oberly happy

Doing the Running Van

2012-01-20T20:55:00.000-05:00

This post is about the changes my body went through during pregnancy and the efforts I'm making to change it back to its pre-pregnancy state.

I always went to running as a form of exercise. In 2010, I ran my first event (the army 10 miler). This year, I made a New Year's resolution to run a half-marathon, and with Chi Hai's help, I have been on a pretty strict running schedule. Here's where I'm at, about 2 months into the training (info from my RunKeeper profile):

Running post partum was a very strange feeling. The best I could describe it was like I was running in jello. I knew what my body had previously been capable of, but my body then was no where near ready to resume where I left off. After a few runs, it started to feel natural again and I'm currently running a 10:30 minute mile (my 10 miler time was a 11:30 min mile average).

And here is a progression of my bodily changes within the last year. The first photo is from when I was 8 weeks pregnant (my phone lost my earlier snapshots). The middle photo is my belly shot at 35 weeks pregnant, which was the last photo I could bare to take. And the photo on the right is a photo I took just today, after so proudly zipping up my pre-pregnancy jeans:

It has been quite the journey getting back into shape, and it sure doesn't end here! Keep checking in on my runkeeper profile, and please make sure I am staying on track. I can use all the encouragement I can get!

Sappy Mom

2012-01-10T20:41:00.001-05:00

Today I washed all of Riley's 0-3 mo size onesies to fold them up and donate them. Yes, folks, my little girl has moved up in clothing size yet again. I found myself getting all sappy, wondering where the time went and amazed by how fast she's growing up.

3 months old

startle reflex starting to go away

getting better at tummy time and head control

I am so happy with and thankful for her good health and development. It is just incredible seeing her pick up something new everyday. She is definitely not the baby she was three months ago, and I am definitely not the mom I was three months ago. I remember her first few weeks at home, wondering if I would ever feel "normal" again? But here I am, with a new "normal", one that is way better than anything I could've ever imagined. And yet I find myself missing the itty bitty little newborn that used to fit in one arm, even if it meant sleepless nights and extreme fatigue.

Parenthood is amazing and I absolutely love it. (But don't you dare start the "time for another baby" comments...)

Giggles

2012-01-06T20:03:00.001-05:00

This just happened today, and I cannot seem to get enough of it! Riley is now giving us whole-hearted laughs. This has got to be one of the best sounds I have ever heard in my entire life! Her laughter fills my heart with so much happiness! One of my favorite milestones to date!

New year, new me

2012-01-02T21:00:00.000-05:00

I really love new years. I think its an automatic free chance to set a goal, refocus and just give yourself a kick in the pants to get motivated and do something.

2011 was, for obvious reasons, one of the best years of my life. I spent the majority of it experiencing what might be the easiest pregnancy known to womankind and was blessed with a healthy, beautiful baby girl. If that doesn't give me enough reason to want to improve myself, I don't know what will.

A few weeks ago, I read this article that my sister posted about 12 things happy people do differently, and a few of the points really struck a note with me. I'd say I'm pretty happy to start with, but hey, who doesn't want to be happier if they can be, right? So, for my new years resolutions, I want to focus on those very points:

(3) Avoid over-thinking and social comparisons- I can't seem to help this one and I'm always very conscious of this after it happens, and the article is right-- no matter what I think as a result of a comparison, I usually don't feel good about it. So why do it in the first place? I also think this coincides with the first point of expressing gratitude and being thankful for what you got. In 2012, I want to really focus on appreciating the people/things I've been blessed with and not worry about how it compares to those of others around me

(5) Nurture social relationships- I think this is actually something I made my 2011 resolution, and somehow it just tapered off and I wasn't as committed to it as much as I hoped to be. My family and most of my closest friends are across the country and I really want to make a greater effort to keep in touch with all of them and let them know how much I love and appreciate them. I am very much aware that I am the person I am today because of these people, and I want them to know that too. In 2012, I will really let those I love know how much they truly mean to me.

(8) Increase flow experiences- This is one I want to concentrate on specifically for Riley. I look back at our past three months together, and am already thinking "where did the time go?" I really want to make every minute I spend with her all about her. I want to have as many "flow experiences" with her as possible, so that I can know where the time actually did go. In 2012, I will focus on being the best mother I can possibly be to Riley.

(11) Practice spirituality- This was also a 2011 resolution, but something I would like to continue to focus on. I pray to and thank God every single night for all He has blessed me with, and am committing to do the same and more in 2012. In 2012, I want to continue to grow with God.

