Christmas Day Recap
Posted on January 16, 2016 by Ching under Family.
Our family had a nice time celebrating Christmas Day at our house. Grandma spent the night so we didn’t have to get her first thing in the morning. David and Donna came up for the Christmas holiday so they went to pick grandma up on Christmas Eve.
Grandma met Saki for the first time on Christmas Day.
Both of the girls got special presents, handcrafted by Donna.
This is the present that we received from my half-sister who lives in New Jersey. We received them a few days before but wanted to wait until Christmas Day to open the presents because the packages looked so good under the tree.
She sent us his and hers mugs with our initials.
We experienced a Christmas miracle: a rare moment of Saki and Molly not fighting. It was short-lived, though. Within seconds they were not getting along again.
This isn’t a gag gift. Grandma specifically asked for fruit cake.
She also asked for flavored popcorn.
So we got some for her.
She didn’t ask for these cookies but we know that she loves them so we try to get some for her every year.
David and Donna also got grandma a basket full of goodies.
Grandma always gets lots of food items at Christmas time.
Donna asked for these Rachel Ray cooking utensils.
We try to follow instructions. LOL.
She also wanted coloring books. So we got her several different kinds. This is one of the books we got her.
We followed instructions except for the colored pencils. Donna had a different brand on her list but Brian insisted that we get Prismacolor because they’re of better quality.
David mostly just wanted tools.
All of the presents we got him this year came from Harbor Freight.
Brian got this hoodie, which he absolutely loves.
He wears it everyday.
He also got a monogrammed tie, which he loves.
He doesn’t wear it everyday but he has worn it a few times since Christmas.
His favorite present of all is his new bowling bag. Up until now, he’d been using his grandfather’s old bag.
Now he has his very own, and it matches his shoes and bowling ball.
Brian, David, and I all got one of these lighted beanies.
They’re going to be great for walking the dogs at night or before sunrise.
I got some She & Him CDs from David and Donna.
Saki was my Christmas present from Brian. 🙂
We had a great time celebrating Christmas with the Brubakers. These are just some of the highlights. Click here for more Christmas Day photos.
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Christmas Eve Recap
Posted on January 13, 2016 by Ching under Family.
I just realized that I never posted the photos we took over Christmas. Here are some highlights from Christmas Eve.
We got dad some new Zumba sweatpants and a gift card to Lowe’s since he’s currently remodeling the basement. He’s actually used his gift card already so that worked out really well.
I really didn’t know what to get mom because she already has everything and never asks for anything. I decided to get her the Zumba Gold box set. She was super thrilled and has been using it at home since her favorite Zumba class is on hold until February.
I got Jenni a Passion Planner. That was a no-brainer.
Brian and I got these super soft throw blankets for Christmas last year (Brian got a blue one and I got a cream colored one) and we loved them so much that we decided to get Matt and Jen their own. We figured brown was a safe bet.
Logan just wanted cash again. We decided to make him work for it this year so we put the money in smaller wrapped presents inside another wrapped box inside another wrapped box. I noticed he wasn’t so excited about the present at first.
I don’t think he realized what he was getting until the boxes got smaller. Once he realized he was getting cash, he got pretty excited.
Eli always has some odd requests. One year he wanted a stick vac. Another year he wanted an electric pencil sharpener. This year he wanted a clock that makes relaxation sounds. Brian picked out a really cool one that, in addition to making several nature sounds, projects time on the wall or ceiling.
QQ was pretty easy. He just wanted Hot Wheels.
Click here for the rest of the photos from Christmas Eve.
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One Year Ends and Another Begins
Posted on January 3, 2016 by Ching under Life.
It’s that time of year again when we look back on the previous year, recall what went wrong (or right), and reflect on lessons learned. Before we begin recapping 2015, allow me to briefly recap the past few years.
- 2008 is the year that Brian started working for Viega, I completed my MBA from Wichita State University, and we dealt cards on a cruise ship.
- 2009 is a year of firsts. We attended Zoobilee for the first time. Brian had his first trip to Germany. He also visited the Philippines for the first time. I completed Leadership Westar. Tita Sol adopted Molly.
- 2010 was the year that we spent a lot of time with the Dills. It started out when we rang in the New Year at Kansas City Power & Light with Jay, Becca, and Mama Dill. A month later, we were traveling with them again. This time to San Francisco. We did a lot of traveling that year.
