Archive for the year 2016
YMCA Strong Community – Champion Social
Posted on May 15, 2016 by Ching under Events.
Since I doubled my pledge to the YMCA (pretty much giving up all of my paychecks this year), Brian and I were invited to our first YMCA Strong Community Campaign Champion Social. The social is basically an event to thank and recognize the donors and supporters of Greater Wichita YMCA. We’ve never been invited before so I’m think you have to donate at least $1,000 to get on the guest list.
That’s kind of a nice, unexpected perk. When I committed to pretty much not earning any money from my Zumba side-gig at the Y this year, I didn’t know I was going to be invited to a cool social. I just figured I was helping to make YMCA programs available to those in the community who might not otherwise be able to afford it.
Brian wasn’t exactly thrilled when I told him last year about the level of commitment I made for this year. Even though he’s not putting my YMCA paychecks in our checkbook register, we’ve been counting on it as a source of “magic” money. It’s “magic” in the sense that when your checkbook register balance dips below zero, you’re not really overdrawn because your “magic” money has you covered. Then periodically, like every three months or so, he rebalances everything and moves a portion of the “magic” money to our savings account.
Because I doubled my commitment from last year, there’s pretty much nothing left of my YMCA paycheck which means little to no “magic” money coming from that source. We wouldn’t have felt it if I was still teaching seven classes a week but I dropped to just teaching on Saturdays and Sundays almost two years ago so I could be more involved at work and not have to worry about looking for subs when I have to be out of town. That was a decision I made, which I still stand behind, because it makes sense for me professionally. There’s no way I could be part of the current project I’m on at work and still teach all of those Zumba classes during the week. Anyway, I am adding two more classes each week this summer (Aqua Zumba outside in the waterpark) so I can at least contribute to the “magic” money fund for a couple of months. That should pacify Brian until I drop back down to just two classes a week again in the fall.
The whole “magic” money thing helps us out but I’m not too bummed about not having it. We weren’t really counting on it so I feel like we’re actually putting the funds to better use by helping others in the community and that, I think, is magical.
The social was actually great. I’m not sure why Brian has this look on his face. LOL. I guess this is the same look Brian gives me whenever I ask for his approval to donate money to various causes.
My YMCA paychecks may be my money but Brian and I are partners so we always make decisions together. This approach works really well for us and we actually end up making better decisions, for the most part. There was that one time that we were a bit impulsive and ended up buying a puppy from a live auction so it’s not completely fool proof. At least we decided on it together so we can’t point fingers.
The best part of attending the social was running into my former coworker Cody and his wife Lacey. I haven’t seen Cody in ages. We used to run into each other a lot at leadership conferences and other work meetings but I hadn’t seen him since he left the company last year. It was a nice surprise running into the two of them. He is one of those easy going, cheerful people who’s fun to be around. I really miss seeing him at work.
Anyway, I have the champion social to thank for this chance encounter. If we don’t see each other at all this year, at least I’ll have the champion social to look forward to next year. Hey, maybe I’ll even see you all there.
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SALSA 2016
Posted on May 15, 2016 by Ching under Events.
Brian and I attended SALSA for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t the kind of “salsa” event I expected. LOL. SALSA stands for Supporters and Leaders Against Sexual Assault. It’s a benefit for the Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center (WASAC).
The food was delicious and they had a great turnout.
I even ran into one of my Leadership Wichita classmates, Michelle Stroot.
We spent most of our time inside because it was cold that night and I didn’t have the foresight to bring a jacket. There was a fantastic band some and raffle drawings going on outside, on the Brickyard side.
Lamphouse was there so, of course, we took some photo booth photos.
I didn’t realize they had a pinball machine at Public. The times I’ve been there, I’ve been too busy enjoying the food.
Brian and I also played some shuffleboard.
Brian and I had a great time but we didn’t stay too late because we both had to work the next day. The event was well-run and the food was great so, even though it’s not the kind of “salsa” party that I was expecting, I definitely wouldn’t mind going again.
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Bowl for Kids’ Sake 2016
Posted on May 14, 2016 by Ching under Events.
I’ve been participating in Bowl for Kids’ Sake for over 10 years but I have to say that this most recent Bowl for Kids’ Sake event we had has been the best one I’ve been part of – EVER. Not only did we double our participation compared to last year but we also raised over $17,000 as a group for Big Brothers Big Sisters. That’s about $7,000 more than we raised last year.
