Show Us Your Life - Marriage Proposal

I love thinking back to the day Brad proposed to me. It is such a special memory for us. We had been dating for just about 2 years, and had started talking about marriage several months before. We were actually considering holding off until Brad finished college but that would have been about 2-3 more years. (I already had my degree and was in the working world, and Brad was working in addition to school himself.) We prayed about it and ultimately, we just felt a tugging at our hearts and knew we were ready for this next step sooner rather than later.

So I knew the proposal was coming, but I wanted to be surprised and Brad wanted to surprise me so we left it up to him to make the decision on when to ask. I am a bit of a planner though! :) So I gave him ideas and examples of what I liked for my ring. I think he liked this anyway because he wouldn't be worried whether I would like what he picked out or not. I did mention once that it would be fun for him to propose on New Years Eve, that was only a few months away at the time. He swears he doesn't remember me saying that...but it may be what planted the idea in his head! :) Guess, we'll never know for sure. So when Brad told me he was making plans to take me out for New Year's Eve I was anticipating good things!

There were also other clues that I couldn't ignore...or maybe I was looking for them! It was all such an exciting time in my life (wrapped around a very difficult time in my life as well, but that's for another post). The biggest clue was at a Christmas gathering with his family. When his Dad prayed for the family, he said something about me being "part of the family" or an "addition to the family." Unfortunately, I can't remember the exact wording, but I picked up on it, and later (after the proposal) Brad told me he did too. It was definitely a slip up by my future father-in-law because they all knew he would be proposing soon. Another little clue, was when I bought new earrings that December (they were very small hoops that had diamond looking gems in them) and Brad commented that they looked like rings. Hmmm...could he have thought that because he'd been looking at a lot of rings while engagement ring shopping! :) I put it in my memory bank that day and just smiled.

In the end, Brad took me to Lee's Lakeside at Lake Eola in Downtown Orlando. (Sadly, it is no longer there.) We were one of the first ones seated that night right by the window overlooking the lake, and the sun was setting. I'm glad there wasn't a lot of people around. I could tell Brad was nervous. He couldn't quite sit still during the salad. Later, he told me he had planned to wait to ask until dessert but realized he just couldn't wait any longer. So during salad, he looked at me and said he had something he wanted to tell me. Then he told me how much he loved me and how he couldn't imagine his life without me. He saw an amazing future together for us, and then he got down on one knee by the table and asked me to marry him! Of course, I said yes! :) Then Brad was finally able to relax, and we talked excitedly about the future.

He did an amazing job with the ring. He had it made with the help of a friend who worked at a jewelry store. It was ever prettier than I had imagined it would be. He told me he would upgrade the main diamond to a bigger one in the future, but I thought the size was perfect. Even to this day, I still have the same diamond...and I love it! He also was a complete gentleman and asked for my Dad's hand in marriage prior to the night he proposed. I was living with my Dad and Stepmom at the time so he had to be stealthy with his planning to not tip me off.  When we got home that night they were waiting to hug us and congratulate us! Then they took our picture by the Christmas tree. That picture still sits in a frame in our bedroom today. [I will have to add the photo in later because I don't have access to it right now. We look really young in it.]

And if you want to check out more fun marriage proposals, check them out at Kelly's Korner Blog. I can't stop reading them all!

Beautiful Birthday

UPDATED: PHOTOS ADDED

The past few years my birthday has gone by without much fanfare, which is fine with me. I've been very preoccupied with my busy life and raising a little one so the days really are just flying by! But it was very nice this year when I got to have some extra fun celebrating my birthday. I felt so special as so many people wished me well on my birthday. And I got to celebrate 2 weekends in a row, with both family and friends. I had, not one, but 3 cakes! All were delicious, but one was extra special because it was homemade and amazingly decorated by a sweet friend. Plus I got to go to 2 performances, one a ballet and the other Cirque du Soleil! La Nouba - the Cirque du Soleil show - was a surprise from my husband...he did good!! :) I had no idea what he had planned and it's something I had mentioned a long time ago wanting to see.

Oh, and I've decided to start celebrating the anniversary of my 29th birthday because I really don't feel any older than that! And I won't tell you how many anniversaries I'm celebrating this year! But life is good, and worth celebrating another blessed year!

Evan loved to help me blow out my candles!

This is the beautiful cake my friend made...by hand. Isn't it amazing!

The Joy of Easter Sunday

On Friday I attended our church's Good Friday service. It was a great reminder that though the world sees the cross as humiliation and death we know it is about love and eternal life. Amazing how God conquered death for all of us! It was a great way to start the Easter weekend.

