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MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
I hope everyone's Christmas is going well. My Christmas is going really nicely. I flew to California on Friday and will be here until the new year. I was delayed 6 hrs getting out of Utah on Friday but other than that, the vacation has been nice & smooth. I've been hanging out with my sister/bro.in.law/niece/nephew a lot. My niece & nephew are soo adorable. Lily is such a trip - very entertaining. I swear, I think I dream about Little Einsteins every night. Lily sings so well and just chitchats up a storm. I love it. =) She even did my workout and yoga dvd with me - hahaha cracks me up. Today, we drove to LA to see our parents. My ma has been working and will be working on Christmas too. I made some Muddy Buddies and Chocolate Covered Pretzels for her to bring to work. =) We had a nice Christmas Eve lunch today at their apartment before she had to work tonight. Good times, good food.
Group Shot = )
Me & Lily laughing on the floor
This weekend was full of get-togethers.. it's my last weekend in Utah and so I'm glad I got to make it to these events =) I went to an Ugly Sweater Soiree on Friday and to be honest, I actually liked the sweater I wore =) heh. That was a fun time. Yesterday, Melanie made lunch for me and the guys. Very sweet of her. I contributed with a loaf of Cinnamon Streusel Bread. Good times. It also snowed a lot yesterday and driving through it was a bit sketchy. But the mountains are very very pretty now, with a nice fresh layer of snow. It looks like Christmas time now. heh And today, my friend Mike had a Brunch at his house - full of wonderfullly yummy food and wine! =) It was a very nice weekend, for sure. I ate so much =P
Adam, Joel, Melanie, Tom, & Me in front of Melanie's Christmas Tree
Neha & me standing in front of 3 of the 5 Christmas Trees at Mike's house..
Neha, Mike, and me in front of another Christmas Tree at his house - this is the copper tree
Man, I wish I brought my camera!
My friend Melanie has been asking me to go rock climbing with her many times now. And I finally said yes. heh We went tonight to Momentum to do some Top Rope climbing..because everything else is ridiculously harder. heh I got the tutorial in the beginning about tying the knot and belaying. And Melanie's friend Sarah was there to help us out in the beginning too. She's a pro. Momentum is a really nice place too. Full of talented climbers! So incredible. I'll probably do it again with Melanie. It was a lot of fun.
I wish I had pictures to post =P because I actually climbed to the top twice! I haven't been pumped up like how I was when I touched the top bar in a very long time. It was such a rush. And being able to do it twice - I never would have thought I could do it. (I'm also pretty scared of heights too) heh Melanie & I also tried to do a more challenging route - I went about half way on those guys. We were pretty tired by that point too. All in all, it was a really fun experience and I'm glad I tried it. Next time, I'm definitely bringing my camera! =P
I decided to put up my little Christmas tree tonight =) It's its 3rd Christmas.. I can't believe it. 3 Christmases... I bought it at Target when I first moved to Utah. I didn't even have any furniture in my apartment, but I had my little tree =) I've added on ornaments/decorations throughout the years. I think I'll buy something for it for this year.. =) Tim gave me a nice heart ornament last Christmas from Bronner's. Very sweet.
I had all four of my wisdom teeth pulled yesterday morning. My friend Melanie took care of me throughout the day and was my "responsible adult." =) She was great. The surgery went well. I didn't feel/see/hear a thing, which I am very grateful for. The last thing the doctor said was "Ok, time for sleep." And placed a mask over my nose. I look up to the lights and that was it. I'm glad the last thing I saw was that and not the doctor looking down at me. That would have freaked me out. Anyway, an hour later, I was done and they woke me up. Took off the IV and such, and the lady helped me walk to another area to wait for Melanie. =) And from there, my recovery has been great. I ate mashed potatoes & gravy from KFC and pudding yesterday. Today, I even drove to KFC again and bought some more mashed potatoes & gravy. heh. It's a really nice day today too - sunny and not cold, just the nice brisk feeling (which I secretly love). I'm trying to keep my recovery well and not slurping anything or eating anything bad for my mouth. =P
I just finished watching When Harry Met Sally. Good movie. I've always watched parts of it, but never the whole thing. It was nice to finish it finally. Yesterday, Melanie & I watched Get Smart. That was actually a pretty funny movie. I didn't think I would really like it, but it had a lot of good lines throughout the movie.
