In January…
![20090130_cottontown_137 Nik joined me in Tennessee!!!](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/20090130_cottontown_137.jpg)
Nik joined me in Tennessee
![20090114_cottontown_056](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/20090114_cottontown_056.jpg)
to listen to the wind-chimes
![20090114_cottontown_081 before walking around the block.](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/20090114_cottontown_081.jpg)
before walking around the block.
![20090131_cottontown_108 I held my nieces while they watched the circus for the first time ever](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/20090131_cottontown_108.jpg)
We went to the circus,
![20090131_paducah_045](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/20090131_paducah_045.jpg)
and visited Paducah during the worst ice storm of the century.
In February…
![20090202_nashville_007](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/20090202_nashville_007.jpg)
We cruised around Nashville in the Pontiac,
![20090218_denver_021](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/20090218_denver_021.jpg)
I ate the best cinnamon roles ever,
![20090218_denver_031](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/20090218_denver_031.jpg)
and flew to the other side of the world...
![20090222_shanghai_004](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/20090222_shanghai_004.jpg)
We had arrived at our new home. Shanghai, China.
In March…
![20090315_shanghai_207](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/20090315_shanghai_207.jpg)
I purchased a Giant...
![20090324_shanghai_3211](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/20090324_shanghai_3211.jpg)
to explore like a local.
![20090324_shanghai_333](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/20090324_shanghai_333.jpg)
While Nik was at work, I explored the flower market,
![20090321_shanghai_256](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/20090321_shanghai_256.jpg)
a Chinese Garden,Â
![20090324_shanghai_356](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/20090324_shanghai_356.jpg)
and a few out of the way places.
![20090321_shanghai_259](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/20090321_shanghai_259.jpg)
While Nik wasn't at work, we explored construction sites,
![20090321_shanghai_283](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/20090321_shanghai_283.jpg)
railroad tracks,
![20090315_shanghai_169](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/20090315_shanghai_169.jpg)
and highway overpasses.
![20090311_shanghai_128](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/20090311_shanghai_128.jpg)
and ate all-you-can-eat dinners with friends.
In April…
![20090401_shanghai_435](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/20090401_shanghai_435.jpg)
we started thinking of this as home,
![20090401_shanghai_430](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/20090401_shanghai_430.jpg)
saw the sights of a tunnel on the Bund,
![20090401_shanghai_431](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/20090401_shanghai_431.jpg)
found my favorite coffee shop,
![20090406_krabi-chiangmai_010](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/20090406_krabi-chiangmai_010.jpg)
celebrated 3 years,
![20090408_tongli_019](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/20090408_tongli_019.jpg)
took a day trip to a water town,
![20090425_shanghai_658](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/20090425_shanghai_658.jpg)
and played polo on bikes.
In May…
![20090504_hangzhou_012](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/20090504_hangzhou_012.jpg)
We took a trip with the boys,
![20090510_shanghai_0825](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/20090510_shanghai_0825.jpg)
biked around the city every chance we had,
![20090510_shanghai_0815](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/20090510_shanghai_0815.jpg)
found my solitary place,
![20090518_hongkong_003](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/20090518_hongkong_003.jpg)
and got out of the country...
![20090521_hongkong_098](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/20090521_hongkong_098.jpg)
by riding the 18-hour train to Hong Kong.
In June…
![20090601_shanghai_910](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/20090601_shanghai_910.jpg)
I payed attention to the little details of the city:
![20090406_shanghai_115](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/20090406_shanghai_115.jpg)
Like laundry,
![20090601_shanghai_908](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/20090601_shanghai_908.jpg)
ladies wearing white sun-sleeves,
![20090607_shanghai_960](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/20090607_shanghai_960.jpg)
house numbers,
![20090607_shanghai_962](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/20090607_shanghai_962.jpg)
and construction signs.Â
![20090601_shanghai_914 I started a pottery class.](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/20090601_shanghai_914.jpg)
I took a pottery class,
![20090606_shanghai_952](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/20090606_shanghai_952.jpg)
hid under a bridge during a thunder storm,
![20090614_shanghai_1024](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/20090614_shanghai_1024.jpg)
took a few bike ferries,
![20090618_shanghai_1105](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/20090618_shanghai_1105.jpg)
and discovered the antique markets.