And today, Easter Sunday, we had a wonderful day celebrating that He is Risen at a traditional church service at the church where Brad and I got married. It's also the church I grew up in. Evan was totally adorable in the Easter outfits I got him...yes, I got two only because I found amazing deals! Pretty much got both for the price I would have paid for one elsewhere. I really don't shop there much but wasn't happy with the selection elsewhere so I ended up finding them at JCPenney. Check out my cutie below! Oh, and he just got a new haircut on Thursday. It's shorter and not so shaggy.

 

Evan and his Aunt Tara (my stepsister)

Jumping for joy on Easter!

I think here he is wondering whether he's going to like the candy in this Easter egg!
(and this is outfit #2)

On Saturday we also got the chance to dye Easter eggs. Evan loved this as he is very artistic. I got these stamps with dye that you could also paint on with a brush.

Here he is concentrating so hard! He has taken to drawing and coloring,
pretty much anything artistic. Takes after his Daddy!

I hope everyone had a blessed Easter! And that you continue to be filled with the joy that God brings through his son's death and resurrection!

Sushi Making 101

I have wanted to make my own sushi for years now. I first learned about it before I got pregnant with Evan so probably 4 or more years ago. I even bought a rolling kit that included a mat and instructions. But there was just never the opportunity, and then the kit ended up forgotten about in a drawer. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, Brad and I had a rare Saturday afternoon to ourselves because my mom and stepdad were entertaining Evan, and decided to grab some sushi. During our lunch I remembered the kit and how I'd still hoped to do a sushi making night. I realized Brad's birthday was coming up in a couple weeks so I mentioned it to him. Since he loves sushi, he was all for the idea! So we contacted a few friends and scheduled it for last Saturday!

It was a great time, and though we went all out for our first time, if we had kept it more simple, it would have been cheaper than eating at a sushi restaurant. We did end up being able to enjoy sushi for 3 days because of all we'd gotten. I think we will incorporate this into our dinner plans more often.

In addition, Brad loves tempura so he decided to make some shrimp tempura as well. I told him up front that I'd get everything for making regular sushi rolls but if he wanted tempura, he'd have to do it himself. I'm not good with oil. In fact, I almost burnt down our house when I was a teenager making mozzarella sticks! Okay, not really, but I did start a small fire on the stove!

I did some research up front to learn how to do everything and though I'd share what I learned. First off, I found this great website, http://makemysushi.com/. You have to check it out if you want to make sushi. It has demonstration graphics and all the basic information you'll need to know.

Luckily, Orlando has great Asian markets downtown that offer supplies at the best price, but many Publix supermarkets now offer everything as well, just a little bit more cost. I was lucky to have a guy help me at the Asian market who was a chef for many years and gave me a run down on how to make the shrimp tempura. A five minute lesson of what he'd learned over 10 years! I passed this info along to Brad and he did a great job with it. It turned out delicious. That was the one thing that was all gone by the end of the night. (Also, the website I mentioned has a shrimp tempura tutorial - wish we had seen that before, then we would have known to put them on a skewer to keep them straight. Well, we'll try that next time!)

If you are interested in trying this out for yourself, below are the basic supplies/food you'll need. You have to make sure to get sushi rice - it's a short grain rice that will be sticky enough to hold together when you roll it. It actually sticks to your fingers when you are making it, so have a bowl with water and sushi seasoning mixed to dip your fingers in.

Basic Supplies:
Nori (Seaweed)
Gari (Picked ginger)
Wasabi
Sushi Rice (Shari)
Sushi Seasoning (or rice vinegar, sugar and salt - see recipe at link below)
Rolling mat (the ones with one side flat and the other round are the easiest to use)

Filling Ingredient Ideas (Choose ones to make the rolls you like):
Tuna - raw
Shrimp - cooked
Imitation Crab
Carrots
Avacado
Cucumber
Cream Cheese
Green Onion

Topping Ideas:
Toasted Sesame Seeds
Spicy Mayo

Here is the direct link on how to make the sushi rice - http://makemysushi.com/index.php/Sushi-Preparations/sushi-rice.html

Check out all the other links in the Sushi University area for tips and techniques for rolling the sushi and cutting the filling items. You can make traditional rolls or just put together different combinations that look good to you and enjoy! I liked being able to try different combinations than what is typically available. All were very good!

Here are some fun photos from our sushi party. I'm definitely ready to do it again soon!

Today Marks 7 Years of Marriage!

