New Year 2009

What a year 2008 was! My parents ended their 6 week visit and headed for home on December 27th. It was so weird having the house all to ourselves again and I think the puppy misses them dearly too. I think it was overall an enjoyable visit, we visited one set of in-laws in Alabama and another in Savannah and Dad even went for a hunting trip in Georgia!

I think all that traveling and excitement finally caught up with me and I caught a cold on new year's eve... hence our plans to go see the fireworks were abandoned and I was in bed at 8pm with snuggly socks, Sudafed, tissues and the puppy snuggling up to me. The Hubby was enjoying one of my Christmas presents;


I've been wanting one of these for the longest time but have been debating if we'd be disciplined enough not to be totally consumed playing this but so far, so good... we've had so much fun together! Plus I am thinking that the Fit will be beneficial as part of my post-natal weight loss care :) Hubby went out and got the Star Wars game as well and the boy gets a good workout!


The Puppy is asking to play too.... The dear girl thinks that her duckie is Wii-capable as well! She's too cute not to post a pic :O)

Christmas this year was spent in Tybee Island and Savannah, Georgia. My lovely mother in law got us this lovely chalet on Tybee


View from our chalet, Tybee Island, Georgia


Sharing a quiet stroll on the beach - Tybee Island, GA


Sunshine in December, priceless!


Baby bump??? More like boulder! Touring Fort Pulaski.


The Cathedral, downtown Savannah


Make-believe shipmates??? Nah!


The folks having a great time at a wonderful Scottish pub. We had the yummiest scottish eggs, shepard's pie and meat pies here!

What a wonderful time it was, just spending time with family and enjoy all the loving that comes with it. May 2009 be a year full of wonderful surprises and memorable moments. Whatever it is, we are so thankful and blessed to have and to love those we know. May it be a good one for you as well, friend.

Halloween Party

We just got invited to a dress up Halloween party by one of our neighbors and I'm at a loss as to what to dress up as! Suggestions so far are;
i) Pumpkin (so original right???)
ii) Nun (by the hostess who thinks a pregnant nun is hilarious... ummm I think I'll pass)

So it's back to the drawing board, just have to keep pondering (in between breaks from study and work of course!). About this whole study thing, it IS so true that the older you get, the harder it is to focus and this is by all means nothing to do with age. It seems that the older I am, the more things we have going on... last year was the wedding, this year the baby and I HOPE there is NO next year!

I am beginning to detest sitting with my books as the beautiful days pass on by and my poor neglected Hubby passes time alone upstairs either watching tv, strumming on his guitar, DIY projects or playing with the puppy. It's time like these that you'd find me going upstairs every so often with really no reason but to escape studying and re-join life.

So I'm praying hard that I can focus and just get this done... it doesn't help that I missed passing by 1 point last year... argh! Next year, I want to enjoy my non-work hours watching my baby grow, be wifey to the Hubby and just spend time doing the things I enjoy. If that's not motivation enough, I'm not sure what is! I guess what's left is I need to remind myself of that.

Back to the books!

Thanksgiving 2007

Thanksgiving this year was somewhat odd... it is the first year that it was just the both of us, last year, we had a housefull of people, with my parents and brother visiting from Malaysia and Jonathan's mother and her husband coming in from Savannah, GA... we also had several neighbors who did not have family nearby to spend Thanksgiving with, we always try to invite people who are alone over the holidays to share it with us because I can only imagine how awful it must be to not have anyone to share the holidays with!

In any case, I was not to be detered, I wanted to keep the tradition going even if it were just the two of us! As with last year, my planning/timing was horrendous, dinner was served at 6 pm! I cooked a 11 pound turkey with apple and sage sausage dressing, potato gratin and apple pie for dessert, since it was only the 2 of us, I did not bother too much with balancing the ratio of carbs/protein/fiber etc :). It all turned out yummy but since I am not a fan of turkey, we had tonnes of leftover... I already have plans to make kiam chye buoy [hot-sour soup with mustard greens] with the turkey carcass... yummy! :)



Food talk aside, Thanksgiving has always been a time of reflection and gratitude for me, a time to recap the year's events and to remind myself of the bountiful blessings I have been showered with. I am guilty of allowing the business of career and daily living to put me into auto-pilot and I sometimes forget to take the time out of life to think about all the beautiful things in life and to be thankful for them because if I did it more often, I think I would realize how fortunate I really am. I sometimes catch myself in the midst of grumbling during early morning rush hour just really notice how beautiful Nashville is, especially where we live as there is lush greenery in abundance everywhere and with the brilliant crimson/gold/bronze everything is during the autumn, it seems to be picture perfect.

I am very thankful for the love of my fiancé which in itself is so complete and all encompassingand is based on honesty, equality, intellectualism, romance and playfulness.

I am very thankful that I am able to love and that the love is returned to me.

I am very thankful that I am healthy and that the people I love are healthy.

I am very thankful that I have dreams to follow and goals to strive for.

I am very thankful for the beauty of nature - magnificent hills, the colorful leaves, the smell of jasmine in our front yard, the setting sun, the beautiful harvest moon

Everywhere I look I see the wonders of nature and I feel so proud to be a small part of it

I am very thankful for all the good people in the world

I am very thankful that I have good friends

I am very thankful to be alive in a time when we can make the world a better place to live in

Ah… life, it truly many splendid things!

I hope that each and every one of you had a happy and safe Thanksgiving!