a driveway gathering! We only mailed out a handful of cards after years and years of not even creating a Christmas card. If you'd like a hard copy, let me know and I'll send one along in snail mail! Photo Highlights of 2020: http://bit.ly/BrownXmas2020 2020 Christmas Letter Flowers drawn by Sarah 2020 started out like many other years as we went to work, visited friends, Sarah traveled to LA for work, Tian and Travis started track at Texas School for the Deaf and the whole family went to watch their track meets. By the end of February, we had bought our first pack of masks and by early March, we were all quarantined at home. In mid-March, we had a family meeting to discuss safety protocols and the rest of our 2020 has been under the cloud of the COVID pandemic. Ken and Sarah have been fortu