It's almost the end of Feb... whaaaaat????

It's hard to believe February is almost over. But that means spring is a-coming!!!!

After 5 months of living here.. I declare that I really do like MN. Minnesotan winters really aren't as bad as everyone claims. The in-laws and coworkers all tried to freak me out by telling me I needed to heated jackets and long johns and snowpants... but pffffft. The only new things I got this winter are my boots and a warmer pair of gloves. Some people are just pussies. Ha!

I'm kidding. The cold doesn't bother me that much because I typically only spend 10 minutes outside a day, just long enough to run from the parking lot into heated buildings. On sunny days though, I spend up to a half hour playing out in the snow with the kids (and catching up on my lost childhood ;)). IT IS SUPER FUN. Now I understand what Troy means about MN having enough snow to do snow things, because in Indiana we get a couple of inches and its not enough to do fun snow things like go snowmobiling, make snowmen, snowangels, snowballs...

Not that I actually make snow angels of course. I worry too much about getting my clothes dirty and wet. I just watch the kids do it -- oh to be a happy carefree kid! ;))

Life is going very well. :)))) The fiance is recently employed - WHEEEEEE!!!!! We went out to Fridays to celebrate yesterday. As a special treat we got a full 3-course meal each, I got a tropical mojito, he got a white russian, and I even let him get a cherry coke! HAHA. Anyway, either the fiance is extremely talented or he somehow voodooed the interviewer, because he went to JUST ONE interview, got called back to a 2nd interview two days later, and the day after that got offered the job! I am impressed.

Soooo he's starting work soon and I am saaaaaad. No more hanging out on weekends and him doing the chores! He works loooong days Wed-Sat as a house manager for a home for disabled adults. Its not his dream job but it does give him some nice managerial experience, and given this economy, can't really be too picky! And of course its nice to have the extra income. :)

We are going to a CNY potluck at a Chinese church tonight. I am making a fried egg, tomatoes, and cucumber thing from my recipe book and I hope it turns out well! It looked the easiest to make. ;) Troy and I went to the service last week and there were these families coming in all dressed up in their traditional costumes and it was sooooooo cute. We'll get one tailored for him when we go back to Singapore. HAHA.

More wedding updates

We now have our absolutely adorable ringbearer and flower girl!!!

Avery's always been very very special in my heart, since I spent soooo much time babysitting him when I was at Purdue, and I've really watched him grow up. I've been there for (almost) half his life! He will be 6 in March.

I asked Shelby his mom if he could be my ringbearer, and she was so touched she cried! Awwwwwwwwwwwww.
And here is a picture of Bekah, the daughter of one of Troy's best men, Jesse. As you can tell, she's 5 and a sassy little redhead. ;) Watch out Avery!!
So far I have my maid of honor (Johanna) and one bridesmaid (Dianamari), and am looking to add 1-2 more bridesmaids. Troy has his two best men Jesse and Thor.

Oh and I found an amazing florist that was highly recommended to me by my coworker Sara. I've just been emailing her but I am very pleased so far. I asked if it was possible for her to do my flowers for $300+ (which is quite unheard of since most places start at $500 for silk flowers and $700 for fresh!), and she sent me quotes that came in BELOW budget - OMG!!!!

Sooooo, it looks like I will have gerbera daisies and roses mix, which I love and are cheap to boot. :))))) Our wedding colors are red, pink, and white.

I haven't ordered it yet but I'm getting this cuuuuuute customized cake topper for our cake. :)

We going to meet with photographers soon. I found two, one who is charging $1,600 and another for $2,500. Right now I am STRONGLY leaning towards the $2,500 one because I just LOVE her pictures. I mean, the pictures are going to last a lifetime so obviously I need to find a photographer who will make everyone look gorgeous, right? Right?

Oh oh oh, and also our wedding venue is just 12 miles away from the Treasure Island casino, and they have free transportation there, SOOOOOO thats where we're having our (optional) after-party. Everyone we've told so far has been super excited. :))) And they have a bowling alley and live bands there for non-gamblers. It will be FUUUUUNNNNN.

Ok gotta go watch the Super Bowl. I really don't know who I'm rooting for. I'm still bummed because the Vikings should be there!!!!! Pffffft.

We're engaged!

So, for the people who haven't heard.. Troy and I are officially engaged! :))))

This is my ring that I picked out because I wanted something a little more unique than a solitaire. I like the three stones representing our past, present, and future. And the trinity. Makes it a little more meaningful I think.Everyone wants to hear the proposal story, but I think I'll save it for when I set up the wedding website. Or tell them in person at the wedding. ;)

Things we've done so far:
1) Bought my dress - $299
The fiance and I went to David's Bridal in Richfield last Friday, and I found the peeeeerfect dress. It was my size, my color, everything I want, AND $300 off!!! WOAH. It was the first and only dress I tried on and we bought it. We were in and out of the store in 20 minutes. Absolutely no one can believe how speedy I was. :) What can I say? I know what I want and I get it. :)))2) Ordered my wedding band - $129.99
Again, going for a little more unique. I think plain bands are boring, and almost everyone I know who was recently married has a diamond eternity band. I couldn't find a ruby ring I liked, so sapphires it is! I think it'll match my engagement ring well, but we'll see. I'm eagerly anticipating it in the mail. :))

