News – Page 19

Advent Traditions

December 1, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

Family traditions and memory-making are very important to me. When we moved to China originally, I worked feverishly to finish up my Creative Memories albums and I dragged three giant albums of pictures here with us, much to JavaMan’s chagrin (it meant he could pack less coffee).

But I haven’t regretted it–and JavaMan would agree. It’s been wonderful to have those albums full of memories. Our kids regularly pull them out and have us recount the stories behind the pictures. Each of them has a special memory or two of our life B.C. (before China).

Some things didn’t make the cut when we were packing, and that goes for some of our favorite Christmas things–things that made up traditions we kept each year. It was tough leaving them out. In addition, some things are harder to do here, like Truth in the Tinsel, which we did last year. Although we’d love to do it again, the supplies are just too hard to come by here.

One thing we have done every year, however, is read one of the trilogy of Advent books by Arnold Ytreeide:

Jotham’s Journey
Bartholomew’s Passage
Tabitha’s Travels

This year, we’re using Bartholomew’s Passage. Each story features a first-century child. All the childrens’ lives intersect, and at the conclusion of each story, the children find themselves witness to a special event in Bethlehem, although each child sees the event from a slightly different perspective.

The stories are exciting–there is a cliffhanger at the end of each day’s reading–and there is a brief meditation at the end of each chapter that gives a chance to pause and think about the true meaning of the season as we celebrate Advent: the coming of the Savior.

This is the first year we’re also going to use the Jesse Tree. Since all the activities are free and printable from Ann Voskamp’s blog, it made the perfect substitute for the ones we left behind back “home.”

Advent begins tomorrow, December 2. What will you do to celebrate?

- Carey Clark

What I Learned From NaNoWriMo

November 30, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

As midnight draws near here in China, and NaNoWriMo draws to a close, I can’t tell you how much I wanted to be able to post a “Winner” badge on my site and proclaim my completion of 50,000 words. My competitive spirit was running very high this month.

In the end, the best I can do is this, and as a consolation, I’ve reached the word-count goal for the genre of fiction I was writing: a middle-grade novel:

Click here to read Chapter One of Truth and the Tepawani, the novel I completed, thanks to NaNoWriMo.

But make no mistake, I am extremely proud of what I accomplished this month. I have no regrets whatsoever. I learned more than I could have imagined.

I don’t have to wait for the “perfect moment” or a “writing morning” to find time to write. I have to make those moments happen, and they are far more plentiful than I thought prior to this month.
I am capable of much more than I thought. Don’t laugh–and please understand that I was at a different stage in my life–I had a baby, a couple of busy toddlers, and a move to China during the writing of my last novel, but all told, it was seven years from first word to last. What I’ve written in the last month may not be publication-ready, but it isn’t trash, either. Some of it is pretty good. And I did it in a month. Wow.
An iPod is an excellent tool for shutting out distractions.
I can write 5,000 words in a day, if I’m determined enough to make it happen. One day I did just that and more.
During the second last week, when I considered giving up (the second time), I received an email in my inbox from Holly Lisle. I receive her regular newsletter. She talked about using a timer and ten-minute increments to motivate a higher word count. She uses her timer for two-hour total writing days and produces 3,600 words a day. I reasoned that I wouldn’t be able to dedicate two solid hours, but I could grab 10 minutes here and there, and possibly aim for the same results. She talked about the kinds of plot twists that could emerge when you just wrote for all you were worth and allowed your “muse” to take over. And guess what? It happened! Twice at least, some incredible plot twists emerged that I didn’t expect, even as I wrote them!
Finally, balance is important too. In the last few days, I considered pushing for four solid days and writing 5,000 words per day to finish so I could display that “Winner” button. To say I did it. But bleary-eyed late one night, fighting sniffles, I realized that my pride would have to suffer for the health of my body and my family life.

Someone asked me today if I’ll participate in NaNoWriMo again. My answer? Maybe. I learned so much, and I enjoyed the thrill of dedicating so much time to what I love to do. It was fun because I’m writing a middle-grade novel and my kids were very much interested in the story. I’m definitely grateful to my very supportive family for putting up with me during the last month!

