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)