Lazy Girl

Green Card has arrived

2009-07-09T12:22:00.002-04:00

After our trip to Alabama, I checked our mail and found my spanking new green card in our mailbox.. Excellent~~

Christmas in July (2009)

2009-07-09T12:20:00.001-04:00

Andy's family from his mom's side decided a few years ago that it is way too difficult for everyone to get together during Christmas holidays. The solution is to have our Christmas "mid-year". The last couple of years we all got together during the Memorial Day weekend in Texas. This year, Fourth of July fell on a Saturday and we all decided it'd be fun to do our Christmas on Fourth of July weekend instead.

I took two days off and Andy just finished his project. We rented a car and left town on July 1st, stayed overnight in Salem, Virginia and drove all the way down to Attalla, Alabama. Andy's aunt, Cheryl and her husband just built a new house on a 95-acre land. It was very nice and the yard was large enough they put up a valleyball net and horse shoe game setup. We had lots of Blue Bell ice cream, and stopped at Sonic every single day. I guess family gathering simply means "Lots of Food".

On Fourth of July, we had lunch and we sat downa and did our "Christmas" gift exchange. My sister-in-law, Raeann, got my name and she got me a board game off my Amazon wish list. It is called "Tickets to Ride". I played the game once during our YA retreat, and it was a lot of fun. It is even available on Xbox 360, too. Andy's cousin Hunter got Andy's name and being an artist that he is, he did three pictures based on our glamour shots. Hunter is actually going to New York to study at an art institute. Andy and I both look forward to his moving up north east.

After we all got our presents, of course we will have to do some group picture, and here they are..

On the Fifth, everyone had to leave and go home from the holidays. Andy and I did not leave Attalla until almost 10 in the morning. There was serious thunderstorm going the whole time we were in Alabama. The rain was not as bad when we got to Georgia. When we got to Tennessee, we saw a "Lodge" cast iron store off the highway and decided to stop. Man, what a stupid decision it was. The exit was actually to Pigeon Forge. After we pulled off the highway, we look across and saw the lines of cars waiting to get back on. The store was 4 miles off the highway, and the cars going the other direction was lined up all the way to the store. Andy and I decided since it'd be extremely difficult to get back on the highway, we'd just keep going toward Pigeon Forge and Gaitlinburg and through the Great Smoky National Park and see where that'd take us.

We drove through Gaitlinburg and then Pigeon Forge, and finally into the National Park. It was a lot of fun driving in the fog. It was about 33 miles to drive from Pigeon Forge, TN to Cherokee, NC, but it took us about an hour to get out of the mountain. We stopped in Asheville, NC to get some BBQ at Ed Boudreaux's Bayou Bar-B-Que (16 different types of BBQ sauce). Asheville in general is very interesting. Even though we got there on a Sunday, there were still a lot of people in the downtown area and lots of people with interesting hair and outfits... Just my opinion..

After dinner, we drove on to Johnson City, TN to stop for the night. The "future" I-26 was an interesting highway. Three-lane highway with serious uphill and downhill grade right in the mountains. There are also a couple of "Runaway truck ramps". It was a good thing that I only saw one 18-wheeler the whole time I was driving.

The next morning we got up pretty early and started driving back toward Virginia on I-81. Stopped at Apple House and had some lunch and got back home around 2pm.. We totally enjoyed our road trip, and hopefully next time we can actually do a longer trip, rather than only 5 days.

Removal of Conditions Part 2

2009-06-24T10:34:00.000-04:00

Wow.. It's been almost a year since I posted something on this blog. How lazy can I be?

Anyway, since last year, there are some new updates on my "Removal of Conditions" front. I got my biometrics test done and went with Andy to Fredericksburg to get some Sonics.

In February 2009, I got a notice from USCIS that my application for the "removal of conditions" was moved from the Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center. I was totally confused and googled online to see what exactly this is about. One great web site came up, which is Visa Journey. The web site also provide great information on any visa/immigration related issues. In the Forum I found out that a lot of people are going through the same thing as I am. So once I saw the posts of people with similar experience, I relaxed a little bit and started to wait patiently to see what would come up next.