In July…
![20090703_shanghai_6952](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/20090703_shanghai_6952.jpg)
I indulged my sweet tooth,
![20090705_shanghai_cupcake_1182](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/20090705_shanghai_cupcake_1182.jpg)
more than once.
![20090709_shanghai_1220](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/20090709_shanghai_1220.jpg)
I made a couple pieces I was proud of,
![20090710_shanghai_1363](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/20090710_shanghai_1363.jpg)
conquered my fear of taking photos of people,
![20090713_jingdezhen_113](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/20090713_jingdezhen_113.jpg)
and Nik and I went to Jingdezhen to see...
![20090713_jingdezhen_195](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/20090713_jingdezhen_195.jpg)
clay bashed so that...
![20090713_jingdezhen_179](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/20090713_jingdezhen_179.jpg)
it could be worked...
![20090713_jingdezhen_050](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/20090713_jingdezhen_050.jpg)
into pots that would be shipped around the world.
![20090726_shanghai_1505](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/20090726_shanghai_1505.jpg)
Then I turned 28!!!
In August…
![20090804_seoul_364](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/20090804_seoul_364.jpg)
I locked our love in Seoul,
![20090830_shanghai_1540](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/20090830_shanghai_1540.jpg)
commuted every day,
![20090830_shanghai_1529](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/20090830_shanghai_1529.jpg)
and taught 80 high school students how to fold origami cranes....and math.
In September…
![20090918_shanghai_nik_1636](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/20090918_shanghai_nik_1636.jpg)
I was too preoccupied with teaching to take photos,
![20090919_shanghai_nik_1633](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/20090919_shanghai_nik_1633.jpg)
so I stole these from Nik!
In October…
![Engaged](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Engaged.jpg)
Nik proposed at the top of a mountain in Seoul!!!!!!!
![20091106_seoul122](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/20091106_seoul122.jpg)
I said yes, and the rest of the month was a blur of happiness and throwing around the word "fiancé" every chance we got!
In November…
![A few of my students basking in the sun of Yunnan](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/20091031_Yunnan1_Sinz_180n.jpg)
I tagged along with a few students on a trip to the Yunnan Province,
![20091115_shanghai_1764](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/20091115_shanghai_1764.jpg)
explored Shanghai with Nik on foot one last time,
![20091115_shanghai_1855](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/20091115_shanghai_1855.jpg)
said goodbye to good friends,
![20090222_shanghai_009](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/20090222_shanghai_009.jpg)
ate my last breakfast in Apartment 1835,
![20090607_shanghai_968](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/20090607_shanghai_968.jpg)
temporarily said goodbye to my fiancé,
![20090204_shanghai_015](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/20090204_shanghai_015.jpg)
and officially said goodbye to Shanghai, the place I called home for 2009.
![20091201_cottontown_150](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/20091201_cottontown_150.jpg)
From there, I made it home just in time for Thanksgiving dinner,
![20091130_Thankgsiving_264](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/20091130_Thankgsiving_264.jpg)
and a family portrait.
In December…
![20091213_newyork_064](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/20091213_newyork_064.jpg)
Keisha, Mom and I took New York by storm,
![200912_cottontown_216 Wedding Ring Quilt](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/200912_cottontown_216.jpg)
Mimi told me all about quilts, dresses, and the old days,
![200912_cottontown_234 Pictionary](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/200912_cottontown_234.jpg)
we played an epic game of Pictionary,
![200912_paducah_070 Christmas Dinner](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/200912_paducah_070.jpg)
and my sister made Christmas brunch.
![200912_dallas_021 Pumping Gas](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/200912_dallas_021.jpg)
Then Mom and Dad drove me down to Dallas...
![200912_dallas_033 The Sky Room](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/200912_dallas_033.jpg)
so that Nik and I could take them to the Sky Room,
![200912_sxsw3](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/200912_sxsw3.jpg)
and introduce them to my future in-laws.
When 2009 began, I didn’t know what it had in store for me. I didn’t know where I would live, where I would work or what I would see. I knew that it would be exciting and full of memories, but I never could have planned such an incredible year. It goes to show that as long as I surround myself with people that I love and take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves, everything will be okay. Better than okay.
![pai_45sm](http://www.jamiesinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/pai_45sm.jpg)
Once again, as 2010 begins, I don’t know what it has in store for me. I don’t know where we will live, where I will work or what I will see. I know that I will spend my days with the one man that I love more than anything, and beyond that, we’ll just have to see!