Back!

I’m baaack!!!  Well at least for a few days before we depart for a mini vaca to Cabo!

So life has been crazy.  I’m sure it’s been crazy for y’all as well since we each have our own chaos, but the days have just flown by.  I find myself barely getting home in time to shower, do some house chores or maybe read a bit, get to bed past midnight, only to wake up the next day and do it all over again…BUT, as always, God is faithful and has been taking good care of us.

There is one thing, other than time, that has truly put a damper on my blogging.  About 7 weeks ago, my camera broke (I won’t go into details, but for once, it isn’t my fault :P).  Since I don’t have my camera, it’s been hard to capture moments to share on the blog, and let’s be real…no one just wants to read text…booooring, right?!!?  Anyhow, we are on the hunt for a new camera, or we may just get ours fixed, but until then, I’m cameraless and have been totally bummed and unmotivated to blog.  OK – enough with the excuses, camera or not, I gotta get caught up.  I’ve missed you!

So much to tell, so little time, and again, all with no camera.  I’m going to do my best to recap the past couple weeks with “borrowed” pictures, so just bear with me in case the photo doesn’t exactly match the event.  Here we go!

Day trip to Laguna Beach – attended Saddleback church in the morning, then headed down to the beachside for brunch.  Went to Art-a-Fair, Sawdust Festival, Festival of the Arts, and finished the day with Pageant of the Masters!

 

  

 

Celebrated three special birthdays (more to come…)!! 

 

Our wedding DVD – HOORAY for Addy and Julian at 10^th Letter!!!

 

 Had a special visit from Rocky!

  

Much needed QT with Wendy <3 

Celebrating God’s new gift to my Cousin Stacy!

 

“…because that’s what you do with gifts…you give them away.”

 

Sleepover in the OC, early entry to DCA (Cars Land is AWESOME!), then Disneyland. 

After 10 hours of Disney fun, enjoyed a yummie Tonkatsu dinner

and tasty shaved ice with the fam and Ethan.

 

  

And on Friday, headed to Cabo for some much needed R&R…

Have a blessed Tuesday…I know I will as J is visiting!! 

Happy Birthday, Hubby! (Part III - Big Bear)

And the finale to my Mister’s birthday celebrations was the weekend in Big Bear, granting his request to go fishing.  Mommy, Daddy, Sherwin and I headed up the mountain and spent the weekend eating, laughing, resting, and fishing.  It’s awesome when family is some of your best friends. 

Happy birthday, love!  I hope you know just how much you mean to me.  To celebrating our 10^th birthday together, and many more to come…I love you.  Cheers!

Happy Birthday, Hubby (Part I)!!!!

Happy birthday, hubby!!!

Today is Sherwin’s birthday (yipeeee!!) and as you know, we celebrate week long around here!  We actually started celebrating on Tuesday with Mommy and Daddy (pics below).  We went there before his basketball game and they bought him a cake and one of his fave treats…donuts!  They also gave him a heartwarming card (complete with a cute drawing, compliments of Picasso a la Daddy) and a generous gift (that we might be using towards a new toy! *ahem* ipad *ahem* maybe?….)! :P

In a few hours we will be packing our bags and heading to Big Bear for the weekend as the  Mister wanted to go fishing for his birthday!  There will be more birthday posts to come, but couldn’t leave without wishing my “life partner, my one coquette, the answer to my love’s duet” (oh boy…watching too much Enchanted :P), a happy, happy birthday.

To my itchy bun, I mean ichiban…hee hee…

I love you with all my heart.  You truly are the answer to my love’s duet and

I praise God for you!!  Thank you for being my everything!!  I am excited about what

 the Lord has in store for you, and for us, this next year.  I am so grateful that

you are the one I get to spend the rest of my life with. 

With all my love and affection,

your wifey XOXO

And we’re back – Weekend recap!

We are home from sunny Sacramento!  We flew up on Friday morning and spent the day with Jr. – watched Spiderman, went shopping, then headed home to hang out with the fam bam.  In other words, we made sure to engage in activities that provided shelter from the heat.  :D 

Thoroughly enjoyed Spidey!

Saturday was filled with party preparation, and of course the party itself.  We celebrated two birthdays – Jr. (10) and Nana (90), and it was precious time spent with family.  We shared our wedding photos and answered the baby question about 20 times - no, we are not pregnant yet and no, we won’t be anytime soon.  The girl cousins and I hung out (Sharlene did make-up while I did hair), the aunties, Mom and I played cards, we ate loads of food and yummy cake and just enjoyed one another’s company. 

Then came Sunday morning…and after 2 hours of sleep, we headed to the airport.  Jr.’s flight back to Hawaii departed 9:15am and ours at 8:55am.  It was an emotional morning as Jr. said bye to his Mom, Step-dad, siblings, Mama and Papa (my MIL and FIL).  After lots of hugs, kisses and teary goodbyes, we decided to grab a quick breakfast with Jr. before we had to board.   Then it was our turn to say good bye, and as we walked Jr. to his gate to meet his uncle (who is flying back with him), his tears started to fall.    For those of you that know me, the whole situation is a little complicated and too much to write in this post, but as I turned around one last time to tell Jr. I loved him, his “I love you, too” response made my heart ache.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and praying for a blessed week ahead!

