Not April's Fools

I guess that renewed blog interest I had in December and January was not meant to last, but I’m back for now! And man, do we have a lot to catch up on.

Ben and I had an adventure-filled winter break in the Philippines complete with crazy souped-up motorcycle rides, swimming and water fall jumping deep inside caves, ATV-ing through massive mud pits, and of course, backpacking up a volcanic, sulfuric mountain for three days.

Trying not to die on this not-for-three-people motorcycle up at mountain

Backpacking up the volcano

After that relaxing vacation, we plunged into teaching and Chinese classes pretty hard, and now we have finally come up for air…sort of.

Last week and this week has been filled with visits from my amazing family! I will try to devote a whole post on that wonderful experience soon.

Eating scrumptious Chinese food with Ben, Hannah, and Sarah!

However, the real reason why I decided to break my blogging hiatus is that we have some exciting news:

We are returning to the States in June!

I say “exciting”, but it is actually more bittersweet. I got accepted into grad school at Monterey Institute of International Studies, where I will be studying International Education and (and sometimes in) Chinese! We are beyond happy to moving back closer to family and friends…yet, it means we are moving far away from our Sias family and friends.

The decision to leave our incredible community, job, home, and life here was a very difficult one, but we are confident that this is the right move for us. We also have the assurance that we will be back for visits and possibly work in the future.

This summer Ben will be studying for his Civil Engineering test and finding a job and apartment, while I will be in a Chinese immersion program in Vermont. We are excited to see what new opportunities and adventures await us in this next stage of our lives.

Ben and I with our friends on top of Mt. Apo