Archive for "Life"
The Final Hours of 2016
Posted on January 7, 2017 by Ching under Events, Life.
You’ve probably heard me say this a few times before already: Hideki throws the best parties. He does! And I can prove it.
- Exhibit A: Rock Band Party at Hideki’s
- Exhibit B: Another Rock Band Party at Hideki’s
- Exhibit C: Yet Another Rock Band Party at Hideki’s
- Exhibit D: Halloween Party at Hideki’s
- Exhibit E: Cinco de Mayo at Hideki’s
You get the picture. There are several reasons that make parties at Hideki’s great. The key reasons from my point of view:
- He has the best Rock Band set up.
- He has more liquor than most bars in town.
- He is so warm and welcoming; he just has this way of bringing everyone together.
Meader took the photo above and this one below. He takes the best photos!
This is a picture of Missy, Christina, Holly, Glynda, and me taking a selfie. (Or should this be called a “groupie” since there’s a bunch of us in the selfie? LOL.)
These next photos were taken by me, with my phone, so if they are not the same calibre, that is why.
Can you believe that the girl sitting next to Missy is one of her children?
Here’s another photo I took while we were waiting to start games.
Here’s Hideki and Jake.
Of course, I had to take a selfie with Todd and his silly hat. 😉
Shots happened but I did not partake. I drank maybe a glass of wine, if that. I didn’t want to drink too much because Brian couldn’t drink at all. During his last physical examination, our doctor asked Brian to go on a low cholesterol diet and ordered him not to drink any alcohol for a month. Brian, who follows instructions to a tee, didn’t drink at all the entire month despite numerous opportunities and being tempted and taunted by everyone. Seriously. Not drinking during the holidays is a significant feat of self-control.
Anyway, he had his follow up with the doctor yesterday morning and he started drinking as soon as he got home from work. LOL. Must be all of that pent up alcohol craving. Just kidding. I think he had a glass of wine or two.
Brian is not an excessive drinker by any means. His stupid liver just likes to betray him.
Brian is not really a fan of Central Standard Brewing beer but he is a fan of the 32 oz. cans. We may have to go there and give them another shot.
Here’s a picture of Hideki enjoying his Harvey Wallbanger in a pineapple cup.
This next series of pictures is of Missy opening our present for her.
And a Love Pop card! Who doesn’t love these?
As usual, we had to leave a little after eleven so we could be home by midnight. Traditions. You know. Brian and I firmly believe that whatever you are doing on NYD is what you will be doing all year. We truly believe this and it works.
For instance, I taught Zumba on NYD last year and I ended up doing a lot of Zumba in 2016.
So there are several things we like to do to wrap up the year like make sure our cars our clean and the house is not too messy (we try to clean top to bottom if we have time). I also like to have a clean and organized closet; though I didn’t quite get that done this year. We never want to wake up hung over on NYD and I also try to do some work (at least a couple of hours worth). Mostly I just clean my email inbox. There was one year that Brian and I worked for eight hours on NYD and I felt completely overworked and exhausted that year. I vowed to never agree to that again. So I will work some on NYD but I won’t put in a full day.
Brian and I got home with just enough time to ring in the new year in our traditional way. I won’t elaborate. You have your traditions. We have ours.
As for the NYD thing… What you’re doing (and the state of your life in general) on NYD really sets the tone for your entire year so we are always conscious about the first day of the year goes for us. Every year we ask ourselves, “What do we want this year to be like?” And then we focus on that. So we never want to wake up hung over, or just veg all day. We want to be somewhat productive.
Next time, when you come back, I’ll tell you what we did on NYD this year. Until then, have wonderful, productive, and happy New Year!
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Starting and Ending the Year with Zumba
Posted on January 1, 2017 by Ching under Events, Life, Zumba.
Remember how I was so happy that I was able to teach Zumba on January 1, 2016? If not, here’s a short video to refresh your memory.
Guess what, New Year’s Eve 2016 fell on a Saturday so I got to teach a class on NYE also. I love how I had the rare opportunity to start and end the year with a Zumba class. It couldn’t have been more perfect.
These are just a few of the people who stuck around for a group photo following our NYE Zumba class at Andover YMCA.
