White Christmas (a little late)

As much as Michael and I loved the warm weather in Arizona, we missed out on the white Christmas experience. However, we returned to a light snow storm in Columbus that was off and on from Saturday evening through Monday morning. It left everything covered in a beautiful blanket of white. Since most of our neighbors still have their lights up, and we still have our decorations up, it still feels a bit like a white Christmas. What a blessing!

Polo explores the snow in our backyard

Climbing Camelback

It's hard to believe I ever thought it was really cold in Arizona. Having spent the last two winters in New York, and now living in Ohio, I've changed my mind about what equates cold. Whereas 60 degrees used to be cold to me, now the 40's are cold. I realize that I was never "freezing" in the low 50's in Phoenix. Silly me. Granted, Phoenix does get chilly at night, but I still spent most of our Christmas vacation joyously reveling in t-shirts and light sweaters. The weather proved perfect for a short hike up Camelback and then some rock climbing led by my very experienced brother.

Camelback Mountain

Austin explains the basics of belaying

getting ready to belay Austin as he leads the climb

repelling back down after making it to the top of Rain of Terror (5.7)

Beau starts his climb

Mike belays Beau

view of Phoenix from the mountain

End of the 2009 Book Challenge

As 2009 comes to a close, I find that I did not accomplish my goal of reading nine books from each of nine different genres by the end of this year. I read 59 books, so I was 22 short. It seems I have a strong preference for young adult and an aversion to history. I read more fiction and young adult than the required nine, and I only read one (half of one, really) history book. Honestly, I was surprised because I like to think that I enjoy history, but perhaps I want to enjoy it more than I realistically do. The experience was good for me though. I'm sure I read more than I would have if I hadn't set a goal. I also read a greater variety of books. I'm not sure who said it first, by the following quote aptly fits this experience: "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." Below is a list of the books I read this year. Feel free to ask about any of them if you're interested.

Young Adult
1. Crash by Jerry Spinelli
2. Meet the Austins by Madeleine L'Engle
3. Defiance by Valerie Hobbs
4. Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse
5. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer
6. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
7. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
8. Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
9. Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
10. The President's Daughter by Ellen Emerson White
11. White House Autumn by Ellen Emerson White

General Fiction
12. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
13. The Shack by William P. Young
14. Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer
15. Girl with a Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
16. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
17. Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery
18. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
19. Falling Man by Dom DeLillo
20. Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas
21. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Short Story/Essay
22. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
23. Sleepy Hallow by Washington Irving
24. The Most Beautiful Woman in Town by Charles Bukowski
25. Birds of America by Lorrie Moore
26. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Biography/Memoir
27. Thin is the New Happy by Valerie Frankel
28. Crossbearer by Joe Eszterhas
29. Picking Cotton by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton and Erin Torneo
30. Miracles Happen by Mary Kay Ash
31. Julie Andrews: An Intimate Biography by Richard Stirling

Science-fiction/Fantasy
32. The Host by Stephenie Meyer
33. Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin
34. The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
35. Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer
36. Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
37. The Midnight Charter by David Whitley
38. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
39. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
40. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Chick Lit
41. Wedding Belles by Haywood Smith
42. The Agency by Ally O'Brien
43. The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
44. Literacy and Longing in L.A. by Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack
45. An Eligible Bachelor by Veronica Henry
46. Wedding Season by Darcy Cosper

History
47. 740 Park by Michael Gross (in progress)

Non-fiction
48. Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts by Les and Leslie Parrott
49. The Faith of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield
50. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
51. Puppy Preschool by John Ross and Barbara McKinney
52. Cesar's Way by Cesar Millan
53. How to Raise the Perfect Dog by Cesar Millan
54. Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

Mystery/Horror
55. The Birthing House by Christopher Ransom
56. Darling Jim by Christian Moerk
57. Misery by Stephen King
58. Days and Hours by Susan Meissner
59. House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo

Again, the challenge was to read 9 books from 9 genres before the end of 2009. I started in the fall of 2008, so it's a little over a year that I have to finish. As you can see, there is plenty of space, particulary in certain genres, so feel free to recommend a favorite or something you think I will like. I don't think I can take on anything epic like Crime & Punishment. I'll save that for 2010.