- 2011 was the year that we started by getting stranded at McCarran International Airport (Las Vegas). That didn’t deter us from traveling, though. We traveled through the East Coast with the Dills that summer and had a lot of firsts. We also got to see James Taylor perform twice: once at Intrust Bank Arena and again at Tanglewood. I also had my first ER trip and my first biopsy. Exciting stuff!
- 2012 we attended a few weddings, most notably Cousin Tracy and Jeff’s destination wedding at Coral Cove Resort in Jamaica. I got my Zumba Basic 1 License and I took Brian to Nashville for his 38th birthday. We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary by closing on our house and then I ended the year with a thyroidectomy.
- 2013 brought us Cards for the Cure, a visit from the Orbases, a few appearances on Splurge! Mag, his and hers handguns, first time back at the Filipino ball, Leadership Elite, Brian’s parent’s 40th wedding anniversary, Cards Against Humanity, my first Zumba Instructor Convention, first trip to Minneapolis and Davenport, completed group exercise instructor training and started teaching Zumba for the YMCA.
- 2014 was the year that I attended, not one, but two Zumba instructor conferences was definitely a highlight of the year. I was glad I had the opportunity to attend the 2014 Zumba Instructor Conference in LA because it was the very last one. Later that year I attended the 2014 Zumba Instructor Convention in Orlando. Other highlights include my short stint as a Stella & Dot personal stylist, getting our landscape redone, returning to bowling, trips to San Diego (for work) and the Dominican Republic (for Brian’s 40th birthday), and having Molly rejoin our family. We were blessed with the opportunity to attend our favorite fundraising events: Labor Run, Zoobilee, Lights on the Lake, and Brew Ha-Ha. I completed Leadership Wichita (Class of 2014, baby!) and met some of the truly amazing people. I was also an Adventurous Babe for a year until I resumed my normal boring self.
The year 2014 was a fantastic year for me but it ended pretty rough. I got sick and ended up with pneumonia. Right then I knew that I was in for a rocky year but I remained optimistic. And, despite all of the ups and downs of 2015, I managed to avoid a trip to the ER so I consider that a win. LOL.
So what else happened last year besides not having to go to the ER?
I got to visit one of our partners’ call centers in Saint George, UT. Their office is near Las Vegas so we ended up flying in and out of Vegas for the trip. It was fun and I got to meet some really cool people but it was rough staying in a different hotel room every night.
Brian and I had the opportunity to attend several great fundraising events like the Heart Ball, Celebrity & Chef Cook Off, Labor Run, Zoobilee, Light Your Heart, Brew Ha-Ha, Boo and Brew Ball, and the Second Wave anniversary party at the Wichita Art Museum. We also participated in Cards for the Cure, which our friend Jay masterfully took down.
Brian was laid off from Viega after seven years but we didn’t let that hamper our spirits. We still celebrated Super Pi Day on March 14, 2015. It worked out for the best though because then Brian was able to do some traveling with me when I had to go to Washington, DC for a work conference. We both got to visit Washington for the first time together. During Brian’s brief break from employment, he dabbled in travel agent work and helped our friends Jay and Becca sort out the Travel Junkie CRM before eventually changing careers and joining Edward Jones.
Besides Saint George, UT and Washington, DC, I also had the opportunity to travel to Charlotte, NC when I got a free registration to the annual CS Week conference. While there I got to visit the NASCAR Hall of Fame and had the opportunity to meet NASCAR legend Junior Johnson.
I also got to visit New York while I was in New Jersey for a utilities workshop. Darcy and I traveled together. It was both a fun and productive trip.
I got to help with the 2015 Youth Entrepreneurs Summer Partnership program at my work and also participated in some great team building activities with my coworkers. We learned how to do makeup one time, and we also did community service work at the Kansas Food Bank and the Wichita Art Museum.
I had fun hanging out with my little sister from Big Brothers Big Sisters all year. Here are some of the things we did: Starbird-Devlin Cars for Charities, Big Fish at Century II, learning some Zumba, painting at the Big Brothers Big Sisters office, Bartlett Arboretum, bowling (a few times), roller skating, playing at Get Air (the trampoline park downtown), celebrating with other matches at the Big Brothers Big Sisters holiday party at Botanica, etc. It has been a wonderful year and Nickira is growing so fast. Her feet are actually bigger than mine now.