In April 2009, I got a letter from USCIS notifying me the approval of my removal of conditions. That was exciting. Last week, I got an notice that my green card has been ordered and I should get it within 30 days. I just hope that it gets here before my driver's license expires. I am totally not looking forward to another couple of hours sitting in the DMV trying to get my license renewed.

So my next step is to apply for naturalization. How exciting~~

Removal of Conditions Part 1

2008-08-19T23:14:00.004-04:00

It's been awhile since I posted anything here. I guess it is because I get distracted easily. Anyway, I do have something that I want to talk about, hence the title.

Andy and I have been married for two years and half. About two years ago, we went to the field office of United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) in Fairfax for an interview for me to get my Conditional Permanent Residency, which was good for two years. To remove the condition, Andy and I have to apply for the "Removal of Conditions" within 90 days of the expiration date of the Conditional Permanent Residency (August 17, 2008).

In the Commonwealth of Virginia, one needs to prove his/her legal status in the US to get an identification card or driver's license. The length of the id/license is only as good as the status, for example, my driver's license would have expired on the day my residency expires. For the longest time, I wonder about how I will renew my license after my residency expires since I cannot renew my green card. I can only apply to remove the conditions.

So the two-year anniversary of my residency came up quickly. Andy and I submitted our application to remove the conditions late July, 2008 and about a week later, I got a receipt notice letting me know that my residency has been extended for a year, but with no dates. I assumed that the new expiration date would be August 17, 2009, since the old expiration date was August 17, 2008.

I took a long lunch break to visit our local DMV with all my documentations hoping the notice with no dates will be enough. After my number was called, the DMV lady examined the documents that I brought, and she had to walk away to talk to her supervisor. She came back telling me that the new license will only be good for a year based on the issue date. I thought, "OK, it's not too bad, August 13, 2009 is only 4 days from August 17, 2009". But when I got the actual card, the expiration date was July 21, 2009. Apparently, they used the receipt notice date as the day the one year extension started. I was not thrilled. I can only hope our application will not take that long to be processed.

The next step is the "Biometrics" - in short, fingerprints. My appointment with the USCIS is August 26, 2008. I will have to take a half day off in order to get to Alexandria in the middle of the day. Maybe Andy and I can take a mini-road trip to Fredericksburg for some Sonic..

Need Sleep

2008-06-24T13:25:00.005-04:00

I think I have been getting about 5-6 hours of sleep lately due to my habit of not wanting to go to bed at bed time. The Xbox 360 certainly is not helping the situation. Andy and I only have one game, but it's enough to keep us playing two hours every night right around bedtime. I actually fell asleep while we played last night. I think I want to get some shooting games to get my blood pumping so I won't feel so sleepy...

Summary.......

2008-06-18T17:30:00.001-04:00

Andy is more active in his blogging than I am. I simply can't think of much to write about. I guess I can summarize my life with some bullet points because that is pretty much the way I talk to my mother-in-law to keep her up to date on what Andy and I have been doing.

Andy, I and his parents plus my five other relatives all went to Taiwan for a two-week visit in March. What a production it was.. After the trip, my co-workers called me anti-social because I didn't talke for about two weeks at work. I guess I talked myself out during the two-week Taiwan Trip.

I bought a used PSP that I found on Craigslist. The story went this way, I talked to the guy who was selling the PSP and set up to meet in a public place. I did not have time to get cash so I had to stop by Safeway trying to get some money. Long story short, I still couldn't get enough money in Safeway and the scary thunderstorm was about to hit us, so I asked the guy to drive me to the bank to get the rest of the money. When Andy found out about my adventure, he wasn't too pleased about it since I took a ride with a stranger. The thing is, this was not the first time I hitched rides with strangers...

