Finally back in Cali together with Anabelle & Jonny. Also a pic of Jonathan holding our friend Julie's kid...so cute!

Here are pics of Sunny's new members at dinner and the Taiwan Taipei Temple...it's so nice to see it in the middle of the busy city!

My sister and her daughter...so cute! We got her a Chinese dress in Beijing. And then her costume for Halloween is sooooooo cute! A nice fluffy, chubby chick :)

Adventures in August & Start of School

Since we haven't posted consistently in the last month or so, we figured it was time to catch up.
August was a crazy, busy month. While Jonathan was in Washington, D.C. finishing up his 2 internships, Sunny had a business trip to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China for 2 weeks with her parents. While in Taiwan, she got to see some of her new members and also get to eat all of the Taiwanese food she's been craving for the last couple of years! Then it was off to Hong Kong for 2 days where she met up with old friends Alicia & Rick Abelmann who are there working for the next couple of years. It was really nice to catch up. Then it was off to Beijing where she got her wedding qi pao and to look at some hotels that were just purchased, and after many gala evenings and meetings in Beijing and Hebei, she finally made it back to LA where she met up with Jonathan. Jonathan had been at home for a couple of days before having some family reunions and getting partially situated before heading out to LA.
We would just like to say that Skype is amazing! We talked online for free every day, multiple times a day while we were apart this summer. And we got to use video too on Yahoo Messenger. It was great to be able to keep in touch despite the distance, and from this couple of months apart we've learned that we're extremely bad at separation. So we're going to keep it at a minimum from now on...only 2 weeks at a time for Sunny's business trips.
After our short, short trip to Hawaii where we took engagement pics and finished all the arrangements for our wedding there in November, we flew to LA where we were models for a day for some Sunrider advertising. It was actually really tiring, and now we know that the life of a model is not so easy...yeah, not a future career path for either of us.
Now it's back in Utah, and we've been able to visit Jonathan's family, see his aunt and uncle's new Japanese style house, and busily get ready for his classes and law school applications. Deciding a career can be so hard, especially when you have so many interests that range from law to linguistics. But we know that the Lord will guide us in this important decision on graduate programs and law schools. We're looking forward to this final year in Provo, and it's been really nice seeing our friends...we're really excited to get married though! Everyone keeps asking us if we already got married this summer...so funny because the trend in Utah is only a few months for engagement. But, the day is coming near...finally!
That's all for now, and we'll definitely keep posting more frequently from now on. Enjoy the pics!

Aloha business trip

We are finally together again... in Hawaii. We are here for two days on business! Jonathan traveled from DC to SLC to Los Angeles, then to Hawaii. Sunny traveled from Shijiazhuang to Shanghai to Los Angeles and then to Honolulu... all this week.
We will head back to Utah next week...

Another shot of us in DC

Even though this shot is rather blurry, I still like it. It was an amazing Brazilian restaurant on Penn. Ave. in DC!

Congratulations to Sunny!

By the way, congratulations (felicidades) (kudos) to Sunny Chen, Esq.! She has accepted a very important position as Regional Manager in Japan and South Korea for Sunrider International. Congrats!

Our DC Time Together

After finishing the CA Bar exam in Pasadena last week (YAY! Not as painful as she expected, but still a trial with an unknown result), Sunny flew to D.C. to visit her Jonathan. It has been wonderful to be together these last few days. We've been able to take care of wedding plans, tour Georgetown, George Washington, and American Universities Law Schools, visit the Brasilian tourism office, look at some beautiful houses, go grocery shopping, cook together, visit the FDR Memorial, go to the Spanish ward for church in Alexandria, go to Jonathan's internship at Senator Reid's, meet his friends from the Mexican Embassy, hang out with Sunny's cousin Joman, go to Union Station, Pentagon City Mall, shop, and visit the Holocaust Museum (we love it!). We've learned that although it's beautiful in Alexandria and D.C., the street signs are tiny, confusing, and you have to look way over to one side of the road in order to see them; and the freeways have confusing directions and exits pop up without warning. We've spent a lot of time getting lost and unlost, and we've had time to be together, which is what we wanted so badly for the last few weeks.
Sunny has to leave today for LA to start working with her parents at Sunrider tomorrow and go with them on business to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China. It will be another 18 days until we see each other, and it'll be hard, but we'll get through it. We've learned that separation is not good for us and we don't want to do it that much in the future at all...especially not for 2 months! We're so thankful for having these few days in D.C., and we'll be excited to see each other on Aug. 19 to go to Hawaii for a few days to plan our wedding there. Goodluck to everyone with work and their families :)

Good Luck on the Bar!

