happy new years

it's new years eve and i wake up to a white blanket of fluffy snow. normally i'd love it, but today i've got to drive down yonder again. fortunately it's not the snow storm we got a couple of weeks ago, but i'm praying it doesn't hinder our drive down.

having been up here for a while, i have to say that it's so nice. we sit around and play games, do puzzles, read.... it's just nice. i'm sure things will change as we get plugged into a church and get to know people... but for now. i'm really enjoying the quiet family time.

as i think back to this past year of 2009, it makes me really grateful for family time. we didn't have much of it the last 4 years. there have been some tough things we've had to deal with as a family. trials you might say. so it's not with sadness that we bid farewell to 2009 and welcome in the new year, praying for safely, protection, and God's grace to see us through the next year.

christmas recap

i love low key holidays with all the family gathered around! my sisters and their respective families all came over. my mom stressing out if we have enough food, making food and then eating food all day long. we did do presents in the morning but it was just a quick diversion from the real focus .... food :)

we usually go korean style for food for christmas. not sure why but that's always been the tradition. go turkey for thanksgiving and then korean for christmas and new years.

so the ladies and one of my sister's hubby sat around the table, making dumplings. we also made kim bap (think california rolls but the inside stuff in korean, not japanese) and soup. my dad wanted to have a contest for who made the prettiest dumpling. ha ha ha! he started getting very creative. the 3 point dumpling, the 4 point dumpling, the 5 point, and then the round about. ha ha ha! i think we just let him win :)

then we digested all the food down with push up poker. it didn't help that i don't really know how to play poker, but it's ok - i got a little arm workout out of it.

ahhh, isn't family grand?

friends

do you have a couple friend that has chemistry all the way around? the wives get along? the husbands get along and as a foursome, they totally hit it off? it's really rare for us, but we have a couple friend that we could easily spend hours on end with and it would just fly by just like that. today they came over for lunch and they stayed 11 hours... and at the end of it, i wished they could have stayed longer. last year, around this time, we were at their house for 10 hours. i don't think we've ever spend less than 3 hours together... we're still talking about taking a group vacation to PEI one day... maybe next year?!

we're going to miss them!!!
and of course, i forgot to take a picture! i even remembered to bring the camera upstairs and yet i still forgot! i think i need to glue it to my hips!

merry christmas

on the eve of christmas this year, we enjoyed a nice quiet drive down home. ahhh, home. where people know my name... ok i digress. and i get corny...

just am so grateful for the "gifts" in my life. thank you God for family. for salvation. for friends. for a roof over our heads. for the freedom to worship. for the feeling of safety - ok, maybe not so much these days up north but still, it's better than the middle east. thank you God. we celebrate and worship the birth, death, and resurrection of our Savior.

adjusting

we're up north for a week, then back down south for a few days of christmas with the family and then back north for a week and then back down south for a week and then... you get the picture. living up here for a week helps me to see what else i need to bring up and what i can do without and leave behind. it's my way of trying to simplify life. but it's not so great when you forget to bring some essentials and then have to run to vicky's to last you the rest of the week....

we didn't get nearly as much snow up here as down yonder (about 1/2) which is fine by my man! but i think our jewel was sad that she didn't have the yard space to go crazy. it didn't help that i didn't bring up her snow boots or any other snow gear either :( and of course, being consistent, i do not have our camera with us!

while there are several things i'm not fond of - the tax, the grocery stores, etc... my man gets home before 6! wow! that was so unheard of down south and it just fills my heart with glee that we can have dinner as a family at a normal hour! loving it!!

our jewel's also loving that she gets to see "her man" every night too!

head's up

i was so good about presents this year and thought that i was so on top of everything. well, i completely forgot about christmas cards. ok = i didn't forget, i just forgot to take the picture for the card. so here i am a week before christmas with no christmas cards or any pictures to do a last minute one. so head's up - there will be no christmas cards from us this year. maybe i'll send out a lame-o e-card if i can get a picture. but don't hold your breath.

don't cry little one

this is the first full week of our man away from us (as you know, he's up there in a state yonder and we're still down here)

our jewel was talking to my man before she went to bed and she cut her phone call short. she said "i have to hang up now because i have to go cry"... oh dear! breaks your heart!

she's taking this pretty hard. every day she asks when he's coming home and she counts down to fridays :(

bittersweet goodbyes

we went to our sunday school's christmas party tonight.
it was so sad to say goodbye to so many people. we've loved the fellowship at our church and the friendships we've made over the years. it's hard to say good bye.
we're grateful that family will bring us back into the area and we know we'll see many of the people again. but even if we don't, it's hopeful to know that we will see these people in heaven.