On Memorial Weekend, Andy and I flew down to Texas for Trey and Holly's wedding and our annual "Mid-Christmas" gift exchange. All I can say is, it was really hot and I stopped at Sonic almost every single day....

Andy and I went to the new Nationals Ball Park for free not just once, but twice. I also got to go again with my office outing and got a Ryan Zimmerman Bobble head. I guess working in my office still does have its perks.

I won an Xbox 360 Elite system in a Microsoft Live Officespace Sweepstake. That was pretty cool.. Andy and I got the Legos Indiana Jones game for the system and it looks great on our TV.

My co-worker Ashley went with me yesterday to see a prescreening of the musical-turned-movie, Mamma Mia, at Tyson's. Great movie and great music. It was worth waiting for in the wrapped around line at the theater.

I guess I do have a lot of things to say.... I may have more to say later because our summer seems to become very busy...

What's going on?

2007-09-24T20:20:00.000-04:00

Life seems to settle to a pattern of going to work, eating, cleaning, doing laundry, going to church and going to small group. I miss the days that I can just go somewhere without having to worry about my obligations and daily chores.

Since we came back from Taiwan, we spent five days in Texas, four days in New York, and half a day in Fredericksburg. When did we become so boring? We are probably too young to complain about life weighing us down, but it seems to be true. It's getting harder to spontaneously drop everything and go on a road trip.

Living in the richest area in the country does not help. God says, "You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour." I try hard to not think about what I do not have, but it is a struggle.

Well, it is just life.

Home Sweet Home

2006-12-19T21:55:00.000-05:00

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

2006-12-08T01:47:00.000-05:00

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

2006-01-30T22:00:00.000-05:00

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. :)

Wedding Updates

2005-12-06T02:25:00.000-05:00

My parents are coming in from Taiwan on the 21st of December, just in time for Christmas. My uncle invited them up to New Jersey for Christmas, so I will probably be left alone on Christmas Day with a bunch of babies from the Nursery at Church. After the nursery duty, I will head over to my cousin's for Christmas for the babies' and toddler's gift exchange. Well, that's off the subject. Back to my topic.

Yes, even though I was not doing much for the wedding, the planning seems to be moving along anyway. I did not know that I have to have my undergarments ready when I go dress fitting, so I had to go shopping for it with my friend Amy before she had to fly home for Thanksgiving. I took my dress to the seamstress the day after Thanksgiving for the alteration. Not sure why I decided to go right after Thanksgiving since I tend to expand that day. Amazing enough, the dress fit very well. The only areas that need to be altered are the straps and the train.

Move along.. I got my Chinese Dress in the mail today. It was pretty risky to buy clothes online since you cannot try it beforehand and see if you look good in it. Before I decided to buy the dress, my mom and sisters looked at the dress and wondered about the size and we discussed for several days whether to get the dress and if yes, what size to get, since, no offense to Chinese dress makers, the sizes on the tag are not always corresponding to the actual sizes of the dress. Last week, I finally decide that I had to make the purchase because there was only 35 days left till the wedding. After I got it today, I tried it on with my red shoes. It fits perfectly. Amazing.

Move along again. Mom called today to ask me how many bridesmaid I have because she needs to bring the flower holders for me and my bridesmaids. Apparently she has been apprenticing with one of her friends who is very very good with flower arranging and decorating. My mom even makes an appointment to practice her decorating skills at a local church in town before she comes to the States. She is also going to bring the flower girls' baskets and to try to make their outfits.

Hmm.. I am now just rambling on about nothing, therefore I will stop for now. Will try not to let my laziness conquer me.

Two Things:

2005-11-21T19:33:00.000-05:00

Andy made me do this.