Well, today marks Brad and my 7th anniversary! It also means we've known each other and been together for over 10 years! I just can't imagine my life without him, nor would I want to! It is amazing to look back at our wedding. I posted our favorite wedding photo below. You can just see the joy on our faces! It was a beautiful day I will cherish forever. And it was a great start to a wonderful marriage. It hasn't always been easy and we don't always feel happy. But that is life. And we are taking this journey together one day at a time. We've been tested, we've seen tough times, and are actually walking through a hard time in our lives right now. But I've always felt God cementing our lives together....giving us strength and helping us learn to lean on each other and him to get through it all. So today I feel that same joy and realize how my love for my sweet husband has grown and strengthened over the last 7 years of marriage. I'm looking forward to the many years ahead!

On our Wedding Day - March 15, 2003

Recent photo - March 13, 2010
(Celebrating Brad's birthday and our anniversary
with our first attempt at making sushi. So fun!)

I definitely see a change in Brad's appearance (in a good way!) as he's matured, but I still seem to have the same baby face!

And some more fun photos from our memorable wedding day!

A Typical Day in My Life

It's Show us your Life Friday at Kelly's Korner Blog and she's asking everyone to share a typical day in their life. I thought I'd join in since it will be great to remember in the future what my typical day was like at this time in my life.

I'm a working mom so I'll outline a typical workday, which is M-F for me.

6:30am - wake up and shower
7:30am - wake up my toddler and get him ready (luckily my hubby shares the responsibility of getting Evan up and to school in the mornings so every other day I get to sleep in a bit, or get to work a bit earlier to get caught up on things there)
7:45am - grab something for breakfast - usually to take in the car
8:00am - we are out the door, watching videos like VeggieTales or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the car on the way to his preschool
8:30am - drop him off at preschool (Evan loves to give me multiple hugs before he'll let me go. So sweet.)
8:45am-9am - get to work where I do a variety of marketing activities. Typically I'm at my desk writing e-mails or working on a proposal or searching for new project opportunities. Every day is different. I also have meetings both in and out of the office periodically.
12:30-1pm - grab lunch, usually something I eat at my desk so I can take a shorter lunch and leave work earlier.
5:30pm - leave work and head to pick up Evan from preschool (again, this is every other day...if I take him in the morning, my hubby usually picks him up in the afternoon and vice versa but occasionally I end up having to do both because of a change in my hubby's schedule.)
5:50pm - pick up Evan and head home
6:30pm - usually get home around this time. (My hubby is usually home already though he teaches and his class changes monthly so sometimes his class runs later if it's an afternoon class and sometimes he's not home in the evening when it's scheduled at night. I hate when he has night classes - I feel lonely.)
6:45pm - Start dinner. Evan usually wants to help me so I find something for him to do like stirring something or pouring an ingredient into the bowl.
7:30pm - We all sit down together and eat. (I love this time of day and just slowing down to enjoy a meal together after a busy day.)
8:00pm - Bath time for Evan, then in his PJs.
8:30-9pm - Put Evan to bed, which is a process as he always wants another hug, or water, or a book, or something else! :)
9pm - clean up dishes from dinner
9:30pm - my down time - finally! Usually chat with my hubby about his day, then catch up on shows on DVR, check out Facebook or Twitter, reply to e-mails, blog, work on a bible study assignment or work on downloading and organizing photos for my scrapbooks. Sometimes if I have a burst of energy I'll clean. But usually I'm pretty tired at this time.
11pm-12am - go to bed. I'm really trying to get to bed earlier, around 10:30pm, but I usually get caught up doing something and I really need that "me" time at the end of the day.

Weekends aren't on a regular schedule. They are my time for errands, visiting family and friends, and catching up on cleaning and laundry as I don't have much time for any of that during the week. Though occasionally on Thursdays we'll meet up with my Dad and Step mom at a restaurant for dinner. That's fun and nice because then I don't have any dishes to clean up!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Our First Gingerbread House

I decided to get a gingerbread house for us to make with Evan this year. For our first gingerbread house, I think we did pretty good. I did start by getting a bit frustrated with the icing that started by just beating into tiny little balls (it really takes way more water than the directions said)! Then we had a mishap as I mistook the roof pieces for the side pieces. :) My hubby straightened it all out, and we were on our way, except we had to keep Evan patient as he wanted to get into the candy right away when the house was supposed to dry for 2 to 3 hours! Wish I'd know that in advance. We ate dinner to distract him and then got back to the gingerbread house. We only waited a little over an hour, but it seemed sturdy so we went ahead with decorating it. Brad did a great job piping the icing for the doors and windows while Evan and I were spreading icing on the roof, then he did a lattice pattern on the roof. Finally it was time to add the candy - Evan did one side of the roof and I did the other. It was fun for us all and I'm pretty proud of our first gingerbread house. A new family tradition is born. :)

My side of the roof

Evan's side of the roof - he did really good!