Mystery Solved

FYI - Santa came forward and identified herself. How great is our super connected online world that allows this mystery to be solved so quickly?!

Are You Santa?

Hmmm... today we received a box from Target. Curious, we opened the box to find a set of 12 wine glasses and a tiered cooling rack. The invoice said it was sold to me and shipped to me. It certainly was shipped to me, but I didn't buy it. Michael and I double checked our bank accounts. No purchase was made with any of our cards. Did someone out there order wine glasses and a cooling rack for us? Did you mean for it to go to us? Did you mean for it to be a mystery? We would like to thank whoever was kind enough to send us this gift if it was intentional. Or maybe Santa Claus shops at Target now. A sign of the times?

Merry Christmas!!

Doggie Dashboard

I took Polo to visit a friend the other day. Just as we pulled into the driveway, my phone rang. As I sat in the parked car talking on the phone, Polo decided it would be fun to climb on top of the dashboard. Of course, I had to take a picture!

Biggest Loser Inspiration

I started watching The Biggest Loser this season with Michael. I had never really gotten into reality tv shows, but I'm finding it amazing how easy it is to get sucked in once you start. The thing about The Biggest Loser is that it simultaneously made me feel like a lazy couch potato and fortunate to not have 100+ extra pounds to lose. Last week's episode showed the final four contestants running a marathon. After 11 weeks at the ranch, these last four people went home for 60 days. They continued dieting and exercising, and at the end of the two months they had to run a full 26.2 mile marathon. As I watched two men and two women, who just five months ago were morbidly obese, run this race, I thought, "If they can do it, I can do it."

About four years ago I made two goals for myself: run a marathon by the time I was 28 and get a masters degree by the time I was 30. I'm 29 years old; I have the Masters, but I haven't run a marathon yet. For the past three years, I have made several attempts to start a training routine for a half marathon. I've run a few 5Ks and even a 10K, but that's the farthest I've gotten. I was disappointed in myself, but after watching The Biggest Loser, I decided to flip my deadlines. This gives me 374 days to finally achieve my goal to run a marathon. I'm hoping that by sharing this goal with others, it will motivate me to stay on track this time around.

Thanksgiving 2009

This was my first Thanksgiving as a wife, and all I had to make were the green bean casserole and sweet potatoes. Lucky me! Michael and I drove to Kansas City last Tuesday to visit my brother-in-law and his fiance. We won't get to see them again until their wedding next summer. We left Polo there with his cousin Dito, a lab/shepherd mix. I don't think he missed us all week. On Wednesday, we flew to Albuquerque to spend Thanksgiving with my mom and in-laws.

Our 20lb. turkey

making the sweet potato casserole

After Thanksgiving dinner, we took part in a Yuen family tradition and sang karaoke with really old VHS karaoke tapes and really old songs. It was actually a lot of fun :) On Friday we went hiking in the mountains behind their home.

hiking around Sandia Mountains

Michael's parents fed us well while we were there. You know you're in an Asian family when you use Thanksgiving leftovers to make turkey fried rice.

We are incredibly thankful to have such an amazing family to visit and also a wonderful home to which we return. We have been very blessed this year and find things every day for which we thank God.

Peanut memories

* I wrote this post in October but for some reason never got around to posting it. Much later...

For his birthday, Michael received a peanut themed birthday package from my mom that included a jar of Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts. I'll admit, I am guilty of eating more of them. Whenever I eat these specific peanuts, it reminds me of my grandma. She has a ceramic peanut that she fills with dry roasted peanuts. I remember visiting her house as a young kid and always snacking on them. I don't know where she got the jar, but she still has it and I still love it.

(not my grandma's peanuts)

They grow up so fast...

He'll be four months old on Friday, and he's already this big!

Circleville Pumpkin Show

I really enjoy a good festival or fair, and Ohio seems to be full of them. Circleville, OH (population about 14,000) is home to the largest pumpkin festival in the U.S., so of course we went to check it out last Saturday. After being tempted by the largest pumpkin pie I've ever seen,we went to see this year's winner for biggest pumpkin (1,635lbs) and the traditional pumpkin tree.