Two Names You Go By: Ann, Little cloud

Two Parts of Your Heritage: Chinese (Mainland) and Chinese (Taiwan)

Two Things That Scare You: Japanese Ghost Movies and mouse

Two of Your Everyday Essentials: emails & television

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now: Red boots and contact lenses

Two of Your Favorite Bands or Musical Artists: Marvin Gaye & Mercy Me

Two (Three) Things You Want in a Relationship: Trust and Respect (Faithfulness)

Two Truths: I am short and God is Tall

Two Things You Hate (or rather dislike with a passion): people who don't do their job and people who can't drive

Two Physical Things that Appeal to You: Really long and curly eye lashes, Andy's eyes

Two of Your Favorite Hobbies: reading & knitting (when I have time)

Two Things You Want Really Badly: 32 inch flat panel HDTV & all access digital cable

Two Places You Want to go on Vacation: New Zealand & England

Two Things You Want to Do Before You Die: Own a house (or many) & Buying a BMW for my dad

Two Ways that you are stereotypically a Chick/Guy: needing different shoes for different occasions

Two Things You Normally Wouldn't Admit: I am too open a book.. People probably want me to shut up if I keep talking

Two people I would like to see take this quiz: Andy and Ben

Laziness

2005-11-21T14:30:00.000-05:00

Apparently people are still checking my blog to see if I have anything interesting to say, about the wedding. I hope I am not becoming one of those "Quitters" that Bruce talked about in the service yesterday. Maybe just a lazy bum.

I may not be the laziest person on this planet, but I am definitely high up in ranking. Amongst all my friends, I can't think of anyone else as lazy as I am. Andy can testify my laziness because I always make him go get things that are probably right in front of me and I refuse to move and reach for them. Or sometimes he gets tired of sitting inside and doing nothing and will encourage me to go outside with him to do something. Of course, the "whiner" appears, "Do I have to?" This is just physical aspect of my laziness.

My second major laziness is to keep in contact with people. This is the aspect that I am trying really hard to improve because once you lose contact with your friends, it's hard to get back in touch. Just take my school friends for example, growing up in Taiwan, I did not go from K to 12 with a lot of the same people because we switch school at every level: kindergarten, elementary, junior high, and high school. I lost contact with a lot of them because I didn' t try to keep in touch. My mom and some college friends actually are the ones that keep me up to date on some of the people that I went to school with. The worst demonstration that I have for this laziness is even my mom is complaining about not hearing from me for months and she has to call just to find out if I am all right. Yet, as I said, I am trying to be better so my friends will not think I have disappeared.

Anyway, I think I am back on the wagon, and Andy will probably try to keep me there and make me write everyday.. :D

Wedding Invitation

2005-09-27T18:23:00.000-04:00

Right after Andy and I have decided to get married, I started compiling a list for all the guests that we want to invite. The list started at 60 people, and has now grown double of that. I am not exactly sure how, but apparently there are a lot of people we find very important to us in our lives.

Our family
I have a huge extended family. Some of them are in Taiwan, and some of them are in the US. I think the family in the US probabl takes up one third of the guest list. Most of them live along the east coast, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia. Some other ones live in Texas. When I called and told them that Andy and I are getting married, everyone was thrilled, and promised that they will mark their calendar and try their best to come. Of course, my parents are coming to share the special day with me. I hope they won't feel too cold in January.

Andy has a smaller family than mine, but they too were very excited about our upcoming wedding. Andy's parents even had a Labor day meeting with all the extended family in the Dallas area to talk about the travel and lodging arrangement for the trip. From what I understand, Andy's immediate famil will arrive the Thursday before the wedding, and his grandpa and uncle and aunt will drive up from Alabama around the same time. Not so sure about his paternal grandparents yet, but an invitation is definitely necessary so they won't feel that we forget about them.

Friends and Mentors from Tech
Andy and I both spend more than 4 years in Lubbock, TX, and over 2 of those years we spent there as a couple. We definitely would like to invite some of the friends and mentors that have some type of impact in our lives. Dr. M, my graduate advisor, is like my sorgate mother in Lubbock, and she also took Andy in as another child after we started dating. Job and Jenice, the Sunday class teachers, opened their house and heart to the broke and single students that we were, and provided spiritual guidance that we needed. Stephanie, one of the friends I've known the longest in Texas. She is always cheerful and will alway be there when you need her.

