Road Trip!

Hubby and I just took a wonderful road trip to California and the Grand Canyon. :)

The vacation itself was an interesting story. I had requested the time off for my brother's wedding, but my Grandmother passed away three months ago and my brother postponed the wedding out of respect to the deceased (a Chinese tradition). I was going to cancel the time off, but Hubby wanted to go to an air show near where my sister-in-law lived in California the weekend before my scheduled time off. So we made it into a vacation. Hubby would drive out to California first for his air show and time with sister, before I finished up the semester at work and joined in for the rest of the trip.

So 6,000 miles, five states, 8,000-feet elevation, over 40-degree difference in temperatures, 1,000+ photos, about a dozen patches (Hubby collects those) and 50 postcards (I collect those) later, we have had a fantastic time exploring places between the Pacific coast and the heart of Texas. As we go through the photos, here are some of the many wonderful memories from the trip, chronologically:

Coming in sister-in-law's place to Hubby's hello message made of coke cans

Visiting with family and friends (and their children and pets), sleeping on their floor/couch/air mattress and getting fed by their wonderful cooking

Having dinner at the Santa Monica Pier

Cruising along the Pacific Coast Highway and looking out to the gorgeous Pacific Ocean

Eating authentic Chinese food in the San Francisco Chinatown

Enjoying ice-cream while strolling along small-town Sausalito (just outside of San Francisco)

Straddling the Nevada and Arizona state lines at the Hoover Dam

Seeing the rainbow at the Yosemite National Park

Hiking on a sea of snow at Yosemite

Watching the sun set at the Grand Canyon

Looking up to a clear sky full of stars at the Grand Canyon

Camping at Yosemite and the Grand Canyon

Pictures to come!

Pink Candle

A few weeks ago, as I was doing some cleaning for the new year, I finally started burning the candle I had received as a bridal shower favor. It smelled good in the house!

While enjoying the candle, somehow I remembered joking with a newlywed couple about the wife moving in and "decorating" the house with pink, smelly and girly stuff. It then occurred to me that maybe I should ask Hubby what he thought about the candle - it was pink, and the scent was pineapple.

So below was our conversation, re-created from my memory -

Me: Babe, can I burn the candle in the living room? (I actually had started burning the candle already)

Hubby: Yes.

Me: But it's pink and it smells like pineapple.

Hubby: That's fine.

He did not mind! But wait, something was missing.

Me: So you don't have a problem with it?

Hubby: Yes, it is being left unattended in the living room.

Oh, right. We were in the TV room. But that's my Hubby! :)

Washington DC

Two and a half months ago, we took a road trip to Washington DC, the nation's capital.

It came about when one of the few original copies of  "my map" (the 17th-century world map I worked with for my thesis), was featured in one of the exhibits at the Library of Congress. The LOC did not own the map, but made a rare exception to show an item on loan. Since this was the first time an original copy of "my map" was on display in America, I wanted to go! Hubby had a few things he wanted to see in the area, so it expanded into a vacation. It had been about 10 years since we had been to DC (separately).

A long road trip of course meant the license plate game! The goal was to spot all 50 license plates on the road (seeing license plates in the issuing states does not count). Usually we would get about 35-40 plates and it was almost impossible to get Alaska or Hawaii, let alone both. But this time, we got both!! We did not get all 50 plates, but we did have 45!

On the way there, weather was not the best; but while we were there, weather in DC was beautiful! It was sunny, pleasant, with clear blue sky! On the first day, we visited the Library of Congress (for my map, among other things). It was so great to see one of the few original maps in its original size (in 6 panels)!

While Hubby visited the National Museum of the Marine Corps, I indulged in more early modern history with a trip to the Folger Shakespeare Library.

We also visited the National Mall, several Smithsonian Museums (Air and Space, Freer Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Natural History, American Indians, and American History), Chinatown, Arlington National Cemetery and Old Town Alexandria. It was a lot of walking, but it was a nice trip (and riding the subway daily certainly reminded me of home)!

Hubby got sick about half way through our trip so we cut our stay in DC half a day short and I did most of the driving on the way back. It was the first time I drove that much! To add to the adventure, on the way back, there was even snow - real snow - in our own state! Because of that, we changed our route but could still see - and safely drive through - some snow. Pretty phenomenal.

So, enjoy the pictures!