Much like the previous year, 2016 has been a memorable one. Brian and I went on the first ever Zumba cruise. Here are some of the highlights of the trip:
- http://brubakers.us/?p=13771
- http://brubakers.us/?p=13869
- http://brubakers.us/?p=13849
- http://brubakers.us/?p=13815
- http://brubakers.us/?p=13776
- http://brubakers.us/?p=13925
- http://brubakers.us/?p=13894
SIDENOTE: There’s actually a second Zumba cruise coming up which sails in April. If you would like to go, please use my affiliate code (461028) when you book to receive $25 onboard credit.
This truly was the year of Zumba for me, actually. Not only did we get to go on the Zumba cruise, I also got a tour of Zumba Home Office while on a work trip in Florida. And, not only that, I also got to go to ZINCON again!
- http://brubakers.us/?p=15012
- http://brubakers.us/?p=15043
- http://brubakers.us/?p=15131
- http://brubakers.us/?p=15141
The significance of last year’s ZINCON is that it was the 10th anniversary of the Zumba Instructor Network (ZIN). However, I am very much looking forward to going to ZINCON again this year because it will be the 10th anniversary of the convention itself. (There was no convention during the first year of the Zumba Instructor Network. The first ZINCON didn’t happen until the year after.)
One of the highlights of this year’s ZINCON was meeting performer Max Pizzolante and his wife Maritza Bustamante. He is the singer behind a couple of songs in my current Zumba playlist: Quien Quiere Bailar, Vive Y Baila.
I actually plan to add another Max Pizzolante song to the playlist very, very soon. Stay tuned, Zumba pals!
Vive Y Baila is one of my favorite songs to do in Zumba class right now so I’m posting a video of it here for you:
Besides traveling for Zumba, Brian and I got to do some traveling for work as well.
- I got to visit Alliant Energy in Madison, WI and Spire Energy (formerly the Laclede Group) in St. Louis, MO.
- I had the opportunity to see the amazing and super hip PwC Experience Center in Florida when we were there for a Customer Experience workshop. (It was actually on this trip that I accidentally came across the Zumba Home Office. It was the best work-trip coincidence ever and I took full advantage of it.)
- I attended my first EMACS conference, which incidentally was held at the same hotel that we have ZINCON every year so I actually got to stay at the Hyatt Regency Orlando twice in the same year. It was a super fun trip because we managed to squeeze in a visit to Cocoa Beach before the conference started, except we barely got out of there before Hurricane Matthew hit. That was exciting.
- Brian attended an Edward Jones conference in St. Louis.
- I’ve also been traveling to Kansas City for work since September and it has been pretty enjoyable.
Other trips we’ve made this year include…
- A trip to visit the Orbases while they were in Fort Worth. This is significant because we hadn’t seen the family in years and this was our first ever road trip with the dogs.
- A trip to Kansas City which included tours of the Roasterie, Boulevard Brewing Company, and One Light Luxury Apartments.
Brian and I also had the privilege of attending or helping with several amazing events/benefits this past year:
- Heart Ball (American Heart Association)
- Haus of Brews (Andover Rotary Club)
- Bowl for Kids’ Sake (Big Brothers Big Sisters)
- Tenth Annual Brew Ha-Ha at Flint Hills National (Big Brothers Big Sisters)
- YMCA Champion Social (Greater Wichita YMCA)
- Polar Express Literacy Event (Child Start)
- Museum of the Undead (Exploration Place)
- Light Your Heart (Heartspring)
- Hope in Spring Gala (Kansas DUI Impact Center)
- KANSEL Team Trivia (KANSEL)
- Zumbathon for Jen Cole, LLS Woman of the Year Candidate (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society)
- Painting a giant US map at Prairie Creek Elementary (Old Town Rotary)
- Celebrity & Chef Cookoff (The Orpheum Theatre)
- The Pando Initiative 25th Anniversary Gala (The Pando Initiative, formerly known as Communities in Schools)
- Zoobilee (Sedgwick County Zoo)
- Dudegrass Six (Tallgrass Film Festival)
- SALSA 2016 (WASAC)
- Color Party X (Wichita Art Museum)
- Wichita Asian Festival (Wichita Asian Association)
- Rockin’ the Roundhouse (Wichita State University)
There are so many worthy causes out there and these organizations need our help. I put a link to the organization that hosts or benefits from the event. I recommend reaching out to someone this year if you would like to help.