There are also many people that we got to know and become close friends with. Szelyn was my RA and then my roommate. Her sunny and open personality always cheers me up. Anchalee was my across the hall neighbor, and then my roommate. Her caring personality always comforts me. Sarah and Chaohua were my companions to speak Chinese at school. So many times we were just happily chatting away while working, and Dr. M stepped out of her office wondering what we were talking about.

Andy met Bellah when he was involved in Tech Campus Crusade. Bellah was Andy's Ultimate frisbee buddy and also a spiritual leader. However, I think what Andy like most about Bellah is his Smoker. Bellah used to work in the kitchen in County Line (the best BBQ joint in Lubbock). and he makes killer briskets and ribs.

Friends from FXCC
Although Andy and I have only attended FXCC regularly since January of this year, we've made a lot friends there. Jeff and Ashley always open their house for us (the game cube in the basement for me especially). Jeff (Coco) is like a brother that I never had (or wanted), and his lovely wife Laurie is like a little sister that I do have (but I don't fight with). Ben provides all the advices that Andy the law student would like to know. Katherine and Leann can provide help in planning anything you want to relieve your stress. Sammie and Jill provides a lot of love and supports for anyone who needs them.

Please forgive me if I miss anyone, but there are just so many of people that constantly enrich Andy and my spritual life.

Other Friends
Andy has a very special friend who knew him since he was in Junior high. She was his best friend for the longest time (until recently.. :D) .

Andy and I started to get to know Amy (a friend from Taekwondo) when we bumped into each other at the bookstore. Now we hang out almost every week. How can I leave her out of the wedding?

So many others, so little space...

Anyway, Andy and I have finally decided on the wording of the invitation, and I will start working on getting everything ready to be sent out in October. Wish me luck!

Wedding Planning Update

2005-09-01T22:09:00.000-04:00

YEAH!! We've finally chosen our photographer. Actually there are two of them. Last Sunday morning after church, Andy and I headed over to Arlington for a meeting with the photographers three weeks after we first contacted them. I first found out about them on a web site, and I was really impressed with the design of the web site, and the photographs. http://www.innovaphoto.com One of our graphic designer friend looked at the web site and was pretty impressed with it. I almost gave up on them because we couldn't seem to find a time that all of us can meet. Because I was so impressed with the web site, I decided to try and make an appointment to talk to them and then make our decision.

The couple are very young, and they were very organized. They do business out of their apartment and they showcase their products and techniques with several large size and well-designed photos. They first asked us questions about the wedding and then showed us some albums and photo DVD that they did for other couples. After that, they gave us a list of their packages and products and a contract to look over.

In total, Andy and I visited 4 different wedding photography studios. I like some of the services each of them provided, but only this photography studio provides the options that Andy and I can pick and choose to fit our budget, and pictures with good qualities. Any reader is welcome to go to their web site and look at the photos and albums they provided and let me know what you think in you comment. I believe I am not making a mistake.

Oh, another update is that I got a phone call from David's Bridal. MY WEDDING GOWN IS HERE!!! :D

Office Life

2005-08-27T02:08:00.000-04:00

Today marked the 3rd week that I've worked in the IT consulting firm. Answering phones are getting easier, but still distracting when I try to finish up resumes. I am getting really fast in handling resumes. I can get resumes done in less than 20 minutes if they are not too complicated. After reviewing these resumes, I found that so many of them are highly intelligent IT professionals, but they simply can't spell or type. When I see typos after typos, it gives me headache. I would expect resumes to be the most basic but powerful tool for a person to impress their prospective employers, and typos can definitely turn them off.