3) Venue (The Golden Lantern Inn) - $2300
We haven't put down a deposit yet, but we went to visit this place (that I've been eyeing online forever) yesterday. It is a very cute little B&B in Red Wing, MN, which is about 1.5 hours drive southeast of where we live. We are planning to have a garden ceremony and reception on September 5, 2010. We were back and forth between Sep 4 or 5 for a while, but now I think we're sticking to the 5th because its a Sunday and $300 cheaper. Its Labor Day weekend so Monday is a holiday and people can rest after the drive home. Red Wing is about a 7-hour drive from up north where most of Troy's family and friends will be coming from, and 8 hours from Indiana, where most of my friends and some of his extended family will be coming from.

The plan is to have the bridal party stay with us at the house, that way its easier for us to set up before the wedding, have rehearsals, etc. and we don't have to go anywhere else after the reception. Plus we get to spend lots of time with our friends, which will be awesome since we don't get to see them that much.

There are two little inns just a block away, so we'll probably put our families and other guests there. Unless we block rooms at a hotel downtown, or possibly at the Treasure Island casino that is 10 miles away. ;) We haven't decided on that yet.

We are paying for the wedding ourselves and since we are both fresh out of school and hence very poor, it will be a very small, intimate, but hopefully still a BLAST of a wedding! :))) Our biggest expenses will probably be the venue, photographer, and DJ. But photography is one of THE MOST important things (to me anyway) so I have to find an awesome one, even if it sets us back some $2500! :P

Happy 2010!

I'm thankful for:
1. Having a roof over my head
2. Having a job
3. Being loved
4. My car!!! Without which I would not survive in this country!
5. 3-digits hopefully 4 soon) in my bank account again. Boy did it suck to be poor as a church mouse. (At least it helped me empathize with the poor folks out there :P)

And I got A TON of Christmas presents this year from Troy and his folks. I feel very spoiled. ;) So now we're all set for our future plane trips to Singapore, with my lime green Nintendo DS and his Ipod Classic. ;))

Its the holidays! (almost)

Its almost 2010, can you believe it?!

We had our first snowstorm on Tuesday night. It took me TWO AND A HALF hours to drive back from Monticello, usually a one hour drive! Traffic was just craaaaaawling along, and I was reeeally hoping school/work would be canceled on Wednesday, but alas, no such luck. Sooo, I was forced to plow my way through the snow to work and had two close shaves on the road. First time I somehow drove myself into a snow bank (couldn't see where the road was due to snow everywhere), and was STUCK. Thankfully some kind stranger stopped his truck and helped me push my car out!! I barely got onto 494 when my car somehow skidded (never even saw it coming), but again thankfully, the car behind wasn't tailgating and so didn't hit me. Phew.

As such yesterday I went to a tire shop and got me some new highly recommended all-weather tires. A hefty $370 investment, but I figure my life is worth it. :P Plus there's a 70,000 mile warranty and free tire rotations, so I'm pretty pleased. :)

Looking forward to lots of fun and excitement the next two weeks!! We're going to do a lot of holiday baking to give as gifts because we are trying to save as much as possible. :) I read an article that said if you just eat oatmeal for breakfast, pb sandwiches for lunch, and rice and beans for dinner, your annual food expenditure would be $75!!!!!! WOOOAAAHHHH. Actually, thats pretty close to what I've been eating all week, except for the beans part because I don't like beans. ;)

December

Hi everyone! I haven't been updating too much lately, am too hooked on Cafe World and Yoville I guess. ;)

Life is still going great. Actually, its even better, now that I'm settling into my job and am definitely learning the ropes. The job is almost perfect and I can't believe how lucky I am to have my amazing awesome job!!! :) First off, I work exactly 40 hours a week, no more no less. Everyone shooes me home if I even stay 5 mins after! And I actually got two free movie tickets as a reward from my bosses last month for doing the most evals ever in a month, or so they say. HAHA. Well, I'm not complaining that people think I'm superhardworking. Sure is a nice change from grad school when I was working much harder - and not getting paid!

I do love the job. Some kids are sooooo challenging, but then its all the more satisfying when I make progress with them. I think I'm liking working with parents too. Its pretty amusing some completely clueless some parents are about child development. I always feel a little weird when little ol me, 26 years old with no kids, is giving parenting advice to parents sometimes 20++ years my senior??? Preschool is lots of fun too, a humbling experience to work with the very poor kids. Certainly puts a lot of things into perspective for me, when these kids come to school in dirty, torn clothes that are ten sizes too big or waaay too small.

