Home Sweet Home

On December 20, 2006, I got on the airplane to take me back to my home country that I have not visited for four and half years. It was a long trip, but it is worth the time and money to go home to see my family.

I got to the airport at about 9:30 in the morning and patiently waited for my flight at 12:20pm. The flight was long and uneventful and I barely slept at all. My plan was to stay awake most of teh whole trip so when I got back to my parents' house I could simply pass out. I changed plane in Tokyo, Japan and did not have much time to spare between flights. The plane got to Taiwan right on time and I waited for almost an hour before I got my suitcase. I called my mom because she said she was going to wait for me in the airport, but found out that she was still at the hospital. My nephew, Little Whale, went up to the hospital for his regular treatment for Pompe Disease, but started to have a temperature and the doctor decided to keep him in the hospital for observation.

I guess I still knew my ways around, I bought the bus ticket and two and half hours later, I was back at my hometown. It was late at night and I still see some people awake out and about getting some midnight snack. At that moment, I knew I was finally home.

End of Year Summary

Wow... It's been almost a year since I wrote anything on my blog. You have to admire how lazy I really am. It's been a good year even though there were some ups and downs.

God has blessed me and Andy to have a wonderful wedding with our close family and friends by our side. I was also blessed to only have to miss work for three weeks during my status transition period. We moved during my immigration application period and we were blessed that our applications didn't get pushed back due to the move. Moving is never fun, but so many of our friends showed up to help us empty the house and move us into our first apartment. More than 10 cars showed up to help.

Six months after we submitted our application for my immigration process, we received a notice to go in for our interview. The immigration officer was very friendly and quickly put our minds at ease. Even though we had to go back to drop off additional paperwork, a couple of weeks later, I received my green card. What a blessing!

Not until I received my green card have I considered going home to Taiwan for a visit. The last time I went home was in May 2002. Because of the immigration application, I could not go home when my paternal grandfather's health started to fail or to his funeral. A couple of months after that, my maternal grandmother had a clogged artery and had to go through the bypass surgery. I really want to go home and finally the green card allows me to go home to see my family that I have not seen for 4 and half years.

I now have two nephews. One of them lives in Taiwan, and the other one lives in Japan. After talking with Andy and deciding to spend our Christmas holidays in Taiwan, my mom told my brother-in-law in Japan that my sister has to come back to Taiwan and see her big sister. This means that I am going to see both my nephews during my trip. I am so excited.

I will try my best to keep up my blog, but you see the title of my blog, I am a "lazy" girl....

Wedding Story - Part 1 The Food

Wow... It's been over a month since I last posted. My laziness just can't seem to go away. No matter what, I am now a married woman. I am not sure how it happened, but everything seemed to fall into place for my wedding (of course with my loyal maid-of-honor's help). Since there are so many areas to cover, Andy suggested that I break it down into several posts. So here comes part 1 - the food.

The week before the wedding, I took time off from work to take care of every last-minute thing, like, hmm...., the food. Andy and I considered my favorite Chinese restaurant in Rockville, Maryland, but decide to drop because it is too far and they probably won't deliver to Virginia. Then we wanted to get food from Wegman's because they have both American and Chinese styles of food. We never made a final decision. After my parents arrive, they wanted something not to shabby for the guests, so I also considered Chicke'n'Out's Catering, but the decision just kep dragging on. Finally on the day of the Tech Bowl game (sorry we lost to Alabama), after days of nagging from my dad, Andy and I stopped at the Chinese restaurant and asked them if they will deliver for Saturday to Virginia. The lady said sure and that the chef will come up with a menu and let me know the price. After we came back to Virginia, very soon she called back with two menus and quotes. The menus and quotes were more than satisfactory and we decided right then and there for them to cater for the wedding.

The only problem is that the lady from the restaurant said they couldn't deliver the food until 1:30pm, which would be really kind of late if we also needed to set up the food. However, a couple of days later, I (actually it' was Szelyn, my maid-of-honor) called the restaurant to get the final rate for the food, the owner asked what time they should deliver, I said that it would be best for the food to arrive around 1 pm, and he said no problem. In the end, the food arrived just about the perfect time. Other than the spicy dish, I think everyone really enjoyed the food. Andy and I also got to taste our wedding food. According to many others, they didn't get to eat any food at their own wedding. I am grateful that we did. :)