2014

Archive for the year 2014

American Education Week

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Ching under Things to Do.

American Education Week is November 17 to November 21. Five Wichita public schools are participating. Visit one, two, or all of the sessions listed to celebrate American Education Week and experience education like you’ve never seen it.

Monday, November 17 – 3:00 PM
Earhart Environmental Elementary Magnet, 4401 Arkansas
Unique magnet experience and efficiency in building design

Tuesday, November 18 – 8:30 AM
South High School, 701 W. 33rd Street S.
Technology and curriculum meet in the iPad initiative

Wednesday, November 19 – 9:00 AM
Coleman Middle School, 1544 N. Governeour
College prep through AVID’s Socratic dialogue

Thursday, November 20 – 2:00 PM
Horace Mann Dual Language K-8 Magnet, 1243 N. Market
Dual language learning starts in kindergarten

Friday, November 21 – 1:00 PM
West High School, 820 S. Osage
High tech pre-engineering and 3D printing

Please RSVP to make your selections. Call Superintendent Allison’s office at (316) 973-4580 or email jelly@usd259.net.

If I wasn’t already booked up next week, I would totally attend at least one of these sessions. I can tell you from experience the pre-engineering program at West High is AMAZING. After spending time with the Engineering Academy kids during our Leadership Wichita session on Education, I was very impressed. Derby High is great, but the experience made me wish I would have gone to West High instead. I might have finished my Engineering degree, or realized that it wasn’t for me and save time and money and gone straight to business out of high school.

I suppose I wouldn’t be who I am today if it weren’t for the seven years of undergrad. LOL. My time at Wichita State taught me a lot. I would have rather not bounced between various majors and finished in four years, though.

Anyway, in case you don’t already know, we have fantastic public schools in Wichita. Check them out during American Education Week (or any other time — I was told they love visitors) and see for yourself.

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Brew Ha-Ha 2014

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Ching under Events.

We had a great time at the Big Brothers Big Sisters Brew Ha-Ha fundraising event on Friday night. The event, which is our most favorite fundraising event every year, is always a great time but it was even more meaningful for me this year because I started my journey as a big sister volunteer for Big Brothers Big Sisters in over the summer.

We saw several of my coworkers and former coworkers. We also met friends from outside of work. We spent most of the evening hanging with the Shermans and the Washingtons, who also happen to be our neighbors. I know I’ve raved about our neighbors before. We really have the best neighbors. If you are looking to buy a house in Southeast Wichita, Sierra Hills is the place to be.

The food this year was provided by Freddy’s (always our first stop because the beer milkshakes are a highlight of the event for us), P.F. Chang’s, Siena Tuscan Steakhouse, Newport Grill, and Woodfire Grille. No Carrabba’s this year, which was a bummer because we always enjoy visiting with Joe. They donated to the silent auction though, so they weren’t completely absent from the event. My favorite food was the braised short ribs that Woodfire Grille served. It was delicious. I don’t really drink beer. I mostly like to go to sample all the delicious food that the vendors offer.

Brian was hilariously inebriated, but not embarrassingly so. Thank heavens. I would like us to be invited back next year. =P Jokes aside, we both had a wonderful time and are already counting the days until the next one.

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Bowling Update

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Ching under Family, Games.

So I’d been trying to bowl a 500-series since the Fall league started and I kept failing miserably. Well, guess what. I actually did it twice while mom and dad were in the Philippines. I wouldn’t have believed it myself had I not been there to witness myself do it. LOL. Even an blind squirrel finds an acorn sometimes.

Seriously though, I may be a better bowler than I believe myself to be. Perhaps it’s time that I stop selling myself short and start concentrating so I can live up to my potential.

I’m obviously capable of bowling a 500-series. I just need to do it consistently.

Brian says I bowled well because I was relaxed and was having a great time. Mom says I bowled well because I was bowling with friends and I was trying to impress them with my bowling skills. Either way, we had a great time bowling with Linsday and Dawn over the past three weeks. They were the best subs ever and helped us earn 11 points, almost a perfect run. I couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome.

Now, instead of being one of the bottom teams, we are one of the top teams. I hope that we can continue our streak now that mom and dad are back. We shall see how it goes tonight. Wish us luck!

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Thank You

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Ching under Events, Family.

Thank you to everyone who celebrated my birthday with me. Thank you for all the cards, presents, hugs, and birthday wishes. You all really know how to make a girl feel special!

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Hanging Out with the Little One

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Ching under Food and Drink, Things to Do.

Here are some pictures from when Kira and I visited the Wichita Art Museum.

I’d forgotten how much I love the art museum. The best part is that admission is free on Saturdays. You just make a small donation and you’re good to go. Once my life starts to calm down and I have some free time, I’m totally taking Brian there one a date.

One of the positive side effects of having a little sister is that she’s helping me rediscover all the things that I love to do but haven’t had time for in recent years. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be a big sister to Kira because I’m not only sharing some great experiences but I’m also learning and growing so much the experience.

Here’s Kira at the Keeper of the Plains.

Sometimes Kira and I hang out by ourselves like when we spent the afternoon at the Wichita Art Museum and the Keeper of the Plains; sometimes Brian gets to hangout with us like when the three of us went roller skating.

We recently went to the zoo (thanks to the free zoo tickets from work) and Brian got to hang out with us there. You can’t tell from this photo but they’re both holding their breath because the penguin exhibit is stinky. LOL.

Brian loaned Kira a pair of tinted safety glasses since she didn’t have one.

But we got some new sunglasses as a souvenir from the zoo’s gift shop. It matched her outfit better and really completes the look, don’t you think?

Today we had Sunday brunch at Hereford House. We usually go to Legends at the airport for brunch, but the brunch experience at Hereford House is actually much better. I’m not just saying that because it’s closer to our house either.

The food selection is not as vast as Legends, but the quality of the food is good. They have a prime rib carving station, a waffle bar, an omelet bar, an assortment of entrees (today they had smoked salmon), along with the usual breakfast staples such as scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy, etc. They also had fresh fruits and cheeses. There was wide array of pastries and desserts to choose from but we were all so full there was no way we could eat any more.

If you ask Brian, he’d pick Hereford House over Legends because the former has better coffee. I’m not sure if Kira has been to Legends, but I’m pretty sure that the golf cart rides at Hereford House won her over. There was a nice young man who gave us a lift both ways. Even though our car was just a few yards from the front entrance, we got ride in the cart instead of walking to the front door and instead of walking back to our car. Kira really liked that.

As for me, I’d give Hereford House a slight edge based on location. I’m a happy camper anytime I can avoid having to drive West on Kellogg. Another thing that I liked about Hereford House is that it’s a lot less crowded and more relaxed. Legends is always so busy. However, I do have to admit that Legends has better food selection and, of course, Legends has Mo manning their omelet station. He’s pretty hard to beat.