|  Hi everyone! Wowsers, this site has changed a lot since i last posted. The entry window is really hardcore now, with all these different options, haha. I was used to the one box with a menu of smileys. Man, I'm too old school, I need to stay more up to date on these things.
Anyway, long time no post... 2006 has been a pretty good year - although it flew by so quickly for some reason. Highlights of the year include my trip to China with Brian (Beijing and Xian), weekend in sunny Miami with Jack and Jenny, my cousin having a baby (Sam!!), friends getting married (Kay & Jeff, Charlie & Yvette) and most recently, lots of quality time with the fam over the holidays. One of the reasons I love coming home for the holidays is that I revert to being a kid... my family, however small, takes the holiday spirit pretty seriously  ! We do the whole setting up the xmas tree with all the decorations, put lights up in the windows and around our house (this year we put rope lights along the staircase), my dad takes out his xmas music collection (ranging from instrumental to Reba McIntire and even Jewel, haha), and my mom and I usually spend a decent amount of time wrapping gifts in the dining room. All this may seem very Hallmark card, up until Christmas Eve, when my mom goes into the kitchen cupboards and pulls out the -- Chinese hotpot!!! Along with the slices of meat, frozen ball things, tempura, mix of veggies, raw shrimp, eggs, etc. It wouldn't be xmas without the four of us sitting around, mixing the soy sauce and satay sauce around in our bowls with our chopsticks  . We've also attempted raw egg in the sauce before, and Brian was fortunate enough to drop by and try some that year, only to get sick to his stomach an hour later. Blame the egg, not the hotpot!!! This year, I think we all went overboard with gifts. Our xmas tree was literally being supported by a mound of gifts. I don't know how it started, but in the past, we all just got each other one gift max. There's just 4 ppl in my immediate family (and we don't really have that much extended family in the area), so it was a very quick gift exchange. Me and my sister also used to get a little something from Santa if we were lucky. As the years went by and I guess particularly once my sister and I started making money at jobs here and there, we started getting each other multiple presents. Nothing extravagant, but it seemed better to fill the space under the tree with many little gifts than to see the poor thing standing there with just a few boxes underneath. So this year, we all went bananas and it took us about an hour to finish opening gifts. Well, we also dragged out the process by taking pictures of every gift/recipient in various poses (which was really testing my dad's patience, I could tell... he kept saying, "ok next!" while me and my sister continued to snap away....) The thing that bothers me about 2006 though, is that it went by way too quickly. Its funny how when you're in elementary school, each year kinda inches by and the next grade seems so far away ("I can't wait to be a fifth grader and rule the school! Yeah!") It scares me a bit how the days blend into each other now and work consumes me, to the point that I can only measure my year in time OFF from work. I think the key word in 2007 for me is "change." That may sound so simple, but I haven't had many changes in my life for 3+ years... not that I don't appreciate what I have, but I definitely want to take more of a chance and try new things next year. I really want to get into shape, maybe join a league of some sort (time to break out the ole field hockey stick perhaps?), listen to more music, read and write more, and take more trips!!! And spend more time with all my friends. Can't wait So with that, happy new year to all!!! |
... The final piece of our Fabulous Trio.... HINA! 