Besides doing more community service this year than I ever have (I actually qualified to request Tier 1 and Tier 2 volunteer time matches at work, which I asked to be donated to the Greater Wichita YMCA both times), I also got to do other enrichment activities such as joining the Andover Rotary Club (thanks to my friends and coworker David for recommending it), and Brian and I both completed Citizen Police Academy.
Brian and I got to see some good concerts from artists we’d never seen perform before: The Avett Brothers, Moreland & Arbuckle, Here Come the Mummies, and John Fullbright. We missed the Avett Brothers the first time they came to town so we vowed not to miss them again this time around. Here Come the Mummies was a complete surprise. We thought they would be hokey but they were actually amazing. The others were at Bartlett Arboretum. That place is completely enchanting. I can’t believe we’d never been there until now.
Besides the disaster of Brian getting laid off from work, I also had a couple of disasters with my phone and my car. UBreakIFix saved my hiney, not once, but twice. Then I wrecked both the front and back ends of my car shortly after paying it off. Isn’t that just the luck? I had to take care of the front end damage, which was actually more expensive, myself because no other car was involved. It was me vs. a parking stop. LOL. The back end damage was a minor fender bender (rear-end collision) in downtown Kansas City. It cost about half as much to fix but it wasn’t my fault so I didn’t have to pay for the repairs that time. What a relief!
Brian wasn’t the only one who had some work changes. I started working on a new project at work. It’s a major one that’s a three-year commitment. It’s so huge that I had to move my office from one end of the building to the other and I’ll be reporting to someone else this year.
We celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary in a low-key way by going on a moonlight horseback ride in the Flint Hills and having a nice quiet dinner in Mulvane. Our anniversary this year was simple but it’s definitely one of the more memorable ones.
We had some friends who turned 50 this year and threw the most amazing parties. We also got to attend Christina and Jake’s wedding at Exploration Place. That was another great party.
Lastly, we added two new family members. Brian got a new car he named Rex because it’s a Lexus RX 350. It’s a 2015 but we got a heck of a deal so we didn’t have to finance. That happened during the week of Thanksgiving so we just called it his Christmas present (for this year and the next few years – LOL).
In December we won a puppy in the live auction of the Light Your Heart event. We named her Saki. Life hasn’t been the same ever since. For all of us.
Saki is very sweet and is an amazing dog but it is an adjustment. Molly is on senior dog food and Saki is on puppy dog food. We now have to buy two of everything so they don’t get jealous of one another. There’s also the additional vet bills. Feeding times are now a two-person effort because we have to make sure they don’t kill each other. Brian and I are fine with the changes, but Molly is taking a long time to adjust. They have good moments but the two still fight a lot. Even though we’d been thinking of getting a companion for Molly for a while (ever since we found out that our favorite neighbors and their two dogs would be moving to Orlando), this is probably the most spontaneous thing we’ve ever done. And, Brian and I are not spontaneous people.
We have sit-down meetings with each other to plan our budget at the end of every year and halfway through. We schedule everything months in advance and have a strict calendar. Heck, we use a spreadsheet to plan our Thanksgiving cooking! We were definitely not as prepared as we usually are for this change.
That’s pretty much our year in a nutshell. It was a rollercoaster with lots of ups and downs but I feel blessed for all the great things that happened. Like I said, I didn’t have to make a trip to the ER so that in itself is a win.
I’m optimistic about the coming year but Brian tells me that I’m optimistic about the new year every year. For one, we are already off to a great start compared to last year. Last year I wanted to teach Zumba on New Year’s Day but couldn’t because I had pneumonia. This year I was able to make it happen. I turned the event into a mini Zumbathon/party complete with gift drawings and two other instructors leading songs. We had such a blast.
I believe that great things will happen for us next year and I look forward to recounting them around this time next year. I’m hoping that going on the first ever Zumba cruise, which is less than a month away, will be only one of many highlights that I’ll be sharing with you this time next year. Brian and I are both super excited (me more so than Brian as can be expected – LOL).
Happy New Year, Everyone!