There was a man who grew pumpkins in a steel mold that was created in 1903 for the specific purpose of making face shaped pumpkins. There are apparently only two in the world, and he has them both.
One of the day's highlights was the pumpkin pie eating contest. Michael was disappointed that it was only for kids under 16. The winner for the girls was the defending champion from 2008. Her whole family came from North Carolina for the festival, and her younger sister (or cousin?) came in second. No one felt badly for the girl from Michigan (go figure) even though she put her whole heart and face in it, literally.
Check out these HUGE pumpkins!!
Not at all pumpkin related, but the army and air force was recruiting at the festival. As I couldn't do a pull-up or even hold myself up for 30 seconds, they weren't interested in me.
If you're in Ohio next October, you should be sure to check out this classic.

Today's highlight

Subbing has been going really well. I get to read a lot, and I get to experience a variety of classrooms. This is the list so far:
- elementary music
- high school choir
- h.s. reading
- middle school math
- m.s. science
- kindergarten
- m.s. ESL
- h.s. family and consumer science
- h.s. band
- alternative school
- and m.s. art

It certainly is an eclectic mix. One great thing about working with the younger kids is hearing the funny things they say. In today's art class, the highlight for me had to be when I told a 6th grader that his paper mache spider looked really good. He replied, "Both my parents have PhDs in entomology." Then he went on to tell me their whole history: Harvard, Cornell, Madagascar, etc. He was so serious, and I just wanted to start laughing as he told me about some giant Rhino beetle or something they have hanging above their fireplace. It was great :)

My cheesy quirk

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I love cheese. Okay, many people who know me know I love cheese. However, not many people know this. Though I love almost all cheeses, the one I eat the most is American cheese (so processed, so not good for me). It isn't because I like it the best; it's just cheap and easy. I don't know when it started, but as far back as I can remember, I've always had the habit of folding the cheese slice in half four times until I have a stack of sixteen tiny little processed cheese pieces. Then I eat them one at a time. It's weird, right?

Yum!

Facebook is being stupid

So, I've been trying since yesterday to upload some pictures to Facebook, and it keeps failing. I will just post them here instead. Stupid Facebook!! Anyway, this is a picture heavy post, but I hope you enjoy.

Polo's new favorite spot is on top of his crate. He has to crawl through the bars to get there.

Michael holds Polo after a bath.

He loves his chew sticks.

I wanted to take some pictures of the beautiful fall colors on one of our walks.

I wanted to get some shots of Polo with the beautiful background, but he kept sticking too close or getting distracted by smells.

Movie Trailers

Michael and I went out for a movie and dinner date night on Friday. We ate at Cotters in downtown Columbus and then walked across the street to Arena Grand theater to see Couples Retreat. It was the first theater I've been to that has a bistro and bar inside. The movie was pretty good. It was funny with some good messages about marriage. I don't know about you, but one of the things I love about going to see a movie in a theater is the previews. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to completely forget what I saw previews for by the time the movie starts. I'm trying to work on remembering, and this time I saw two previews that interested me. I thought I'd share.
It's Complicated stars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin. IMDB describes it as "a romantic comedy in which two men vie for the affection of a woman." You can check out the official trailer here: It's Complicated official trailer
Or watch this one.


The other movie, Date Night, stars Tina Fey and Steve Carell and Mark Wahlberg. Unfortunately, the trailer is not available online yet, but you can check out this Access Hollywood interview with Tina and Steve.

I love fuzzy socks

I wish I could remember which of my fabulous roommates first gave me fuzzy socks, but I've been buying and wearing them ever since. I have a few pairs of slippers, but I rarely use them because fuzzy socks are so superior. They are the best for keeping my feet warm on cold nights. They're soft and comfortable for wearing around the house. And I think I've convinced a few other friends along the way to get their own. It may be a bit early to be thinking about Christmas, but they make great stocking stuffers. Target usually has some fun ones in stock, like these.