(12) Take care of your body- I made a 2011 resolution to run my first half-marathon, but with the pregnancy I was unable to do that. It will take a lot more discipline to make this possible with the addition of raising a baby in the schedule, but its that discipline and drive that I really desire. In 2012, I will cross the finish line of a half-marathon.

I look back at 2011 and I get this overwhelming feeling of joy. I know 2012 will be full of challenges, but will be equally joyful, and I am so excited about it I can hardly stand it! I have a great feeling about 2012.

Baby's 1st Christmas

2011-12-31T20:45:00.000-05:00

We flew my mom and dad into Virginia as a Christmas present (they think to them, when really I think it was a present to myself as well). For five days, Riley was completely smothered with kisses and I don't think she spent any time in her crib she was held so much. But you have to love grandparents for that! Riley wasn't the only spoiled one. My mom packed a suitcase full of food she prepared and froze to feed me and Eric. I think the last time we ate that well was when Anh Hai Mike was here. =P

Ba Ma and Riley with her first Christmas tree

On Christmas day, we bundled Riley up and went out to see the new National Christmas Tree. I was reluctant to do it at first, but boy am I glad we did. It made for a wonderful memory for Riley's first Christmas.

New baby and new National Christmas Tree

Ba Ma left on Tuesday, and we packed the car and headed to Indiana. I had been so excited about this trip, as we were finally getting to meet Ava and Katelyn as well.

Oberly siblings with their babies

Unfortunately, Riley wasn't happy about the travels. She was unusually fussy and had crying/screaming bouts that had me really worried, so we had to cut the trip short. Thankfully we will all be in Florida for Grandpa's 90th birthday, and I'm hoping she will do better then since she will be a little older.

This has been a magical Christmas getting to spend it with so many loved ones. Its amazing getting to experience things that we've experienced before but now with a baby. It's like living life all over again-- seeing things in a completely new light, and I am loving every bit of it.

Smiley Riley

2011-12-15T12:08:00.001-05:00

Middle of the night feedings are so much more enjoyable now that Riley smiles at me to wake me right up. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to know she knows who I am and is happy to see me. Babies are just so amazing. She does something every day that just puts me in complete awe of her.

Here she is being cutesy and smiling at 2 months old:

Happy video

2011-12-13T18:50:00.001-05:00

When I posted the video of Riley getting her 2 month shots, I felt uneasy, but I thought it was because I am Riley's mom. Chi Hai has brought it to my attention that the pinning of arms, shaking of head and screaming until she ran out of breath was uncomfortable for any one to watch. So to make up for it, I present you with this happy little clip that I can't seem to get enough of. Enjoy!!

Date Night

2011-12-08T12:25:00.001-05:00

For the first time since Riley was born, Eric and I got to spend a night out on the town together, just the two of us. Thanks to our friend Jenna for watching Riley! Our date night consisted of a delicious dinner at Asia Nine, followed by watching "A Christmas Carol" at Ford's theater. The night went surprisingly smooth. Of course dinner conversation consisted of Riley, and showing each other photos we have of her on our phones. But we didn't call Jenna at all, and took advantage of our time together without the baby.

Us inside Ford's theater. Behind us you can see the
booth where Abraham Lincoln was shot.

As wonderful as the night was, we missed our baby girl and rushed home to get the low-down on how her night with Jenna went. I was so happy to hear Jenna tell us how easy Riley was, and how Riley talked to her and smiled at her when she was awake, and how she quickly went to sleep when she was put down. That little girl never fails to amaze me.

Thank you Jenna for making the night possible. We are so grateful to have a friend like you who cares about Riley as much as we do. And thank you Eric for taking me out. You still know how to make me laugh and smile like no one else does.

I am feeling so blessed.

a Riley update

2011-12-07T12:31:00.000-05:00

Just a quick little update on Riley and her growth and development!

Riley now baby babbles quite a bit. She also smiles and laughs a lot at mommy, which makes her night time feedings so much more pleasant for me, since it wakes me right up. She is also sleeping in 5-6 hour stretchs at night.

Riley now follows toys with her eyes and her head. She loves her swing and she will fall asleep watching her mobile above her crib:

Riley is a total water baby. She loves bath time! And here is her head of curly hair after we wash it:

shots, shots, shots!