Although 2016 was a very busy year, we still managed to squeeze in some fun times with friends: murder mystery party at the Larneng’s, private dinner prepared by Chef Jason (also at the Larnengs), CRC picnic, painting at Pinot’s Palette, Tom’s housewarming party, Holly and Meader’s wedding, Pokemon Party Bus, going to a bunch of Christmas parties, and NYE at Hideki’s which I have yet to even blog about. (I’ll be posting it next so check back.)
Nickira and I got to do a bunch of fun activities as well like watching Willy Wonka at the Orpheum, Fall Fest at City Arts, and Winter Mania at the Wichita Art Museum. We got to spend lots of time with grandma, which we will be able to do even more now that we’ve moved her to Victoria Falls.
This year was also a banner year for us in terms of attending music theatre performances. We only missed one MTW show and even got to see Wicked for the first time. I know it’s unrelated but we also got introduced to a new band that we just love: Jared & the Mill.
Last but not least, I finally made 40 Under 40 and have the commemorative plaques to prove it. LOL. Whew! What a year it has been!
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Crazy Christmas Decorations at the Office
Posted on December 26, 2016 by Ching under Life.
I am so grateful that I got to spend the final week before Christmas vacation at our Wichita office; otherwise I would have missed all of the crazy, out of this world Christmas decorations. The Customer Relations Center folks have totally outdone themselves this year.
This is just one of several full-sized Christmas trees throughout the floor.
Each row had a theme. This was Halloween Town.
This one’s theme was a Charlie Brown Christmas.
This is Westar Village.
This is Ginger Bread Lane.
You can guess who won. LOL. They have totally outdone themselves this year!
I work with such a fun, creative group of people. I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with next year. In the meantime, here’s a fun picture of our admin, Jeff. (He’s our new Amy.)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Everyone!
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We Have Boxes!
Posted on November 24, 2016 by Ching under Confessions, Life.
So I got some boxes from work to help with grandma’s move to the new place. Brian got some boxes from the basement. OUR basement.
This is filed under #confessions because yes, we buy wine by the case (at least once, sometimes twice a month). That’s not even the saddest part. The saddest part is that our alcohol budget sometimes surpasses our food budget.
But hey, it works great when someone has to move. We have boxes!
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Pictures from Our Tour of Victoria Falls
Posted on November 24, 2016 by Ching under Family, Life.
It was bright and sunny that day so Brian loaned grandma his sunglasses. Doesn’t she look absolutely stylish in them?
One of the things I liked about the place is that they had chairs everywhere so any time you got tired of walking you could just have a seat as needed.
This is grandma going through her long list of questions with Tom, facility director.
This is Brian pretending to pay attention. Just kidding. He really was paying attention. I promise.
One of grandma’s favorite nurses moved here from the place where she currently lives. We ran into her and we had a nice visit.
All of the residents we encountered seemed super happy to be living there. Everyone appeared satisfied and happy with the service. There was this one guy in a scooter who was really funny. He was like, “You guys must be pretty special to get Tom here on a Sunday.”
I love the aviary that they have in the middle of the room.
Here’s a better picture of it.
You don’t need fake nature sounds when you can hear real birds chirping away.
This would probably be my favorite spot if I lived there.
I find bird sounds so calming and relaxing.
I also like the nice private courtyard in the middle of the facility.
We walked through there to get to the dining hall.
It will be the perfect spot for nice days.
Brian loved the train trolley in the middle of the dining room.
It’s a nice touch.
There are also booths in there so you can eat inside the trolley if you like.
There’s also a beauty salon onsite.
And a bistro for the dessert socials.
This is where they play bingo and movies.
There are also various game tables like billiards and shuffleboard, which is perfect for the more active residents of the facility.
And all of the hallways are nice and wide. Perfect for zooming around in a motorized chair or scooter.
There are lots of activities for the residents, which gives everyone ample opportunities to socialize.
Here’s the November calendar up close.
The best part is that all residents are issued a safety pendant that they can push in case of emergency. This would have been perfect that time that grandma fell in her apartment. It might have saved her from further injuries from having to crawl over to the phone. With this, she can just push the button and help would be on its way.
I liked the facility overall but this is by far our favorite feature. We are looking forward to moving grandma here in a few weeks. I think she will really love it here.
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