I'm really loving Minneapolis so far. I love the city and the people are very nice and REAL, not roboty plasticky people who irk me to no end. I'm starting to figure my way around much better, and it was SOOOO beautiful today with the first snowfall this winter. Things I don't like too much: the road construction, and the fact that this state is wayyyyyy too big because its a whopping 5 hour drive north to his parents. Guess you can't have everything. :P

Thanksgiving was great. Very very busy, but loads of fun. We had Thanksgiving dinner at his parents, turkey, cranberry salad, cheese potatoes, pumpkin pie... all that good stuff. ;) Went to his friend Mike's wedding reception and chilled out at a bar with his old college buddies, then we went back to Shane's cute little house in St. Paul and crashed for the night. Guess we'll be spending quite a bit of time at Shane's since he's the only one of Troy's good friends in the Cities, plus me and Susanna (Shane's wife) get along pretty well. Maybe we'll buy a house in St. Paul too, ummm a couple of years from now, since the houses there are cheaper and lotsa young couples have their starter houses there, from what I hear.

Looking forward to the Christmas holidays!!!!!!!! Its great that all the holidays fall on Thu and Fri this year, lots of super long weekends! :)))

October

Hi friends! Its been a few weeks since my last post. I've been at my new job for 2 weeks now, and everything is going great! Actually it keeps getting better as I get used to my coworkers, kids, and figuring out where everything is. ;)

Sooo... life is pretty darn awesome. Can't believe how amazingly lucky I am, with the best boyfriend anyone could ever ask for, and the best job anyone could ever ask for, even in this stinky US economy. And I'm in good health, and my future in-laws are the sweetest people and have been great in helping me move. And I do really like the Cities - living close to but not *in* the city, love my little townhouse and sweet roommate. Midwesterners are the NICEST people on earth!!! Oh and the Vikings are on track to win the Super Bowl this year!! (keeping my fingers crossed) :))))

And my little Nissan is holding up well so far. Its tires were deflated last week because of the cold but then I pumped them up good. Hope it survives MN winters well. ;)

If the weather wasn't quite so cold (its only October and its already snowing?!!), and they actually finish the darn road construction, life would be perfect!

Its September!

Hello I haven't updated in a while.. but, GOOD NEWS!!!! After 3 long arduous weeks of waiting, I'm finally employed!! I'll be at Edina, southwest suburb of Minneapolis, really nice area, and I'm SOOOOOO excited to be moving down to the Cities. Close to the airport, Asian marts, Chinese churches, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods...!!!! :))

I'll spend half my time working at a private clinic, then the other half at Reuben Lindh preschools, which is nonprofit and serves the poor. It really seems like the perfect job and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way. ;)

Haven't been doing much lately. I spend most of my time reading, making my way through Troy's extensive movie collection (we watched the whole Star Wars series, yes I was THAT bored, and now we're starting on Lethal Weapon), and watching football (which I finally understand and actually like!!!) all day on Sundays. ;)) GO VIKINGS!!!! Oh and watching on demand TV, and some of the season premieres, which means....

Fall is upon us!! Weather is still manageable so far, and I'll probably have to get my car winterized soon. Poor little car, its been through so much. I'm hoping to find a house or apartment with a garage so I won't have to leave it outside to get buried under the snow and ice.

Its August!

Hello friends, I haven't updated in a while!

Good news is I'm done with my program, I've graduated!! Although commencement is not till August 8. I spent a couple of days in Effie, MN (population: 91 - not even kidding!!!!) at Troy's parents' house and hung out with their 3 big dogs, peacocks, chickens, and hummingbirds. It sure makes West Lafayette seems huuuuge in comparison. We had a blast! And we saw a REAL LIFE BEAR. It happily rambled across the highway in front of our car. It was cute. :) This must be what it feels like to live in the country. Unexpectedly fun. :))

Plus his parents have snowmobiles and they said we could take them out for a spin when the snow comes! Almost makes me wish it was winter. ;)

I've been pretty busy going to job interviews. Keeping my fingers crossed. :P Then on Wednesday my family arrives in Chicago and we'll be traveling for 2 weeks or so. ;)))) Yup my life seems to be constantly changing. Guess it keeps things exciting. :)

Happy 4th of July!

Hello friends! Can you believe I only have 2 more weeks left in Cali? And to think I finally figured my way around without my GPS too.... :P My roommate Suki had a party last night and we walked out to the fairway of the golf course thats just beyond her backyard and caught the fireworks. :))) Niiiiiice. Seriously, parking is my biggest nightmare in this city.

Anyway, today at church the guest preacher was the president of Singapore Bible College!!! WOW, strange coincidence or providence? Anyway he is SUCH a talented speaker, I felt really glad I was able to hear him preach.

What else? I'll miss Trader Joe's when I leave California. Wonder if they have that in MN? I reeeeeally like some of the stuff they have there, and prices are pretty good too. Aside from that I also shop at Ralphs which is just like Pay Less back home. Too lazy to drive to Walmart, its like 5 miles away. ;) Speaking of which, I realized today that I've driven 10,000 miles on my car in the 7 months that I've had it. :PPP And then its another 2,000 miles back to the Midwest in 2 weeks. Poor little car.