And today.. I've just been thinking of the wedding. Just random planning stuff. Flowers, center pieces, etc. Fun stuff. I need to buy my shoes that I'll wear.. I can't believe it's mid-November already. 2008 is almost over, and pretty soon, I'll be married. Woww.. So exciting =)
On a different topic.. Oprah is giving everyone a Snapfish photobook. Pretty cool Here's the link Free Photo Book. The site gets bogged down because of everyone trying to get one. So, be patient.
The ski lodges are all open here in Utah. Pretty exciting. I want to go snowboarding again this winter. =) Who knew I would actually like winter. hah
This week was full of events.. from the elections to the layoffs at work. The atmosphere at work the past couple of weeks have been tense. When I first started working at American Express in 2006, they had some layoffs - but because I was so new (to work in general), I didn't think too much of it. I definitely felt these layoffs. I now know my coworkers and people in other departments. They're my friends. It's such a depressing situation. The economy is in such a rut right now and it's so sad to think that so many people have lost their jobs recently. I am extremely grateful that I wasn't impacted. Truly truly grateful.
Different topic... the elections. This was my very first time voting in the US Presidential Election. I became a US Citizen this year and I was very proud to vote on November 4th. It was a very exciting experience. I used the new electronic ballots. It would have been neat to use the old one, but that's ok. It's such a neat feeling to be a part of something so huge for the country and for the world. The US is a great country and I'm glad I was a part of its history. (Wow, I'm so patriotic, heh). Cheesiness. =PAnother topic... The parents and Timmy came out to SLC this past weekend. My parents arrived Wednesday night, Tim and his parents arrived Thursday night. I drove back and forth to the airport sooo many times last week. heh The parents met for the first time and I think it was pretty fun. Tim & I had a lot of things planned for all of us to do. I think they all had a nice time =) At least, I hope so. Hah
Friday - We first drove to Snowbird but we realized that the Tram (that we wanted to ride) is not in operation during the weekdays. Ug. So we just walked around and took pictures. heh
Just hanging out at Snowbird
(so cute)
Friday was my tatay's (dad's) 60th birthday. We all went out for a nice dinner at Tuscany. It was a very pretty Italian restaurant that looked like a really cute cottage. After dinner, we drove downtown to Abravanel Hall to enjoy a symphony, Bruckner's 4th.
Our dinner table by the fireplace at Tuscany
The Birthday Boy with his chocolate cake! Sweet 60! haha
Park City is lovely. I swear, I love the air over there. We walked around downtown Park City and ate lunch at The Eating Establishment. I definitely recommend this restaurant. Yummy, nice atmosphere, and not too expensive. After Park City, we drove out to Snowbird Ski Resort. About a 50 minute drive from Park City. We really wanted to ride the Tram this weekend so that's why we went back. Good times good times. On Sunday, the parents left out in the morning and Tim left a little after. Definitely a full and busy weekend. I was pretty tired after all of it, heh. =P
Here are some more pictures of the weekend:
Main Street Park City, UT
At a cute little boutique in Park City
Riding the Tram - Tim's mom was pretty scared =) She was holding on tight!
11,000 feet above Sea Level
Me + Timmy
I just got home from my 4 day weekend in California. The family all met up there for my nephew's baptism. Ian got baptized on Sunday. He is such a precious baby - such a sweet one. He's so sweet to hold =) The weekend was really nice and I'm so glad I got to hang out with my family (including Kat!) and Timmy this weekend. It was very refreshing to see everyone. The kids were all so cute and hilarious. I'll post more pictures later. Here's a group shot of all of us after Ian's baptism - it's not frequent when we get a group shot like this so I love these kinds of pictures =)
We had our first taste of winter today, we as in SLC people, I guess. I walked out of my apartment to go to church and I see snow on the cars, leaves, roofs, everything. Not a whole lot, but enough to surprise me. It was so weird to see snow fall today, I dunno why. Well, maybe because it's not even mid-October yet! Yeah, so crazy. I guess I wasn't completely surprised - the snow was definitely in the forecasts, but still =P The mountains have a nice fresh layer of snow on 'em and I always love that. Makes them look 10 times prettier than they already do.