Our Christmas Card

I was so excited that we finally captured a family photo with Evan smiling. As an active toddler, it's very hard to get him to slow down, not wiggle around and say cheese. Though he is getting better if you catch him at the right moment. Anyway, after several different trys we got a really nice family photo for our Christmas Card. Check it out below.

I always like to do a photo card because I love receiving photo cards. I keep them up for quite a while after the holidays and then I put them in a scrapbook page that I make with pockets to hold them. I love to look back and see family and friends growing and changing over the years.

Oh, and we have always had our cards printed at Costco. They have amazing prices on photo cards, nice designs, and they are a larger size than the typical photo card. I could actually design it myself if I wanted and have it printed at the same price. Unfortunately, I haven't been feeling well the last month or so, which meant I just didn't have the energy to design it myself this year, but there is always next year!

If you'd like to share your Christmas card as well, join the Christmas Card Carousel.

Decorating is coming along slowly...

Well, we never get the chance to put up our Christmas tree and decorations right after Thanksgiving. But it's for good reason - we are spending quality time with my Mom and Stepdad in Melbourne the weekend after Thanksgiving. So, I've had to start getting the decorations up during the work week in bits and peices each night. So far, I've only gotten the tree up and the garland over the mantle and hung our new stockings from Old Navy. Oh, and the table centerpeice I made is out. Tonight I'm hoping to have Evan help decorate the tree. I already put some new candy cane ornaments I got up, and so far Evan grabs every single one of them down calling them "candles" and saying they are his. It's going to be interesting to see what he does once all the ornaments are up! :) And Evan still refers to our stockings as socks, like he did last year!

You can see the decorations as they were last year here. I'll post pics from this year in the coming week. I'm also doing a crafty wreath project and hope that will come together over the next week. I love Christmas time! Don't you?

Halloween Recap

Here's my cutie in his Halloween costume. He LOVES the movie Cars so this was the perfect costume for him. Plus, he had Cars light up shoes (thanks to his cousin Garrett!) to go along with it. He really got the hang of trick-or-treating. Too bad not many of our neighbors were in the spirit with only a few porch lights turned on and giving out candy. Luckily, we had gone to a fall festival at a nearby church first and Evan got a big bag of candy there. Evan's Granny and Papa joined us and we had a fun night.

Check out the pumpkins I carved. Brad ran out of time to do his, but he's the one who picked the white pumpkin and wanted to do the ghost. I did the Owl for the pumpkin carving contest at work, and with a 50/50 chance I was the only loser. :( Oh well. I enjoy carving them, and Evan enjoyed helping me pull out all the guts and stir it around while I did the carving. True boy!

I hope everyone had a very Happy Halloween! Now I'm looking forward to the rest of the Holiday season as we wrap up this year.

Less Words Wednesday

There is a trend in the blog and twitter communities for a Wordless Wednesday, where you post a photo or photos for that day and not any words. Hence the name. But I am not really capable of no words, especially since I got my education and work in communications. So I've decided to change it to Less Words Wednesday. Here's my first one. These are photos of Evan from earlier this month that were taken by Brian Carlson, who goes to our church. Evan was not cooperating at all...typical terrible twos, but Brian still captured some great shots we'll treasure forever.

A Look Back at Last Year

Last year I compiled my first (and so far only) mini-album. It held 12 photos from Sept. 2008. See it here. I've carried it around in my purse for the last year and I've enjoyed looking at it as I've come across it, usually while digging through my never ending purse for something! It's amazing to see how much Evan has grown over the last year. Stacy Julian, who instituted the challenge to make the original mini-album, has now challenged us to make a layout using those photos, along with journaling that reflects back over the last year and the images we captured. It was a motivation for me to find the time to do this. I had just started getting back into scrapbooking last year and haven't gotten many layouts done at all, as life has proven to be so busy over the past year. But I was able to take these photos and put together a layout that mirrors the colors of my original mini-album. This will be the first layout to go in the new scrapbook album my husband bought me for my birthday in June. I'm hoping it will spark my creativity and drive to do more.

A Look Back Layout

here and now: original mini-album

Oh, Baby

I got to meet sweet little Tristan today and had to share some photos. God is amazing to create this beautiful miracle. Congratulations to Jessica and Tian!

Tristan George Chan, born 9/5/09 at 10:32am

6 lbs, 15 oz and 20 3/4 in long