The Year that Was… 2011
Posted on January 1, 2012 by Ching under Life.
- We started off the year a little rough when we got stranded in Las Vegas on the very first day of the year.
- Brian and I celebrated Valentines in Lawrence.
- I experienced my very first Zumbathon when we did the “Party Hearty” benefit for the American Heart Association. I had a blast attending both the East Central and West Central events. Later in the year, I got to participate in the “Party in Pink” Zumbathon for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
- I was thinking that I would pick up disc golf this year. I bought the necessary gear and everything, but the summer came and went and Brian and I never did find the time to go to the frisbee golf park.
- I kicked butt raising money for Big Brothers Big Sisters. I surpassed my $500 goal and raised over $800 this year. For the first time ever, I was the top fund raiser for our area. Although, I think that was only because Amy decided not to participate this year. =P
- Jenni returned to Catholicism. Surprisingly, hell didn’t freeze over.
- Grandpa’s health started failing this year so we decided to bring our annual Easter celebration to Cherry Creek. Grandpa passed away on December 13. Brian took his passing surprisingly well. I think it was because he had been coping with the idea of losing his grandfather for months.
- Hai moved to Denver.
- I hired a personal trainer and started getting really serious about my health and weight-loss goals. John helped me go from wearing size 6 pants to where I am now — in size 2 pants and even some 0s. Switching gyms really helped. We dropped our YMCA membership and joined Genesis instead. I’m finally back to being myself again. Brian made me get rid of all of my old one-piece bathing suits because I look decent in bikinis again.
- We saw James Taylor perform twice. The first time was at the Intrust Bank arena in May and then the second time with the Boston Pops at Tanglewood in Massachusetts.
- We attended the Symphony in the Flint Hills for the first time. It was really cool. We discovered Wamego, Kansas and a couple of wineries on the way home the next day.
- We spent 4th of July in Boston and the East Coast area. We had a lot of firsts that week. It was our first time in Connecticut, where we discovered a new vineyard with our pals Jay and Becca. (That’s Connecticut with a “C” not with a “K” – mind you.) We got to see the sights and casinos and go river tubing in Farmington. We got to ride Segways for the first time. Tour the Sam Adams brewery. Watch a baseball game at Fenway Park ON 4th of July. Visit Martha’s Vineyard for the first time.
- I got to Slip ‘N Slide for the very first time at Carolyn’s 2nd birthday party. It was quite comical. I don’t think I’ll ever live that down.
- I started the Invisalign process. I’ve never had braces before so this is a whole new experience for me.
- I had my first ambulance ride and trip to the ER during what was the most exciting anniversary celebration ever.
- We returned to Healing Waters for the first time after boycotting them for several years.
- We met Cousin Tracy’s fiancee Jeff for the first time.
- I learned that I have nodules in my thyroid. They’re not cancerous, but Brian is still lobbying for the removal of my thyroid.
- We celebrated the first anniversary of Brian’s UN-sobriety at Zoobilee.
- I got to experience Holiday Galleria for the first time, thanks to Gina Ann. We got to hob nob with some really sexy firefighters.
- I got to play paintball for the first time. I didn’t play the year before. I only took pictures.
- I got to visit Nashville for the first time through a business conference. It was my first time at the Grand Ole Opry.
- Kevin and Kasey got married. It was also this year that Kevin returned to the family.
- We made our annual Black Friday shopping trip, but with more people this time.
- I got to undergo my very first biopsy, which wasn’t really scary until right before the procedure.
- Brian and I got to watch a production at Mosley Street Melodrama for the first time.
I’m sure there’s tons more stuff that happened that I’m missing from this list. 2011 was quite a year. I look forward to many more fun years just like it, minus some of the “excitement” that happened that we could all do without.
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Our Little Talks
Posted on January 1, 2012 by Brian under Life.
I received my first issue of “Men’s Fitness” today. A gift from my Sister-in-Law Jenni for Christmas.
Here is how the conversation went.
Me: If I look like Robert Downy Jr. when I am his age I will be Ecstatic!
Ching: You’re going to have to start doing a lot of drugs.
These are the types of little conversations we have.
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Stocking Up at Thai Binh
Posted on December 31, 2011 by Ching under Shopping.
Another thing we did while on Christmas break was do some grocery shopping at the Asian supermarket. We needed to stock up on staples like rice and suka. We were almost out of Jasmin rice. We use Milagrosa. I know that brown rice is better for you nutritionally, but I can’t give up my white rice. I like to eat it with everything.
White rice is to me what Datu Puti suka is to Brian. He puts it on everything. So we stocked up on that too. We got four bottles, which should last us a while, as long as I can keep Brian from practically drinking the stuff. We also got some tocino and longonisa and some other stuff.
Speaking of drinks, coconut juice was on sale so I got myself several cans.
They also had whole papaya and large avocados at the store.
I didn’t buy any though, because Brian doesn’t like that stuff. It would have been difficult for me to consume them before they spoiled and I don’t like wasting food.
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Brian Wants an iMac Like This One
Posted on December 31, 2011 by Ching under Wishlist.
We were at Best Buy the other day over Christmas break looking for some new workout headphones for Brian. He got these really cool Skullcandy earbuds
While at Best Buy, we stopped by the Apple section and played around with the floor models. Brian wants one of these gigantic iMacs. I had it in my mind that I wanted a 13″ MacBook Air
Hopefully, around this time next year, I’ll be typing my resolutions on a MacBook. Gotta start saving!
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You Mean This Isn’t Cousin Tracy?
Posted on December 31, 2011 by Ching under Confessions.
I wanted to share with you guys something funny that happened to me the other day while I was running errands. Ever since I found out that Juliana at Quick Stitch (the alterations specialists that Brian and I rely on) made barefoot sandals several weeks ago, I’d been thinking about getting one made for cousin Tracy because it would be perfect for her wedding in Jamaica in March. I needed to get her okay and her shoe size, though.
So while Brian was getting his massage on Wednesday, I asked my in-laws for Tracy’s phone number so I could check with her. I was thinking that this could be the “something blue” for her to wear at the wedding. I don’t think I was explaining it to her very well though, because she was thinking that I was buying her actual shoes (perhaps she got this impression because I asked for her shoe size) and she didn’t want to wear shoes because this was going to be a beach wedding. She tried to be open minded about the whole thing and suggested that I send her pictures of what I was talking about before she agrees to it.
Anyway, the first phone number that I got from my mother-in-law didn’t work. I guess it was the phone number to Tracy’s old house that she sold now that she and Jeff are living together. Finally, I got her mobile number from my father-in-law. Although, there was some other number I had on my phone that was listed as Tracy McConnell. I ended up exchanging several messages with a stranger before I realized it was the wrong number. I deleted it from my contacts list immediately so as not to confuse myself in the future. But, this was too funny not to share so I’m posting it here.
I did talk to the real Tracy McConnell and she loves the barefoot sandals idea so now I can get one for her. She is so sweet, so I really wanted to do something special for her. I’m glad she consented to letting me take care of the “something blue” part. I asked Juliana to make custom barefoot sandals for cousin Tracy using blue beads and I’m super excited for the finished product. I hope that she really likes it.
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