This weekend, I went around downtown .. checking out different venue possibilities. Having the wedding in Utah makes me giddy about the wedding planning now. I mean, I've been excited about the getting married part the entire time.. but the wedding planning - it was hard to get overly excited when it was in Chicago and I couldn't see anything. But now, I've been driving around, meeting people, etc. Pretty nice. Hopefully, we can have a lot of things settled this week. =) I went to mass at the church where Tim & I want the wedding today.. It's a really pretty cathedral downtown. I'm excited about having the wedding there. I talked to the priest afterward - that was really nice too.
Another work week begins.. I'm excited for my California trip this Friday though =) I get to see Timmy and all of my family =)
I don't really have much to write.. just can't believe it's the last day of September already. I haven't been feeling well lately. Ug. Not good. But the weather has been really nice still. I heard it's going to get colder this weekend though. We'll see, I guess.
Here's a picture of my niece, Lily. This one looks like me when I was little. Heh. It's always interesting to see the resemblance of your siblings' kids. I definitely looked like my aunt (my ma's older sister) - especially our younger pictures compared to one another. More and more though, I'm looking a lot like my ma and sister. It's weird to see different people in the same kid. Heh. I keep doing that with my nieces and nephew now. Gosh, that's such an old person thing to do. Hah. I'm old. haha
Ok, so I mentioned it was starting to feel like Fall... and then this weekend comes, and it's definitely hot. The weekend weather was perfect. Sunny, clear skies with some cute clouds, nice winds - absolutely perfect. I had a nice weekend. I watched Eagle Eye last night with a friend of mine. I thought the movie was good - I enjoyed it. I can't even remember the last movie I saw at the theater.. err, yes I do. Pineapple Express. Yeah, many movies would probably be better than that one. Though, Pineapple Express was pretty entertaining.
I made a couple of bracelets and a necklace yesterday. I ended up wearing the necklace last night already =) And I'll give the bracelets to my ma and my sister. Hopefully they like it. I'm gonna see all of my family in a couple of weeks. I'm so excited. I get to see my nieces and new nephew all at the same time! =)
Earlier in the week, I went to my friend/coworker's house. She does stained glass pieces and stone mosaics. They look really nice and I wanted to learn how to make them. So, earlier this week, I went there to start cutting my glass pieces. I did pretty ok in cutting them - the pieces actually fit into each other nicely. Today, I finished it by soldering them all together. It was a pretty cool experience. I'm going to buy my own glass pieces now and I'll make some more. =) I'm excited at how it turned out. It's kind of big, about 5 inch in diameter. I'll tie a nice ribbon on the top of it so it can hang =)
A couple of my friends and I went out to dinner tonight at Settebello for a belated birthday dinner for me, heh. Very sweet. This restaurant is one of my favorites. We had some delicious pizza and gelato. Afterward, Melanie and I just walked around Temple Square. It was such a gorgeous night, perfect for walking around and seeing the Temple closer. Throughout my time in SLC, I've never really walked around too much in Temple Square. It was nice to have a little guided tour of the buildings. We went to into the FamilySearch Center.. and one day we'll go to the Family History Library. I tried to see if they had anything of my family members.. didn't have any luck. Just really interesting stuff though. The Joseph Smith Memorial Building is beautiful. Also beautiful, is the Temple. Just a perfect evening to see all of it =) I'm glad I got to just chill tonight and enjoy the nice weather and downtown..