Celebrations

Since the last post, Hubby and I have celebrated many special occasions -

Hubby's birthday
Our anniversary (same day as Hubby's birthday)
My youngest sister-in-law's birthday
Valentine's Day
Chinese New Year (same day as Valentine's Day this year) i.e. today!

Can I use them as an excuse for my lack of post? :-) In any event, I thank the Lord for the many happy and special occasions we have in the last couple of weeks!

Anniversary Slurpee

Editor's Note: The mini series on the kiddos will return soon!

Ever since Hubby and I got married, we have been celebrating our anniversary each month (we celebrated our dating anniversary too, when we were dating. :-)

On our anniversary date of each month, we would try to be the first to remember the monthly anniversary and say it to the other person. The rules are to say the actual year and month of the anniversary since the wedding, and it needs to be either on the phone or in person. Voice mail or writing does not count.

Other than our real anniversary (which is next month!), we do not normally have any special celebrations. However, we just had our 7-year-11-month anniversary. To commemorate this particular anniversary, we went to 7-11 for a slurpee. Whose idea? Mine!

It was a nice treat. :)

181,705

That was the final mileage of our (almost) 10-year-old truck. After many great memories, it was time to retire it several weeks ago. Hubby got the truck shortly after I met him so I had always associated the truck with him. It was a little sad to let go.


Now, Hubby has a car (right) that is a few inches shorter than mine. It is funny that I am now driving the "bigger" vehicle in the family! :)

North Carolina - Wright Brothers National Memorial

Since Hubby is a pilot, we naturally visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial, where Wilbur and Orville Wright took the first successful powered, heavier-than-air flights.

Special thanks to Hubby for editing this post!

The Wright Brothers

Full-scale Reproduction of the Wright Flyer

The large boulder marking the take-off point of the first successful flights

Monument on Kill Devil Hill, where the brothers practiced their flights on gliders

At the bottom of the Monument

The Atlantic Ocean

Mississippi

After Louisiana, we stopped at the beach while passing through Mississippi. We had a blast! We did not know how much we missed the water until that day. It was great weather and the water was perfect!

Clear blue sky

Nice water

Hubby taking a picture of me as I headed for the water! Fun picture.

Hubby hanging out

Me in the water. One of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Burgers, Fries and Shake

A year ago, I became an American. At my suggestion, Hubby and I went to celebrate with burgers, fries and shake!


I do not eat beef hardly at all, so I could not tell whether the hamburger was good or not. But according to Hubby, the hamburgers were really good! To me, however, the chocolate shake was the best part!

A really fun feature at the restaurant was a "jacuzzi" for the hands. You put your hands in the holes, then water and the right amount of pressure came out to clean your hands. It was really fun. No wonder the kids there loved washing their hands! I even shamlessly took a sticker (which I am sure was more for kids than adults) -


We also took this meal in honor of our pregnant friend who could not eat any of these things because of gestational diabetes. She had asked her friends to eat these for her when she was first diagnosed, and we finally ate them for her!

She had the baby last night, so congratulations!

To Walk with Thee

My mom took this photo of Hubby and me without us knowing it until afterwards. I like this picture a lot, and I am thankful to God for allowing me to go through life's journey with Hubby.

White Scarf

A few months ago, we purchased our first sewing machine. The extraordinary part was that it was actually Hubby's idea, not mine. He had thought about getting a sewing machine for quite some time and we picked one out together based on his research (he really did his homework).

At the (free) sewing class on Valentine's Day, I saw Hubby sew for the very first time. It was priceless.

One big project we had in mind with the sewing machine purchase was curtains. But before we took on the this rather big task, I suggested to Hubby about making something small as a beginner's project. He readily agreed.

The following week, we picked out some white fabric, and Hubby made the scarf from there. It was a very impressive day as he labored away, and I took some pictures to document the "historic event." Enjoy!

Here, Hubby got the sewing machine ready by preparing the thread.

Then he cut the fabric

Then it was sewing, ironing and thread-pulling, and some more sewing and ironing





A scarf was born!


Did I mention Hubby did a fantastic job?

P.S. I now have some catching up to do! My mom is coming to visit next month. I am sure I will ask her to give me a few lessons! :)

Hubby Guest Blogs: About Hanes

Every now and then, Hubby gets inspired to write a poem. Here I present to you his newest work. Enjoy!