2011-12-06T12:10:00.000-05:00

I wish this post were about taking shots (of liquor). But it really is about Riley getting immunization shots at her 2 month check up. In hindsight, I wish I would've taken shots (of liquor) before coming to this appointment. Poor Riley didn't take the shots very well. We left the doctor's thinking all went smooth, she cried for a little while but stopped after some snuggling with her daddy. But when we got home, and when she woke up from her nap, she continued to cry and scream non-stop for about two hours. Her little leg was so swollen and red. Any time we got her to relax, the slightest movement of her leg caused her to cry and scream some more. I finally went out and got some infant tylenol, which as far as I'm concerned is magic. She was settled within 5 minutes of taking the medicine.

And like any decent (read: cruel) parent, I took video of her shots. It stops at a dramatic point, because I couldn't take the screaming anymore. Watch at your own risk:

At 2 months, Riley weighs 10lbs, 15oz. She is 22 inches tall, and her head circumference is 15.5 inches.

Cradle Cap

2011-11-16T17:40:00.001-05:00

Baby cradles and caps are so cute. Put them together and you get "cradle cap"... not so cute. Riley developed some really dry and flakey skin across her eyebrows and her forehead. We took her to the doctor yesterday to confirm that we were definitely dealing with cradle cap

If you can look past her beautiful
eyes, you can see the dry patches
of skin across her forehead

Luckily it doesn't at all bother her (and only bothers mommy). The doctor suggested that we rub her skin with a soft toothbrush when bathing her to remove the dry flakes. In more fun news, we did come to find that at 6 weeks my not-so-little baby now weighs 9.5 lbs! Go Riley!

Besides gaining significant weight, she's also starting to figure out her voice. Here's a brief clip of Riley making some cute baby noises. I'm hoping soon we'll have a clip that is much more full of baby babbles:

Change Clothes and Go

2011-11-10T21:14:00.001-05:00

At 5 weeks old, Riley is growing out of her newborn clothes. My big girl put on her first 3 month outfit today. And although I am thrilled by her healthy growth and the benefits of her being older (read: more sleep for all), I cannot get over how fast she is growing up. Family and friends weren't kidding when they said to enjoy every minute because it goes by faster than you realize.

One of the last newborn onesies

No apple bottom jeans,
but boots with the fur

3 mo outfit from cousins
Aidan and Brooke
with a cameo kiss from Indy

We are really starting to get into our groove, I'm starting to truly understand her cues, which makes for a much happier Riley (and thus a much happier Van!). Her eyes are following toys that we put in front of her, and she's accidently smiled at me a few times now while awake. I cannot wait for those smiles to be in response to something I say/do.

1 Month Young

2011-11-03T15:22:00.001-04:00

Today marks exactly one month since the birth of my beautiful baby girl. It is amazing how fast she is growing. While holding her yesterday, for the first time I noticed that she is actually starting to feel a little bit heavy. She has the most inquisitive eyes that now follow my face and the sound of my voice. It makes my heart melt to see her tiny fingers wrapped around my one finger. She makes this sweet little sound after she sneezes that just makes me laugh every time. She is just wonderful.

This past month has been the longest and yet the fastest month of my life. Motherhood has been an extremely challenging and humbling experience for me, but one that has been even more rewarding. In one month, everything I thought I knew about life and love went out the window, only to be built back up into a whole different perspective. I am learning so much about her but equally as much about myself. We're still a little unsure and not exactly 100% confident of what we're doing here, but what I love is that we're learning and doing it together. Me and my girl.

I love my Riley. Happy one month, baby!

Tiny Milestones

2011-10-16T19:06:00.002-04:00

Its been about two weeks since Riley's birth, and we are loving parenthood. The days following Riley's birth, she dropped some weight (as to be expected with newborn babies) and I am so happy to say that at her doctor's appointment on Wednesday, Riley weighed in at 6 lbs 8 oz, gaining back all her weight and then some. I've been trying to sleep whenever Riley sleeps, hoping not to fall behind and become a zombie, and so far its been working out great. Today her umbilical cord fell off, which was strangely exciting to us, haha. I can't wait until I can one day blog about things like her rolling over, her first steps, but for now, these little victories are more than enough to make me happy.

Riley got her first sponge bath- she hated it at first, but
was so relaxed when we were finished.

She is becoming much more alert. I
never saw her with eyes open until recently.
Prior to that, she'd cry before I could see her.

She is getting so good at sleeping
for longer amounts of time. We made it
to 4 hours last night!

She even picked up an extra chin. =)

Sure, we are tired and sleep deprived, but I can honestly say that I love being a mom. These first few weeks have been beyond anything I ever imagined. She is already growing up too fast right before our very eyes. I am already all paranoid about missing a single moment with her.

