That's one hot pot.

You may recall my adventures with a little thing called "hot pot" 

during my adventures in a little thing called "China".  

[If you don't: http://laurenkooistra.blogspot.com/2010/08/beijing-it-is-time-to-become-your.html]

This past week, my darling Yi-Ting decided it was time to re-enact the hot pot experience 

(minus the plush purple sofa, that is...) since she, Yu-Chen, and I are running out of time to live life together.

Somehow--though at times it seemed like we would never actually reach this point--our doctoral journey has neared an end.  The two of them have decided to leave me here while they go off and work on their dissertations elsewhere.

[Don't worry.  I have already given them my blessing.]

And so, we needed an evening to eat hot pot 

and to talk into the wee hours of the night.  

Now, in case you're wondering:

The phrase "eat hot pot" does not involve some kind of heroic chomping of an actual pot.

Here's how it works:

You take any kind of meat/vegetable/mushroom/strange-and-unrecognizable-to-my-American-eyes-item

and stick them into?

A pot that is 

a) hot

and 

b) full of hot broth

When the meat/vegetable/mushrooms/strange-items have cooked in the broth you dish them out.

You eat them.

You grin widely.

Then you do it all again.

And again and again....

until you're about to bust or the food runs out, 

whichever comes first.

Based on this picture, guess which came first?

Yes--we were about to bust.

But, not just with food.

With the assurance that our journey together here has been a worthwhile one, if for nothing else that it brought us to each other, and gave us the gift of nights like this.