I do wish the company will at least arrange a temporary seat with computer and email address for me because I am currently migrating from one person's seat to the next, whoever is not using their computer for a moment. If I have my own seat, I don't have to worry about interrupting other people's job or invading their personal space when they are not there. Next week I will continue to work there. I guess I'll just take it week by week. My supervisor in the company seems to like me, and the other admins seem to be appreciative of my help. I take that as a good sign.

Anyway, there are some other perks working in this office. They have a nice coffee machine, constant supply of soft drinks and bottled water. Also, since I started working there three weeks ago, there has been three office parties. They ordered from some nice places and did a pot luck. I hope that they will continue to have parties and I won't have to bring lunch to work.. :D

Today, the staff in the office actually threw a wedding shower for one of the office managers, who got married in June. Some of the staff members brought in very nice food, like, sun-dried tomato dip, BBQ chicken dip, and fried chicken wings. Since I didn't take a break until they had the party, I stayed in the party for almost 1 hour. That means that I ate for about 30 minutes. Maybe having party every week is not such a hot idea if I want to fit into my wedding dress.

Talking about wedding, we are still searching for our wedding photographer. We made an appointment to go into Arlington to visit a studio after church. I hope this will be the end of the search. We've visited three photographers so far. I like some of the features from each of them, but it is hard to decide which features we'd sacrifice for the other ones. I hope Sunday's visit will give us additional options or at least let us make our final choice.

Oh well, it's been a long week, and it's time for a little bit video game.. :D Until next time...

Decoration

2005-08-21T23:19:00.000-04:00

On one trip to an art supply store with Amy, we noticed the origami paper in the store, and she suggested that I can make my "famous" paper cranes as the main decoration for the wedding. At first I was not particularly enthusastic, but I thought about it, it is actually an excellent idea since folding paper cranes is my trademark to those who know me. I'll just buy some nice paper with Japanese print, and fold the cranes til my hands get cramps.

I haven't started on the cranes yet, but I've started to make paper stars as confetti for the wedding. Everyone thinks that I am crazy, and they are right. I'll just take my time making them, since there is still... how many days? 4 month and 15 days until the wedding.. :P

Updates

2005-08-18T03:42:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile since I posted last. No excuse other than just being lazy. Since my last post, many things have happened. I went dress shopping with Leann and Katherine, and I really appreciated their help. It was really fun to try on different dresses and envisioned what I will look like for the wedding. The day we went dress shopping, I also got a phone call from the temp agency that I got a temporary assignment to work in an IT recruitment firm.

I was not too happy the first day I was at the job because I felt out of place and I had to answer phones. I was really crabby that day and Andy and our friend got the full blast of Ann's meanness (although they probably experience it often before). It took me two days to get used to the phone answering and the pace of the job. Now I am still not too thrilled with the phone part of the job, but I am happier with it and feel a lot more comfortable. I am not sure how long the job is going to last, but I'll just take it one day at a time, I guess.

One day during my late-night search for useful wedding related web sites, I decide to look up Internet telephone and I found Skype. I knew about it for a long time, but I've never tried it. It is amazingly cheap. It only cost about 2 dollars for me to talk to my mom in Taiwan for an hour and half. I called them two days in a row. That reminds me, I need to call home again soon.

Well, I'll try to keep up with the blog, but now I'd better go to bed so I can get up in time for work in the morning.. :D

Minneapolis Trip

2005-07-26T09:27:00.000-04:00

My friend Sarah was getting married, and I couldn't dream of missing her big day. We met at Texas Tech, and we shared a lot of our life stories and experienced others before I moved away. Even though we are thousands miles apart, I still keep her in my mind.

Early in the morning on the 21st, poor Andy took me to the National Airport for my trip to Minneapolis. This was a very nice trip. I got to see DC in the early morning, and I saw the monument and the Capitol. I couldn't resist the opportunity to take a picture of the Ariel view of the great city.