This is true love at its finest.

A Baby Story

2011-10-09T22:34:00.000-04:00

Not just any baby story... my baby's story! Riley Hong Oberly was born on October 3, 2011 at 5:13 am, weighing 6 lbs 2 oz and coming in at 18.5 inches long. She could not be more perfect.

On Sunday, October 2, around 5:30 pm, I felt something that I suspected might be leakage of amniotic fluid. I wasn't really sure if this was the case, or if I was just making up something (which was very common for me during this entire pregnancy). I decided to wait it out an hour, and then I told Eric of my suspicions. I told him if I felt it again, I would call the doctor in 10 mins, and sure enough was forced to make the call. The doctor told us to come in and get it checked out.

We got to the hospital around 7 and got checked into the triage. The nurse tested performed a swab test to check if my water had indeed broke, and sure enough the results came back positive and we were checked into hospital room 2002 at 8:30. The nurse came in and told us the game plan was for us to get some rest, as labor could be starting early the next morning and we'd need our energy. That would not be the case-- my body and my baby had other plans.

At around 1am, the doctor came in to check my labor progress and found me to be dilated only 3cm. At that point, she offered to induce the labor to move things along, but Eric and I decided we did not want to go that route. No more than half an hour later, my contractions were unbearably strong. The nurses came in multiple times, adjusting the contraction and baby heartbeat monitors. We came to find out that they were not happy with the baby's heart beat response to the contractions. At 4am, the doctor came back and told us of these findings, and said that she thought the best course of action was to proceed to a cesarean section.

I got wheeled into surgery as Eric scrubbed up. The surgery prep began at 4:48am. I was given a spinal tap, and slowly could no longer feel the lower half of my body. The incision was made at 5:07, and at 5:13am, our lives completely changed with the beautiful sound of a baby crying. I immediately broke into tears, followed by a delirious "is she a girl???" to which Eric laughed and said yes.

We were moved to our post partum recovery room (3005) at around 8am, and an hour later, Riley was wheeled into our room. We spent Monday morning too happy and excited to realize how exhausted we were. Riley was born, and all was right in our lives. We couldn't care about anything else.

And here we are, just about 1 week later, still all trying to get to know each other and figure things out. Our moms spent some time with us, helping immensely. I always loved my mom, but having just become a mom myself, my appreciation and love for her has grown to no bounds. Eric has been a rockstar of a husband-- doing just about everything while I am so limited as I recover from the surgery. Riley has been nothing short of amazing. I really don't have the words to describe the pure joy that she brings to my heart. We really could not be any happier. We are so thankful and so blessed.

Here are some photos of our first week with our beautiful daughter, Riley Hong Oberly.

Cotton Anniversary

2011-09-28T08:50:00.000-04:00

Last night, Eric and I celebrated our second year of marriage. This celebration could not have been more opposite than last year's, but it was just as sweet. We decided to raincheck a nice dinner out, seeing as I'm 9 months pregnant and rotating the same 4 bummy outfits over and over again. So the plan was to stay in and cook dinner together. One of the first times Eric cooked for me, he made a peirogi casserole (and cut little hearts out of the pepperonis... I'm into things like that.) We also had always talked about making the famous Oberly family peirogies, a recipe passed down to us from Eric's Grandma. So, that is just what we did.

Eric made the filling as I made the dough.
Eric rolled it out and assembled these
beauties.

This is the final product after 3 hours
of prepping and cooking! Delicious!

Hubby came home from work with these
beautiful flowers for me.

Our spread of presents on the table.

When it came to cotton gifts, Eric and I somehow had the same idea. On one of our first dates, we went to a concert and Eric bought me this giant tub of cotton candy. So with some tshirts I gave him a tub of cotton candy. He took it one step further and got me a cotton candy machine with several flavors, with the thought that we could also use it when my niece and nephew come into town to visit their new cousin (get Aidan and Brooke ready for a sugar high, Chi Hai!).

I cannot believe another year has flown by. I feel so blessed and am so thankful to have a husband who continues to love me and care for me more and more each day. To this day, he still manages to make my heart skip a beat by just smiling at me. We have accomplished so much together, and there is absolutely no one else in this world I would rather tackle parenthood with. I love you, Eric Oberly. Here's to a lifetime's worth of love and laughter!

Double the fun?

2011-09-26T17:22:00.000-04:00

No, just double the chins apparently...

Today, I decided that Indy and I needed to get some exercise so we went on a nice long walk. At the end of our walk, two sweet girls came by on their bicycles and kindly asked me if they could pet Indy. While petting Indy, one girl asked me if I was pregnant, to which I said yes. The other looked and me and followed with "are you having twins???"...