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Hanging Out with the Dills
Posted on December 29, 2015 by Ching under Life.
Becca and I got to hang out right before Christmas. I just happened to be off work and wanted to get my nails done. Luckily Becca was free and was able to go with me. I took her to my favorite nail place.
I decided to deviate from my usual neutral tones and picked out glittery nail polish.
I took Becca back to the Travel Junkie office and then the four of us met up later that night at Hibachi Boy. It’s their first time trying it.
Then, since we were already on our side of town they came over for drinks. They also got to meet our newest family member, Saki.
We were really glad that they brought their niece Addi over because we needed someone to run Saki ragged. Saki is so full of energy that she annoys the crap out of Molly, our other dog. Molly gets so irritated that she ends up snipping at poor Saki, which makes me feel bad because Saki is a puppy and doesn’t know any better. She just wants to play.
Saki met her match with Addi. Saki actually ran out of energy before Addi did. So glad that Addi came over to play with Saki because I usually run out of breath chasing her around. It was nice to get a break and also be able to visit with the Dills while Addi and the dogs played. 2015 has been a really busy year for us and we haven’t been able to spend as much time with our friends. It was really nice to end the year spending some quality time with the Dills.
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Bowling League Christmas Party
Posted on December 27, 2015 by Ching under Events.
We had a little potluck Christmas party last week at bowling. I’d never been part of a bowling league that had a Christmas party before so this was a first for us. We had a “white elephant” gift exchange of sorts. Everyone who wanted to participate was to bring a $10 gift. There were separate piles of presents for men and women. When bowled your first strike, you got to pick a present from the pile.
I was a little worried at first because I’d been bowling pretty bad of late. I’ve bowled entire games where I didn’t get a single strike so I was a bit concerned about that. However, I was assured that if you brought a gift then you would get a present no matter what. It’s just that if you don’t strike at all, then you get whatever is left.
The best bowlers naturally have an advantage because if you’re the first one to get a strike then you get first pick. Brian and I participated despite my reservations. I love “white elephant” gift exchanges so I couldn’t pass it up. We just had to take our chances.
Luckily I managed to get a strike on my second frame so I didn’t have to wait long to pick a present. I ended up getting the one that our teammate Kim brought without even realizing it. It was a gift set consisting of a couple of “Keep Calm” mugs and tea. The funny thing is I also got a couple of mugs from our “white elephant” gift exchange at work the other day and then Brian got a Marvel Golden Age mug from Jay and Becca. Between Brian and me, we ended up adding several mugs to our collection this year.
When Brian bowled his first strike, he picked the biggest box he could find. LOL. He ended up getting a thermos which, to my surprise, he was really excited about. He couldn’t wait to use it! He was so excited about it that he actually filled it up with a couple of pots of coffee on Christmas day. It worked great. The thermos successfully kept our coffee piping hot all day.
Besides the gift exchange, I was really excited about the potluck. It’s not everyday that the bowling alley allows you to bring in outside food. I really wanted Brian to make his mini tacos because they’re always a huge hit when he make them, but we got busy (and lazy) so we ended up getting a chocolate fudge pie and can of whipped cream from Fresh Market instead. We had the pie on Thanksgiving so we know that it’s delicious and it didn’t require any cooking time on our part. It’s lame, I know, but it’s better than showing up empty handed. And, we really, really like that pie. It was our first time using that whipped cream and we didn’t have high expectations but the whipped cream was really good. I told Brian, we’re never buying Reddiwip ever again.
It was a fun night and Brian bowled one of his best games ever. He ended up throwing seven strikes in a row. He was so excited that he exclaimed, “This is the most strikes in a row I’ve ever had!” To which I retorted, “That happened by the fifth frame.” We both cracked up. I wasn’t being mean. I was just keeping it real. LOL.
All those strikes that Brian bowled actually pushed me to do a little bit better and keep my sparing on point. Even with only two strikes that game, my score wasn’t that far behind his. That game was pretty good but overall it was a rough bowling night for me. Brian did great, though. I can honestly say, I have never bowled seven strikes in a row, ever. Brian’s bowling skills have immensely improved and he’s been able achieve things I haven’t. I’m looking forward to watching him bowl a perfect 300 game, which is only five more strikes than the game above. Maybe it will happen in 2016!
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