I'm back from my trip to Chicago. I flew in on Wednesday night and got back Sunday afternoon. It was a really nice 4 day weekend =) I got to see Tim's new apartment in Illinois. It's nice, I like it. Kind of neat to think I'll be living there one day. I turned 25 at a rest area while driving from the airport to Tim's place. Then the next morning, we got up and ready to go to his work. So I spent the actual birthday at his work. Parrrrrtayyy huh? hah Then car problems at night. =P No need to explain more. heh We went to a nice restaurant for a small and late dinner and walked around town afterward. Tim got me a really pretty (and tasty) birthday cake too. =) It was a lavender and cream colored cake. hehe
Friday, we headed out for Chicago. More car problems. No need to explain more on this time too. hah We got to bond while waiting for a tow truck, haha. We spent some time with his brothers, sis-in-law, niece, & nephew. =) It was really nice to just chill after a hectic (and rainy!) day. Tim's niece and nephew are so precious. =)
Friday night, Tim & I hung out with Ria, Daisy, & Mike. Great people =) We had a great time (as always). And it definitely felt like a birthday weekend with them. We partied at their place and had yummy sushi and sangrias. They treated us for dinner at a restaurant called Mirai. It was a yummy sushi restaurant. They also surprised me with cute Hershey's cupcakes with sparkler candles! I loved it. It made me so smiley. =) I was really surprised and touched. The girls & Mike got me a Garmin GPS for my birthday. I was very surprised at that. It makes me so happy and so grateful to have such amazing friends. Seriously. =) I'm very very lucky to have incredible people in my life. I love them all.
Saturday, Tim & I actually went around town and talked to a priest at a really nice Greek Orthodox church. The priest was really nice, funny, and helpful. We still need to set a date for the wedding. !!! =) We had a meeting with a photography consultant. And we decided to choose them for our pictures. hehe We got one thing settled. heh Well, technically two. I bought my wedding dress before leaving for Chicago! =)
All in all, it was a really nice trip. And it's harder & harder to say bye to Timmy at the airport... =P
Us at Mirai - after eating sooo much delicious sushi and drinking yummy sangrias
September is really here.. and sometimes, in the morning, I can definitely feel Fall. It's so weird to think that I have already experienced Fall here in Salt Lake last year. Time really goes by quickly. I'm turning 25 this week and I'm pretty excited. I bought a last minute (ish) plane ticket to Chicago for my birthday weekend. I'm going to see Timmy and hopefully get a lot of wedding planning started. We're both really excited about getting married. It still hits me every now & then.. we're getting married. Hah. And the whole fiance word catches me off-guard too, sometimes. I'll be talking to coworkers or something about Tim and I would say boyfriend, err, fiance. heh It's funny. I love it.
On a different note.. (and I feel bad for not mentioning it at all yet) .. My sister had her baby boy on August 14th. So many things happened in the past 20 some days that I didn't get to post about it yet. Ug. =P His name is Ian and he's a cutie. I can't wait to meet him in person =) I can't believe he'll be a month old next week! My sister's birthday is coming up too.
Hello Ian!
Ate Lily & Baby Ian
I went to Michigan again this past weekend. I flew out on Thursday morning and came back to SLC on Sunday night. I even got to enjoy the Northwest World Club when I arrived on Thursday. My brother can get in, so I tagged along. Our flights came in at the same time in Detroit. =) I went out to Michigan for my niece Samara's 1st birthday celebration =) Samara is sooo precious and beautiful. She is such a sweet baby. I'm glad I got to spend a lot of time with her. I even changed her diaper! First one ever! =P I put it on backwards though, ooops.
It was a great mini vacation. It was really nice to see my family and friends and getting to spend some time with them. Especially with my news from last weekend, it was nice to chit-chat with my girl friends about it all, in person.
I hung out a lot with my family, of course. I got to check out the new outdoor mall Patridge Creek in Clinton Twp. It's a really nice mall, I like it a lot. I also hung out on Friday in Ann Arbor with Kat and Carla. It was pretty sweet to see Ann Arbor again, a week after Timmy proposed there. I didn't think I would see Ann Arbor so soon. hehe
Saturday was the party and it was definitely a party. My brother & sister-in-law went all out with a bounce-house Disney castle, a clown, and a cotton candy maker! The kids at the party were cute. The food was tasty as usual. And the weather was perfect. The forecast was supposed to be a rainy night but the rain didn't come until the party ended. Great timing!
I was really glad I bought a direct flight ticket. I was pretty tired throughout the whole 4 day weekend and my flight times were perfect.
But yeah, definitely a great weekend.
We're Engaged!