Bring on the Von Trapp children

Today I subbed for an elementary school music teacher. Not quite my forte, but I had fun. I think the teacher was expecting the same sub as yesterday, so the directions were a bit confusing. Fortunately, I had enough time to figure them out before kids showed up. I taught 3rd, 5th, and 4th grade classes in the morning. We sang two songs along with a tape, read a book about the Star-Spangled Banner (published in 1964! first indication that this teacher is stuck in the past), and danced a Jewish folk dance. I'm really glad the kids already knew the dance because I did not understand the directions to it. I was a little surprised by the lyrics to the first song, but my mom said she sang it when she was in elementary school (2nd indication).
Check these out:
Mister Johnson had troubles of his own
He had a yellow cat which wouldn't leave its home;
He tried and he tried to give the cat away,
He gave it to a man goin' far, far away.

But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, we thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.
Away, away, yea, yea, yea

The man around the corner swore he'd kill the cat on sight,
He loaded up his shotgun with nails and dynamite;
He waited and he waited for the cat to come around,
Ninety seven pieces of the man is all they found.

Yeah, it may be a classic, but you should have seen the kids' faces as they listened: shock and awe. Anyway, in the afternoon I taught 1st and 2nd grade. We sang the same songs, danced the same dance, but instead of reading the old book, we watched a film reel about Mozart. I'm talking the kind of film reel that has a separate audio tape you have to be sure to play at the right time, the kind that advances one photo at a time at the sound of a beep, the kind that I thought went the way of beta tapes and eight-tracks. It took me a good fifteen minutes to figure out where the film reel was and how to get it set up. When I tried asking other teachers if they knew how to use it, they each said, "We have one of those?" And this was the final indication that whoever I was subbing for has been teaching for a very, very long time :)

First Day of Work, J/K

I am finally set up to be a substitute teacher. I officially logged-in to the system this weekend and have since been anxiously, excitedly waiting for phone calls. Since I hadn't heard anything by the time school started this morning, I figured I had the day off. Then, around 8:30am I got a call for a job teaching middle school Spanish for a teacher who traveled from one school in the morning to another in the afternoon. I quickly took down all the notes and accepted the job. After rushing to finish getting ready, I jumped in the car with my scribbled directions and headed out. I decided to call the school and let them know I was on my way. It was a good thing I did because the secretary told me that they had tried to cancel that job because it was already filled. I asked about the afternoon job at the other school, and she didn't know anything about it. I called the second school, and the secretary there didn't even know the teacher. She said there must be some flaw in the system. Goodness! I hope it isn't like this all the time.

Autumn time fun

I have always enjoyed autumn. In Arizona, it meant the end of 100 degree days and 90 degree nights. In New York, it meant the brilliant colors of the changing trees in Central Park. It means Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the build up to Christmas. This year I celebrated the beginning of fall by an apple-picking trip with some friends. We went to Lynd farm, about 40 minutes east of Columbus, and picked Jonathon and Cortland apples.


And because one of the best parts about autumn is the great food, I made a roast turkey breast with stuffing and mashed potatoes for dinner earlier this week. Last night, I used some of the leftover turkey and the apples I had picked to make a turkey pot pie and an deep-dish caramel apple pie.

Mmmm! Coming soon: pumpkin soup

Up the stairs

We thought it would be a while before our tiny little pup would be able to climb the stairs. It would be a perfect way to keep him in one area of the house. On his second day with us, Polo could climb the short set of stairs from the family room to the kitchen. For the past week, he has been attempting to climb the longer set up to the bedrooms, but he usually only makes it to step two. It's been exactly one week since we got him; just yesterday marked his 7 week birthday, and today he made it up his Everest. Unfortunately, he cannot yet make it down any stairs so he stands at the top and whimpers.

He's now a pro at these stairs...


Climbing Everest...

Polo's First Ball

We picked up a tennis ball today for Polo. It's a little big for him, but we loved watching him play.

Welcome Home, Polo!!

