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!