GOOD LUCK TO SUNNY ON THE BAR EXAM. The exam runs 25-27 July, 2006 in Pasadena, California.

a weekend together in Cali

We spent this past weekend together in California. Jonathan arrived in LAX on Thursday night. Friday he was with this parents and sister in Dineyland, and then on Saturday we were together at the Sunrider convention general meeting and gala evening. Here are some pictures!

le separation fait que le coeur etre forte

Yeah, like Jonathan even knows French... we are still apart! This is a record for us-a record that we are not too happy about. This whole separation thing is quite difficult for both of us. But luckily we can count the days until we are united on only one hand! Sunny is going to leave Utah and go to L.A. on Monday, 17 July, and Jonathan will join her there by flying to LAX on 20 July We will enjoy each other's company at the Sunrider Convention in Anaheim, etc.

Jonathan had the opportunity of helping almost 200 people from China get to know more about the LDS Church through visiting the LDS temple and beautiful vistors' center in Kensington, Maryland. It was very fun experience.
Anyway, life is good and we hope that we can hear from you all!

Life Apart

Well, Jonathan's been having a great time in Washington, D.C. working at Senator Reid's office. He gets to eat lunch at the Capitol building with the other interns and go to the U.S. Supreme Court or monuments or events whenever he wants. He's had the blessing of staying at our friend Raph's place in D.C. with his dad, and he loves it there.
Sunny's life is a little more staid as she goes to her bar review course every day and does practice exams. The key word is study! Only 16 more days until the bar! A bit scary and a lot more memorizing to do.
We've both been trying to work out and get our stress out, but the thing we look forward to most is seeing each other in less than 2 weeks! Actually, we're really, really excited about getting married in a little more than 4 months. YAY!
We hope everyone's doing well, and keep in touch on our blog!

apart for a small time

We are miles apart.. JB in Washington, DC. Sunny remains in Utah until 17 July. We will meet up in California on 20 July. Then Sunny will be in DC for 5 days after that.
Jonathan misses Sunny!!

A morning with President Hinckley

Sunny took the practice bar exam today, but made it to the luncheon. The groundbreaking ceremony was wonderful. here are some pictures from today's events. Very amazing and wunderbar!! Please note that Sunny's mother is next to President Hinckley participating in the breaking of the ground and got to keep the shovel!

World Cup fever... a febre da Copa

We watched the Brazil-Croatia game, as well as several others. Jonathan supported his team with a flag... hw hung the flag out of the car driving down 900 & 700 East streets in Provo! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!

Sunny studying

This is all she does! It will pay off... the big test is 25-27 July in Pasadena, California.

Jonathan back into politics

Jonathan has been drawn into yet another political campaign season. Instead of being a campaign manager (due to the LSAT and school in the fall)this year, he is doing research and general support for Christian Burridge and Pete Ashdown, both running as underdogs in heavily GOP areas.

Jonathan & Sunny Blowing Hot Air

Happy Birthday to both of us last week!

Alycia Beutler in Chile

We just got some pictures from Jonathan's sister, Alycia, who is living in Chile. She is loving her experience in the beautiful coastal town of Vinya del Mar. Here is one photograph she sent this week.

Interesting film...

There is a film called "Loose Change" that proposes some very astonishing and different information about the terrorism of 11 September, 2001. You can see it free online at:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8260059923762628848&q=loose+change+911

Let us know what you think. You really should consider watching it, if you have a few minutes. We watched it last night and were shocked and it made for some interesting discussion afterwards.

Enjoy!

Peace,
Jonathan & Sunny