The trip was uneventful, and when I got to the rental car company, I was upgraded from a compact to a full-size Taurus. The hotel room was really nice too, King-size bed with my own fridge.. :D Since I was one of the only 7 out-of-town guests, Sarah made sure that we were all well taken care of. She made dinner the first night, and lunch the next. Rehearsal dinner was at this fabulous local Italian restaurant (southern immigrant family style). The food was wonderful. Pity that I forgot to take any picture of the actual food, but I'll post a picture of the actual restaurant and our waiter, who is very very knowledgeable about all the food on the menu. Quite impressive.

The day before the wedding, I decided to do a little outing of my own. At first I wanted to go to downtown Minneapolis, but the parking for the light rail was a little far and the area didn't seem very safe. I detoured toward "Fort Snelling" state park located just a couple of miles from the airport. It was a very nice park, and Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers run through the park and meet at the tip of Spike's Island. Another neat thing about the park is the Historical Fort Snelling Site was actually restored. At the outside of the gate to Fort Snelling, you are in 2005, but once you get inside, everything is set in the 1820s. I met the school teacher, the clerk for the surgeon, one soldier, several guards, wives of the soldier. Really quite interesting.

The guards

At the guard house

At the day of the wedding, the sky looked bright and the weather seemed to be pleasant. However, 1 hour and half before the wedding, the sky turned black, and the rain and the wind started to blow. I had to go pick up some of the professors from their hotel, and I was really concerned about how the wedding should proceed if the rain and the wind continued.

I got to the hotel, the rain let up a little, but when we got to the Rose garden, the rain started to pick up again. Sarah apparently was really worried because she called everyone that has a cellphone. The problem was, no one picked up their phone. The good thing was, she didn't have to wait for too long, just about the scheduled starting time, the sky started to clear up. The rain and the wind stopped. The temperature was just right, not too hot, not too cold. The wedding started around 1. The ceremony was small and intimate. Both the bride and the groom were very very happy.
The Groom, bride, and me

Taekwondo

2005-07-19T23:27:00.000-04:00

I think I am getting old... I love doing Taekwondo, but I seem to start hurting myself a lot more recently. I think it started from that time we did the half head-stand. I hurt my neck, and I couldn't move it for several days. Then when it got better, I decided to go to Six Flags, and you can see what that'd do to my poor neck. Then not long after that, I was starting a no-contact sparring with another lady, I fell and rolled on my left ankle. Not a smart move, and she didn't even touch me.. :( So very pathetic.. The left ankle is still acting weird, and today I did something to my right ankle. I guess very soon I will not be able to walk.. :D Andy will have to carry me everywhere.. He'll love that..

Overall, I still love Taekwondo. I get to know many people who also enjoy this Korean sport. We start to get to know each other a little better, and we stay in the parking lot outside of the dojo long after the class is over and chat the night always. We can whine together and get hurt together. The instructors sometimes make fun of us, and sometimes wish us just concentrate harder, but we still like them..

Taekwondo is not something you learn to beat people up (that may apply to me only), but to learn the discipline and the ways to lead a productive life. It also provides a venue to get some of your stress and frustration about your days out of your system. If the instructors work us hard enough, it's an excellent workout.

It's a pity that I won't be going to class until Monday, but I hope I will enjoy my friend's wedding in Minneapolis. Just keep dreaming about my forms, kicking and breaking techniques in the mean time, I guess. hahaha

Thoughts about Small Group

2005-07-18T00:16:00.000-04:00

I am relatively new to the small group system of my church, but I am so happy after I started to get more involved with the group. I am not a person who like to initiate conversations to new people so I appear to be distant and solemn. My ex-roommate said that she thought I was scary before she got to know me better because I never smiled.

I guess I am just guarded around new people. Opening myself up to strangers makes me feel extremely vulnerable, and I don't like it very much. However, once I move pass that stage, I become extremely open, and I talk about things that people normally don't want to know or talk about.. :D I'll just say sorry in advance to my new friends, BEWARE!

Getting back to the small group, after meeting with the small group regularly, I start to get more comfortable with everyone in the group, and I was very happy that all my small group members were there for my baptism to show their support and join me afterwards to celebrate my rebirth and birthday.