Home again!

We are home - bags are unpacked, dinner eaten and we even had time to see the worst movie ever.  I should've known better, but oh well...*sigh*

Highlight of the weekend – Sherwin’s catch!  Hooray for my Mister!!!  His fishy has been 5 years in the making.

More pics to come later, but wanted to wish y’all a happy week ahead!

Mammoth Lakes

This weekend we are going to Mammoth Lakes.  Totally looking forward to the beautiful scenery and oddly enough, being in the car with my Mister for the 6 hour drive. 

If you’ve talked to me recently, you’ve heard my growing aversion for long car rides, but for some reason, this drive is different.  It’s different because it’s a new drive for us.  We’ve never been to Mammoth together and we get to take a completely different route.  It’s not our 6+ hour drive up the 99 to Sacramento (woo hoo, we are flying up next weekend, NOT driving!) and I’m praying it won’t be like our recent 8 hour drive to Las Vegas (oil spill on the 15 – BOOOO).  Just as the pro’s (J+Josh)  told me earlier this week, we will be heading up the 395 and that, for us, is new.  It will also be just my Mister and I, and as much as I am “the more the merrier” type, I do LOVE being with just him.

I’m sure there will be a post and pics to follow, but until then, thank goodness for Daddy!  He gave us this trusty handbook and as long as nothing’s changed since 1976, we’re all set (hee hee…do love you, Daddy)!

Happy weekend, friends!       

Home Sweet Home

Welcome back to reality…after 4 days of being on vacay, we are back home to reality.  Oddly enough, reality is just as good as vacay, if not better.  Recently J mentioned that after 2 weeks of being away from home, even though she enjoyed the time with family and friends, she was stoked to be sleeping in their own bed, hanging on their own couch, being in her own kitchen…and I know exactly what she means.  Hello home – so excited to be back.

Post and pics to come of what we’ve been up to these past 4 days, but hoping y’all had a wonderful weekend and a great start to the week!

Weekend Recap - Holiday Edition!

Every Memorial weekend, Sherwin and his friends (plus all the SO’s) try to get together.  Some years have been missed, but the years that weren’t created memorable moments.  This year we all headed to Lake Arrowhead…Mike and Angie flew in from SF, Armand flew in from Denver, and the rest of us headed to the mountains from the LA and OC area.

It was a weekend full of food, fun, shopping, hiking (not for us though because of my toe - booo), Monopoly Deal, and King’s Cup…oh and of course, precious time spent with friends. 

I’ll let the pictures recap the weekend and hoping y’all had a wonderful holiday too!

 On our mini walk since we couldn’t go hiking...

 The girlies preparing chicken dinner!

 Breakfast – mmMmM…

 Close-up of the spread…yikes!

 God’s creation…beautiful.

Saw this and thought of our friends, A+B!

 Another picture of the Lord’s handiwork…gorgeous!

 Mike and Angie grillin’ dinner – so yummy!

 It’s Mike’s birthday next weekend, so Angie made him a Red Velvet cake (it kinda came out lookin’ like a brain…hee hee) – what a good wifey!

 Happy Birthday, Mike (yes, that is Mike, not Manny Paquiao). :P

The city so nice, they named it twice

In my dream world, Sherwin and I, our families and friends, would all be living in New York, specifically in Manhattan.  I get choked up just thinking about how awesome it would be!  People tell me that I would hate the weather, get sick of the pace, and grow weary of the atmosphere, but deep in my heart, I know I would love it all…forever.  I love the shopping, the long hours (both professionally and personally), the food, the theatre, the fast walkers and the fast talkers.  I love Central Park and Rockefeller Center and before I die, I want to spend New Year’s Eve in Times Square and Thanksgiving on 6^th Avenue (or anywhere along the parade route J).

Our family friend Carol, shares my love of New York.  I was chatting with her at church a couple Sundays ago and she was telling me how she subscribes to the New York Times to get her NY fix.  OMG - I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of that earlier!!  Long story short, after researching online to find the best deal then trying to purchase my subscription, I ended up having to call.  I found out that since the Mister is a student, I get a super discount deal – incredible, right?!  I’m telling ya, God understands my love for New York and totally hooked me up. ;)

Best thing about newspaper subscription versus magazine?  IMMEDIATE DELIVERY.  You know how you’re all excited when you get a subscription to your fave mag, but then you have to wait like eons for your first issue?  I called Wednesday and on Sunday morning, a little bit of New York was delivered to my doorstep in a blue plastic bag. 

For now, I’ve just subscribed to the Sunday paper, but it brings me joy all week long.  Sundays were already marvelous with church and family dinner, but now the awesomeness just starts a little earlier (at 8:30 instead of 10). J

In my real world, I love being here in California, with our families and friends and couldn’t imagine being anywhere in the world without them.  Wendy once told me that home is where the people you love reside, not just where your stuff is.  Since no one we love lives in New York, home is right where we are…for now…but oh how I HEART NY.