Michael and I have each wanted a dog for several years, but we always agreed to wait until we were married so we could raise him together. Once we got married, we decided to wait until we got a house with a yard. Once we were in the house, we wanted to wait until we finished painting and felt a little more settled. After much waiting, we decided to take advantage of this three-day weekend to get serious about a dog. We have been checking out Petfinder.com for possible adoptions and the Columbus Dispatch classifieds for pet listings for the past few weeks. Today, we took an unsuccessful trip to the humane society and then checked the classifieds again. We found a new listing for Golden Retrievers (my dream dog!) born July 24th at a price that was so good we had to call. Once we learned that all the puppies were still available, we left right away. After driving an hour and a half south of Columbus through miles of cornfields and farmland, we finally arrived at the right address. We played with three different males, picked our favorite, paid and headed home with huge smiles and full hearts. We finally found a puppy to call our very own. We named him Polo.

Polo's birthplace

Playing with Polo

Heading home together

Polo's new home

Tuckered out from a long day

Fingerprint Failure

I went in to the Dublin Schools District Office today to get fingerprinted, again. As a teacher in Arizona, I was required to get an FBI fingerprint clearance card. Interestingly, these expire. I don't know for sure, but my best guess as to the reason behind multiple fingerprint checks isn't because anyone's fingerprints change but because our criminal history might. Teaching is not the only profession that requires fingerprint clearance, and my guess is that all of us have to have this joyful experience repeated as long as we work in public service or with children. Maybe I'm not a criminal when they hire me, so they better check again every few years and see if any juicy tidbits show up during the background check.
Despite going through the process of getting fingerprinted three times before, today's experience was entirely new. The first and second time I went to a school district office in Arizona and had the traditional ink and roll fingerprinting. The third time I went to a police station in the Chelsea area of New York City. Though the environment was quite a change, I still inked and rolled. Today, I discovered that there is new technology (gasp!) that can scan my fingerprints right into a computer. Unfortunately, the computer can decide that any given scan isn't good enough, and my fingers failed. After scanning the right four fingers, the left four fingers, and the two thumbs together, the computer labeled all of them as "poor." The woman scanning my fingers was very nice about it. We tried again, then put on Cornhuskers lotion that was supposed to help the prints show up better. Nope. I washed my hands and tried again. No go. More lotion. Strike five. Another woman came over and tried to help apply appropriate pressure to my fingers as I pressed on the scanner. Finally, they put me out of my misery and said I should go home and moisturize my hands like crazy and come back on Friday. I felt guilty that I had failed at getting fingerprinting and then frustrated that technology trumped me once again. For all the advances that it brings, technology must bring twice as many headaches.

Before and After Bedrooms

Moving into the house has definitely kept us busy. It's hard to believe it was only nine days ago. I have since painted the banisters and two bedrooms. Today I am working on the living and dining rooms. We don't have any furniture for them yet, but I'm plowing through all painting projects while I can. On Saturday, Michael and I went to Ikea in Cincinnati and got a desk, chair, and a table for behind the loveseat. We're picking up a couch and loveseat for the family room tomorrow evening. I'm so excited! A few photos to show what we've been up to:

Master bedroom (before)

Master bedroom (after)

I don't know what happened with the camera, but the wall is all one color despite what it looks like in the picture.

Bedroom 2 (before)

Bedroom 2/Guest room (after)

Bedroom 3 (before)
Bedroom 3/Office (after)

Painted the fireplace (sorry, Mark)

I debated long and hard about this decision. I looked at countless blogs, design and DIY websites searching for painted fireplaces and researching the pros and cons. It came down to three main points: 1 - I'd like to eventually remodel the fireplace anyway, 2 - the bricks were not really in very good shape or great looking to begin with, and 3 - I thought the white would contrast better and fit better with our plans for the rest of the house. A few before shots to refresh your memory:

the finished look

It was a tough, time-consuming project, but Michael and I are both really happy with the result. I also spent a day this week painting the master bedroom. The new color looked a lot like the old color when it was wet, which had me worried, but it dried quite differently. The original was a neutral beige-ish color with peachy undertones. We chose a neutral beige-ish color in the brown family. You can kind of see the difference in this picture. I had not painted the edging yet, so the original color shows near the ceiling.