Tim & I got engaged this past Friday. We went to Michigan for our friend's wedding, but I didn't know Tim had extra plans for the trip. Tim & I drove to Ann Arbor to just walk around campus. We love Ann Arbor (now even more so!). We got bubble tea at Bubble Island. Yummy. Got cute sticker pictures taken at Pinball Pete's. Walked to the UgLi (Undergrad Library) where we first met years ago. We took pictures throughout our stroll because I'm a picture hound. Walked to the central part of campus, to the Diag and took more pictures with the M. Tim wanted to sit on the grass and just chill. We did, after me fussing about the dirt. They just aerated the soil and so I couldn't tell if it was dirt or something else. You know what I mean? =P heh Anyway, after sitting there and chatting for a bit - we started to get up and walk away... Then Tim said he couldn't find his phone and it probably slipped out of his pocket while we were sitting on the grass. We walked back to the spot and looked for his "lost phone" .. as I was looking down at the ground, I turned around and there was Tim on one knee. =)
We are so happy and excited about our engagement. Tim is my best friend and I'm so excited to spend our lives together.
After living in Utah for a little over a year and a half.. I finally decided to have an official dinner party at my apartment. I had seven friends come over for dinner on Saturday. I felt pretty excited .. because this was my first time really making everything and getting ready all on my own and for a good amount of people. I cleaned up the apartment as much I could.. and tried to make the food not too early but not too late either. I give my mother a lot of credit! She's very good at timing what she makes and getting things ready for a get-together.
I made pansit (Filipino noodle dish), green bean casserole ('cause it's easy), crab rangoons (imitation of couse! hehe), and this chicken wrapped in bacon dish from Harmon's(a nice grocery store nearby) that I just had to bake. I also served caesar salad, chips & dip, fruits with fruit dip, and some bread from Great Harvest Bread Company. I made some sweet tea and cucumber water too. Yum yum. I was pretty excited with how the food, that I actually cooked, turned out. I've never made pansit before, so I was worried in how it would taste. I'm far from a cook! But it's exciting to try.. sometimes. ; )
The picture turned out more reddish.. 'cause of my wall... anyway, that's some of the stuff I served
After dinner, Neil set up his RockBand. I love that game, more and more. It was nice of him to bring it over for entertainment. We all played that for awhile. It was fun =) I played the guitar mostly. My arms hurt now =P It was really nice to have people over at my place. It was kind of cute to play the official hostess. heh
We were really concentrating!
Posing for a girls group shot before Mel & Stephanie left
I had a full day of art and music yesterday. I went with Mike and Tom and their family to Park City to enjoy some art at the Park City Kimball Arts Festival! We walked around Main Street all day. I forgot where we ate for lunch though, it was pretty yummy though =P It was a brewery restaurant. I'll think of the name later.
I like Park City a lot. It's such a pretty area. The weather is a lot cooler there than in the Valley, so it feels really nice to walk around over there. I didn't get anything from any of the displays, but I ended up buying some onesies and a dress for my nieces and still-in-the-tummy nephew. =)
I liked a lot of the stuff I saw but here are some favorites:
I really liked those Japanese kanji sculptures. I liked the blue wall piece or the stand alone pieces that he had throughout his exhibit. Very cool stuff. I liked the pop art paintings. There were some really nice travel photography at the art festival. Made me want to travel to different places..
There were some figurines made of nuts & bolts. The artist made all sorts of people. Trombone players, golfers, knitters, snowboarders, etc. It was really nice. I took a picture of the trombone player for Tim, of course.
After a full day of the art festival, we headed to Deer Valley for a Utah Symphony performance. It was really cool. It was an outdoor performance and you just sit in the grass to watch them. We brought blankets, a cooler full of food and drinks. They sold food there too and it was really yummy. Many people brought picnic baskets and wine. You can tell people are really prepared for the night. It was nice. I saw a lot of people have these little metal swi
rl thing that you stick in the ground and it'll hold your wine glass. Very clever! I will definitely have to get some of those if I ever see them at a store. They're very handy for picnics out on the grass. =) The performance was all about Broadway music. They had some singers and a chorus that performed too. It was a beautiful night. The weather was perfect and the music was good. So relaxing. And the scenery of being amongst the mountains can't be beat either.
Group Shot = )
Me & Lily laughing on the floor