I also got the chance to talk to individuals or couples outside of small group time, and I really enjoy it. I treasure the new friendships that I found and I look foward to the new friendships that I am going to develop in the future.

Wedding Planning

2005-07-17T08:58:00.000-04:00

I never thought that I am going to be a wedding-obsessed bride, but I am gradually turning out to be one. What a frightening thought. Growing up in Taiwan, weddings never seem to involve so many different aspects of planning. Hmm... I may be wrong. They just involve other different aspects of planning. Maybe I can put them to comparison side by side..

Wedding Date
US: Usually on a Saturday. Other days of the week may be considered, but not as common.
Taiwan: Any time during the week. If during the week, it will be at night.

Wedding Planning period
US: In general, 6 months to 1 year seem to be a pretty good bet to make sure everything is available

Taiwan: In general, you can plan a wedding in 1 or 2 months because you probably can get the opening slots for everything

Wedding Location
US: Everywhere, i.e. churches, parks, jumping out of a plane, in a barn, home.....

Taiwan: Anywhere you can have a public wedding, i.e. in front of your house, court, church, restaurants...
I guess this is pretty similar

Wedding traditions
US: Nowadays, traditions can be broken. It really depends on what the bride and/or the groom wants, or what the budget allows.

Taiwan: It depends what types of family are involved. My sister who got married last year married into a very traditional Taiwanese family. There are many traditions that bride's family needs to follow. It involved a chicken figurine that was made out of gold, and some other stuff. My family is pretty new age compared to the groom's family in these matters so we had to learn a lot of the traditions to avoid offending the other family..

Wedding ceremony
US: Usually an officiant performs the wedding, gives an encouragement speech, and recites the "Dearly Beloved" passage to the bride and groom to repeat. Then comes the final announcement. Of course, there is the signing of the marriage license.

Taiwan: A court wedding probably resembles an usual US wedding. If you have the wedding anywhere else, usually the groom or the bride invites a VIP to be the main figure of the wedding and give a long speech. You don't even have to know the VIP, as long as they agree to be part of your wedding. That brings prestige to your wedding. After this main speech, there may be several other ones. One good thing is, you may be able to eat while you listen, which means you won't be listening to any of it if you are eating... :D

Wedding Reception
US: Usually happens after the wedding ceremony, and usually the most costly item for your wedding budget. The reception site may need to be booked up to 1 year ahead. It depends on the area and the bride and the groom, different types of food are provided. It can be simple hor o’derve, sitdown dinner, or I-want-to-get-to-the-food buffet.

Taiwan: Usually it's sitdown meal type of reception. If the wedding is held in a restaurant, usually you can eat and drink while watching the wedding takes place. If the wedding is held in front of groom's home, they have catering going and you can still eat and drink while watching the wedding takes place..

Wedding Expenses
US: Traditionally the bride's family takes care of the bill for the wedding, and the groom's family takes care of the rehearsal dinner. Nowadays, if both the bride and groom are working, they sometimes will try to take care of everything themselves.

Taiwan: Traditionally the bride's family takes care of the bills for the engagement announcement and the "Happy Cake" that accompanies the announcement. The groom's family takes care of everything that happnes on the wedding day. As in the US, nowadays, the bride and groom may try to take care of everything themselves if they can.

I am not sure how it's going to happen for our wedding. The traditions will collide.. Pray for things to work out all right for us.

I am just happy that all my friends from church, and my family that are close have already offer to help, only if I can pull myself together in the inital planning...

Grand Opening of the Basement

2005-07-14T12:44:00.000-04:00

Welcome! Welcome!

Thanks for coming down my basement. I guess I start this because everyone seems to have a blog going here and there. I talk a lot, but I don't usually sit down and write out things that I did not say (Andy would say, "You have something that you are not saying? Nooooo, I don't believe it.")

I will try not to make this blog too whiny.. :D