Also, Nickira got to bowl with us this year. She missed the event last year because our bowling day coincided with one of her cousins’ birthdays and she went to the birthday party instead. This time we planned ahead and didn’t have any schedule conflicts.
Another memorable part of this year’s event is our awesome team uniforms which went perfectly with our team name: Bowlerinas.
I wish there was a prize for best team uniform because we would have won, hands down. I may be just a tad biased but it’s true.
Even though we didn’t win a prize for our awesome costumes, I did get recognized for being the top fundraiser this year. For the first time ever I broke the $1,000 mark. I’d been top fundraiser before, many years ago, even though I only raised about $800. This time, with support from my amazing and very generous friends and family, I raised over $1,200 for Big Brothers Big Sisters.
It was truly a banner year for me for Bowl for Kids’ Sake fundraising. Hopefully I’ll be able to participate again next year and raise even more money for this wonderful organization. On behalf of our team captain Amy and my little sister Nickira, thank you to everyone who participated and/or donated to this event.
UPDATE: Here are a few more photos that I forgot to share the other day. These amazing photos were taken by my coworker friend, Joe Montiel. He does awesome photography work if you need a photographer you should hit him up.
Tammy and Don
The Pink Ladies (minus a couple of their team members) – Misty formed a team even though she doesn’t like to bowl. She had our friend Lindsay fill in as a proxy bowler. See, you don’t have to bowl at all to support the cause.
Check out Brian’s amazing form. And to think this guy was bowling “back up” not too long ago. Now he out-bowls me on a regular basis.
Picture of me and Nickira with Tammy from Big Brothers Big Sisters
Group photo of all of the team captains this year
That’s pretty much it. See you all at Bowl for Kids’ Sake 2017!
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Flappin’ 20s Murder Mystery Party
Posted on May 14, 2016 by Ching under Events.
Here are some pictures from the murder mystery party at the Larneng’s a couple of weeks ago. It was mine and Brian’s first murder mystery party and it was a blast. I can’t wait to do it again!
Here are some videos that we posted on Facebook:
If you’re going to play this game, you may not want to watch these videos. #SpoilersAhead
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ICT Pop-Up Urban Park
Posted on May 14, 2016 by Ching under Food and Drink, Things to Do.
Speaking of food trucks, if you’re looking for them during the week then head on over to the ICT Pop-Up Urban Park on Douglas. Now that the weather is nicer, they’ve really amped up the schedule. There’s usually four or five food trucks there daily.
I pretty much walk over there everyday that I’m working from the Wichita office. Here are pictures of some of the yummy eats that you can get.
This is the kalbi chicken from Noble House Hawaiian Plate Lunch.
These are the most delicious Vietnamese carnitas tacos I have ever had. They are from Funky Monkey Munchies. FMM food truck has been around for a while but I’ve never tried their food until recently because, honestly, I couldn’t tell what kind of food they were selling from their food truck name. Now that I have tried some of their food, I know what type of food they make. They make super delicious food.
I’m sure the truffle fries gave the source of this food away. You guessed it. These are from the Flying Stove. The original food truck that made food trucks cool. I only got one taco the first time but I liked it so much that, when I hit them the other day, I ordered two tacos and fries. Also, I get my taco arabe without the caramelized onions.
These delicious ribs are from the Kamayan Truck. Brian and I met Faith and her kids there for dinner a couple of weeks ago. I’m not sure what’s going on though, because the last two Thursdays that I’ve tried to hit them for dinner they weren’t at the park. It’s kind of crappy when you have your heart set on Kamayan food and then you can find them.
Anyway, if you want to try some of these awesome dishes, you should like the ICT Pop-Up Urban Park Facebook page. They post the weekly schedule. The lunch schedule is spot on but the dinner schedule is pretty hit-and-miss. Like I said, the last couple of times that the schedule said Kamayan would be there, they were nowhere to be found.
I’m going to be in Wichita this coming week so you’ll probably see me picking up my to-go lunch at the pop-up park. Hit me up ahead of time if you want schedule an appointment for ping pong. If I don’t see you, have a fantastic week!
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