But I plunged in last-minute without accumulating a lot of writing buddies to keep pace with and the person who nudged me toward diving in gave up around 2,000 words. I would consider doing it again if I had other friends to participate with me. What do you say? Will you join me next year?

What’s Your Favorite Snow Memory?

November 26, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

I normally reserve the observance of Christmas for December alone. When I was a child, we always put the Christmas tree up on my birthday (December 2nd) and that marked the official start of the holiday season for me. I have warm memories of decorating the tree, my mom in the kitchen making Christmas cookies and Christmas specials on TV with those Kraft commercials in between advertising all sorts of yummy Christmas recipes (remember those?).

However, for some reason this year, I have been in the Christmas mood since the beginning of November. It would be hard to explain why. The temperatures here have been up and down, but mostly up, and it’s not like being in North America–every store isn’t decked out for Christmas–although the newly-opened Sam’s was playing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” yesterday when I finally finished up the Christmas decoration shopping. (In our new apartment our tiny Christmas tree looked too–well–tiny. So we bought a bigger one and didn’t have enough decorations to deck it out.)

It may or may not be a white Christmas here. Most years there isn’t a lot of snow, but we heard that last year, when we were back in Canada, it snowed on Christmas morning. But I have lots and lots of snowy memories from growing up just east of Toronto, Canada. I borrowed one of them and made it a scene in After the Snow Falls:

Fat snowflakes whirled between the tall, gray buildings. Snow used to deliver warmer memories: the season’s first snowman, snowball fights in the backyard and afterwards mugs of hot chocolate, warm against cold fingers.

The year Caleb turned five, the autumn had been particularly warm. Christmas Eve arrived without even a hint of snowfall, and the weatherman held out no hope. Toward midnight, Celia wrapped presents and stuffed stockings while Jeff puzzled over the instructions for Caleb’s first two-wheeler. Snow began to fall. It fell all night, laying a thick blanket over the world. Like giddy children, they woke Caleb early Christmas morning, threw open the curtains in his room, and unveiled what Mother Nature had done while he slept. As though they’d placed an order especially for him.

So in honor of my Christmasy mood, my upcoming birthday, the imminent print release of After the Snow Falls and generally just because, I’d like to hear your favorite snowy memory. Please post in the comments below.

- Carey Clark

Timing

November 22, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

Timing is everything. We’ve all heard that phrase before. Often when we’re trying to make something happen that just isn’t happening.

Four and a half years ago when we first came to China, we had the unknown in front of us. Perhaps if we had known everything we had ahead of us in the next couple of years, we would never have boarded that plane.

But I’m so glad we did. It was all a matter of timing. And now, it seems, the time is right.

As we have returned here, we have a beautiful home to live in (now furnished), our children have found friends–in fact my posts this week have been so sparse because we’ve spent almost the entire week either entertaining or being entertained by friends. One evening this week we had a family over to dinner. It was the first time for our kids to get together, and it was incredible. Both Sweetpea and Pumpkin found friends in their children (who are almost the same ages and like matched sets to our children). We are planning to get together again in the very near future.

And after planning, saving and waiting for just the right time, JavaMan has launched his coffee business, after the purchase of his shiny new roaster (pictured below) in late September.

I’m actually a little late getting this post up. His operations have been up and running for exactly two months today. He’s had several orders from expats across China, and a chance to introduce some of our friends and neighbors to the fresh-roasted coffee experience–something that is a rare find here in China. It has been well-received. He’s already had repeat orders and worked out a Christmas blend.

And the timing is right. Depending on who you talk to, the coffee industry in China is growing by 15 to 30% annually, and there are some heritage coffee plants being nurtured in the Yunnan province of China producing coffee that is surprising our Chinese and expat friends alike with its quality.

After eight months with our feet back on Chinese soil, we’re feeling at home. Timing is everything.

- Carey Clark

P.S. If you’re interested in purchasing Legacy Coffee, wholesale or retail, in Canada or in China, visit JavaMan’s Facebook page.

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