My first New York Times delivery!!

Our honeymoon destination in the travel section!

   
Pictures from our most recent trip in 2008.

Behind and the Big 3-0!

Hello! 

I’m so happy to be writing this blog as I have been so behind on blogging…and on life.  The days and weeks fly by so fast that I can hardly keep up.  I’m trying to figure out when I started to feel this way and I realized that I’ve been behind all year!  Yikes!  Professionally, it’s super busy and personally, it’s even busier, and both of them combined have created this tumultuous environment that I call life.  I’m sure all of you can relate, because each of us are in our own unique, tumultuous environments and if you’re not, I’m super jealous.

There is too much to get caught up on, so I’m going to have to do it in segments.  Today, I’m getting y’all caught up on the big 3-0.

I never thought much about turning 30, except that I wanted to be making a 6-figure salary and have an executive level position.  By executive, I wasn’t really referring to a c-level title, so maybe executive position was/is not the right description, but when I was 20, “executive” was synonymous with “person of influence” (this was before I read this, which I highly recommend reading, if you haven’t already).  I never thought about my wedding, getting married, or having kids.  I’m a pretty girly girl, so I’m not sure why I never thought about those things, I just didn’t…weird, I know.  Fast forward 10 years to where we are today.  I just turned 30 and am in the midst of planning my wedding and getting ready to be married.  I left the opportunity to hit the 6-figure mark, but am doing something far more rewarding and to me, priceless.  As far as influence goes, I try to share God’s love and goodness as much as possible, but often, I fall short.  :/  I’m working on it though!  In other words, God had other plans for my life. :)

Whew, enough with the heavy.  Time to share how I celebrated!!

Sunday, 8/28 – 2 days before…

• Went to dinner with Kristin, Randy, Dar and Ronnie.  So nice to catch up and fellowship with friends over food.  D+R just got married in July (Sherwin was in the wedding), and K+R will be married next year.  Enjoyed all the wedding talk and advice from the newlyweds.

Tuesday, 8/30 – my golden birthday (because I turned 30 on the 30^th!)

• Midnight – text messages start…Wendy texts, then J, and it continues throughout the day.  Thank you, friends and family, for making me feel so special and loved!
• 9ish - I walk into work and had this waiting for me (see pics below)!  Jason had stayed late the night before, shopped for the decorations then decked out my cubicle!  I do work with the best people in the world…Tin, D, J, Sonia – you guys are amazing and so awesome in your own ways.  I love you guys!!

• 12ish – enjoyed a yummy sushi lunch and fabulous birthday cake (Sonia made my fave!)
• 7ish – ate dinner with Mommy and Daddy (their anniversary is also 8/30) and Sherwin at the Derby…great service, tasty food and precious time with some of the people I love the most!

Thursday 8/31 - Janet!

• Daddy surprised us with tickets to Janet for our birthdays (Mommy’s was 9/6)!  It was at the Greek Theater, and as always, she was phenomenal!!  LOVE her!!!

Friday, 9/2 - Monday, 9/5 - Viva Las Vegas!

I decided that since I couldn’t have a big shindig (due to the wedding), I would do Vegas.  It’s the perfect place to close my 20’s.  People have been telling me that 30 is the new 20, that I’ll love my 30’s more than my 20’s, and in a way, I believe them.  I’ll be starting a life with Sherwin when I’m 30 and that alone, is more joyous than anything that happened in my 20’s, almost*. 

OK, so back to Vegas.  I don’t want to do Vegas for my bachelorette, but it did seem like a good way to say goodbye to the 20’s.  It’s completing the chapter in my life when I was carefree and sometimes careless.  :/  Since it was Labor Day weekend, it was SUPER busy, both in Vegas and at home…and for various reasons, our final headcount for the weekend was 10 and perfect.  I did miss friends/family that couldn’t make it, but they’re all in my heart so they were there in spirit! J  At the last minute, Nafan-Chan and Diana made arrangements to come too, and that was super special.  They haven’t gone on a trip by themselves sans kids since Lolli Oli was born, so it meant a lot to me that they came.  It meant a lot to me that Hongie, Chris, Dar, and Ronnie (Hanh and Wee too!) came also.  It was a weekend of BIG FUN and a celebration I will remember for the rest of my life.  Love you guys (even those that didn’t make it :)) – cheers! 

Note: more vegas pics to come…maybe.  I didn’t have my camera with me most of the time, so these are all I have for now!

 Didn't get to go to Marquee this time, but want to go back soon so we can go!!

 Chandelier at the Cosmo...GORGEOUS!  My new fave hotel...so swanky!

 Hongie and I at the secret pizza place! MmMmmmm...

R+D and me and my #1...at the Cosmo again! 

Nafan-Chan and Diana at the Cosmo...it's the only day I had my camera! 

Thank you to everyone who celebrated the big 3-0 with me (in person, or by giving/sending me birthday wishes), I love you all so much and each of you mean something special to me!!  XOXO

Some of my birthday cards to remind me of the blessings in my life!

*Sherwin accepted Christ in my 20's, so that's gonna be a hard one to beat. :)