along 95

i've been driving up and down 95 in the process of our move and i have new respect for long distance drivers... i don't know how they can do it day in and day out. it's painful on the rear. but i guess they have the benefit of not having a 5 year old that has to stop to go to the bathroom every hour. honestly, i think that she's doing it because she's bored and wants to stretch her legs not because she has to go to the bathroom...

it's the first week without my man. irony or all ironies, without my man, i'm not as hungry :(

our jewel's pk4 class

a first for thanksgiving

for the first time in our family history we had all the in-laws of the 3 sisters over for thanksgiving. we had:
my parents, the 3 sisters, our respective spouses, my youngest sister's mother in law, my midddle sister's mother in law, my man's mother, father, grandmother and brother, and of course the two kids. that made 16. it was so much fun - except for a few hiccups. but overall so fun. everyone even played along with my "thanksgiving trivia quiz". i think they had fun - or at least pretended to. i got to know my sisters' mother in laws and that was fun. most people stayed for thanksgiving lunch and dinner. and the guys (and of course me for some of it) had a post lunch "feats of strength challenge".

black friday

the last time i did this probably about 5 years ago... i'm guessing. my man says i've gone once before while we've been married but i can't remember so i'm guessing 5...
anyhoo... i figured i'd go again. need to get some stuff at walmart to get ready for the move and figured that while i was there i'd get some gifts for cheap... well, i remembered why i don't like black friday. stuff really wasn't that cheap. (go a few days later and it's still the same price). the lines/ the parking/ the people - all mad crazy! seriously, one lady yelled at me in front of my kid. something about hitting her with the cart. in my defense, i did NOT hit her. i think i bumped her a little because she wasn't moving and well, on black friday, there are just too many people to be stopping. regardless. i told her she was being cranky and she needed to go home! i know. i didn't need to be condescending back, but if you're going to act like a 5 year old, then you're going to be treated like one. even my jewel commented she was quite rude! moving on. the only high light was that it wrapped up my christmas shopping so i'm done. that's right. i've gotten my man's family's gifts and the two kids in our family (my jewel and my nephew)... it's gotten a lot easier since we've changed the tradition to only the kids getting gifts. so after the trip to walmart at 7am, i said, enough is enough and we went home and closed the door to black fridays for at least 5 more years.
i still don't get cyber monday. i went on some of the sites that were advertising, but the sales really aren't that great. the goods aren't that great. and they have to do more than free shipping to entice this girl to shop.
now that the misery of the season is done, let's get on with the REAL reason for CHRISTmas.

Sweet home Virginia

As we get ready for our move, i start getting all nostalgic... thinking back on fond memories. things i'll miss. things like: (in no particular order)

1. chic-fil-a
2. running club
3. heart to heart talks with people during my runs
3a. there are two running partners i sometimes run with at the wee hours of the morning -
the guy is so sarcastic and i love that he's got the energy to bring on the witty comments during our 5am runs.
3b. i have one running partner who's so faithful about coming to my house and making sure i'm not murdered while trying to get in my daily run.
3c. i have one running partner who is my main cheerleader. she can outrun me on any day - even after she just ran 15 miles, she can still kick my butt when she meets up with me right after. but she makes me FEEL like i can outrun her. that takes humility and the ability to believe in people.
3d. i have several running partners who will drive hours to come cheer you on for your race. they'll even get up early and run ahead of time so that they can come to your race to cheer you on. that's commitment!
3e. i have several running partners who will email/ facebook/ whatever congrats for every race i've run (not just for me but for everyone else in the running group too).
3f. i can think of several running partners i've shared the gospel with who didn't really take to what i believe - but they didn't hold it against me and they still kept running with me.
3g. i have a running partner who once walked back 2 miles with me because i sprained my ankle and i couldn't run anymore. he gave up his run to see that i got back to my car safely.
3h. i have one running partner who gave up his 18 miler training run to run/walk with me because i was injured.
all of the above people, each of them, has contributed to my love of running. it's the people, not the sport that keeps bringing me back. i'll miss them all!
4. our small groups. we've had the privilege of being a part of 2 for the last few years. they are both amazing and we've learned so much from them. one family faithfully would cook us dinner anytime anyone was sick. and they're a family of 6 with lots going on in their lives!! one family has welcomed us into their home on several occasions and we've had the privilege of seeing a large family in action. it's awesome!
5. i'll miss my mentor friend deeply!
6. i'll miss our playdates. yes it was for the kiddos, but it was also for me.
7. i'll miss our church.
8. i'll miss our church friends.
9. i'll miss our home.
10. i'll miss a garage
11. i'll miss harris teeter and trader joe's.
12. i'll miss my running trails.
13. i'll miss sunday school.
14. i'll miss lower state taxes.
15. i'll miss our jewel's school.
16. i'll miss my parents.
17. i'll miss my sister.
18. i'll miss korean food.