Fuzzy Butt leaves fuzzy hair,
On the stair and in the air
On the couch and on the chair
On the bed and everywhere!

Anniversary and Birthday

This past week, hubby and I celebrated his birthday and our anniversary - we got married on his birthday (my idea). We took the day off and had a very simple day. I even did some housework that morning while he was getting my anniversary presents. :) We did not take a vacation or go to a fancy restaurant. But we were together, and that was enough. Our special day was wonderful and I am thankful for each day I have with him.

Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday to my wonderful hubby!

Give(n)

One of my New Year's resolutions this year is to give something to someone every day - a helping hand, a hug, a word of encouragement, a gift, a note, a ride......it is going quite well so far and it is a great way to get out of myself and think more about others. As a great bonus, it has been bringing me great joy.

But then, God showed me that there is another side of it, and that is to receive, to be given something.

Work has been keeping me quite busy, and I had to break two of my rules recently: not to check work email at home, and not to work over the weekend. I did both this weekend. But at the same time, many people are working way more than I am.

One of them is a lady with whom I had a meeting a couple of weeks ago. Every one in her admissions office has been working through our two-week University break and has been putting in twenty hours of overtime every week (not an exaggeration). But as I was sitting in her office, she was incredibly patient with my questions and spent an hour helping me. It struck me that given her busy schedule, she could have chosen not to meet with me or not to give me as much time as she did. But she gave me her precious time.

Then there is my wonderful hubby. I did not cook dinner for about two weeks because I was home late every night. But he did not complain about the TV dinners or having to eat by himself. Rather, he was incredibly understanding and helped with various housework. When I fell asleep on the couch, he let me sleep and just helped me up to bed. On the weekends, he still let me play my league tennis and gave me time to nap. :)

Thankfully, I were able to leave relatively on time on Fridays for our date nights; and so far this week, I have been leaving the office while there is still daylight; I even cooked dinner for the first time in a while last night. Things I took for granted felt so much like gifts.

Giving is a two-way street. Through giving, God gives me the joy of giving, and He has opened my eyes quite widely to see the many generous givers around me who shower me with many precious things I might otherwise have not appreciated as much.

From A to Z - Hubby Edition

Special thanks to hubby for sharing his responses in his own words. Enjoy!

Attached or single? Attached.

Best friend? The owner of this blog.

Cake or pie? Both (depending on the flavor).

Day of choice? Friday!

Essential item? 1911.

Flavor of ice cream? Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (Blue Bell, of course)

Gummy bears or worms? Worms (more fun to eat)

Hometown? Alvin, TX

Indulgences? Books.

January or July? January.

Kids? Nope.

Last movie seen in a theater? Wall-e.

Middle name? Aristotelis.

Number of siblings? 3.

Oranges or apples? Oranges.

Phobia or fear? Neither.

Quote? $165.00 for 6 months.

Reason to smile? Flying!

Season? Fall.

Tag 5 more? Nah.

Unknown fact about me? The owner of this blog says I have red and grey in my beard.

Vegetarian or oppressor of animals? Meatatarian! (Note: I was a Meatatarian before Wendy’s made it cool)

Worst habit? Sweets.

X-rays or ultrasounds? X-rays.

Your favorite food? Lasagne.

Zodiac? I prefer the CH750.

Wedding Ring

Shortly after we pulled out of our drive way for dinner on Saturday night, hubby told me he had forgotten his wedding ring. He had been painting the garage all day (we are converting it to his workshop) so he had taken it off and left it in the kitchen but he forgot to put it back on after shower.

Wedding rings are always special, and our rings are special to us in our own ways. Not only did hubby design our wedding bands and my engagement ring, but with my mom's help, we had them made in my native Hong Kong. I love seeing his ring on his finger because it always reminds me of our wedding vows.

So the absence of his ring is normally very noticeable to me. But I did not notice the missing ring that night and I thought that since we had already left the house and were only going for a quick dinner, it would not bother me that he did not have his ring with him for a short while. But he insisted on getting it and turned the car around.

His gesture was very touching to me so I offered to get the ring for him as we headed back to our house. As I walked back to the car with the ring, hubby immediately extended his left hand, readying himself for me to put his ring on, the way he did at our wedding. I gladly put it on for him.

How sweet is this man.