Luckily, I am far enough in this pregnancy to not take that so personally. We now have less than 13 days to go until Riley's due date... can you believe that? Counting days! The car seat is now in the Rav4, all the baby clothes and toys are washed, we are literally playing the waiting game now, and I am totally losing. I am uncomfortable pretty much every day, my patience level is wearing so thin and the slightest spasm plays mind games with me, wondering if this is it! I know life after baby will be just as tiresome if not more, but I really just can't wait to experience the pure joy that comes with it.

Nesting and Nursery

2011-09-18T19:56:00.000-04:00

We have hit 37 weeks today, and the baby is officially considered full term! I cannot believe we are only 3 weeks away from due date. As it rapidly approaches, I feel excited, anxious, and nervous but above all I am so happy and I simply cannot wait to meet our princess.

Nesting has officially taken over the Oberly household, and it doesn't limit itself to just me. Eric has been doing so much work around the house. He painted the nursery, put up chair rail, built the furniture and hired someone to put up wallpaper and with the exception of some furniture that we're waiting to be delivered, the nursery is complete!

The colors in the photo do not do the room any justice!
It is so soft and adorable-- my favorite room in the house!

Where we will be changing so many diapers.
Volunteers welcome!

And now, we just wait! The hospital bags are packed and ready to go, and we just have to twiddle our fingers and wait for Riley to decide to make her appearance. Not even born yet, and she's already got us wrapped around her tiny little finger!

Childbirth 101

2011-09-03T10:59:00.000-04:00

No worries, I will not be explaining the birds and the bees in this blogpost. This past week, Eric and I attended a Childbirth class at INOVA Alexandria, the hospital where Miss Riley will be born. It was 2 nights this past week, 3 hours each night and had about 6 couples, all first time parents. We got overviews of what to expect, learned some breathing and relaxation techniques, saw a few videos that changed Eric's life, and just got an overall crash course on labor and delivery.

Just another milestone down that reminds me how much closer were are to due date!

Earthquakes and Hurricanes

2011-08-28T20:17:00.000-04:00

Sounds like the title of my new rap album? Actually, just a summary of this week's events. The East Coast was surprised by a 5.9 earthquake on August 23. You would think that having been born and raised in California would've made this a cruiser for me, but that was not at all the case. I work from home on the 4th floor loft of my townhouse, and often can feel vibrations from heavy trucks passing by. Upon first rumble, I thought that was what I was experiencing, but it didn't stop and continued to get louder and it took my brain a while to process that what was indeed happening was an earthquake. At that point, a million thoughts went through my mind. I'd like to thank all my elementary school drills for having those thoughts include "get under a table or under a doorway" but other thoughts that interfered included "these houses aren't built for this" and "be careful, you're pregnant!"I made the choice to hold on to the stair rail and slowly make it down one flight of stairs to get under a doorway. At that point, I got super dramatic and yelled for Indy, who was 2 floors down. She crawled up, low to the ground, I grabbed her collar and her and I were such a pitiful sight while waiting for the earthquake to end. In hindsight, it really wasn't too bad, but at the moment, I was beyond freaked out.

Then yesterday and last night, the East Coast had to brace ourselves again for the arrival of hurricane Irene. The roughest part of the hurricane hit our area probably between midnight and 2am, while yours truly was sleeping. I am very thankful that we were not badly affected by the hurricane, and I pray for those who were affected by either of these natural disasters.

Today marks week 34 of our pregnancy. One major milestone of my life was exchanging vows and rings with Eric on September 27, 2009. Well today, I had to take off those rings-- my fingers are completely swollen. Besides that, I continue to struggle with sleeping, sitting down and standing up without grunting, and putting shoes on with this giant belly. The good news is, that usually is a sign that baby girl is healthy and growing, and she is always the bright and wonderful light at the end of this tunnel.

32 weeks down, 8 to go!

2011-08-15T15:17:00.000-04:00

Had a little minor scare this morning which sent me to get an utlrasound, but the great news is that little Riley is healthy and seems to be growing according to schedule. And out of it we got pictures of our beautiful little girl:

Can you believe what great images ultrasounds can produce??
I am so in love with this sweet little face!

Her profile at 32 weeks

If I was at all skeptical about love at first sight, I am a total believer now. I am so in love with her already!

I'd also like to take some time and blog space to gush about my husband. He's been so loving and supportive through this entire process, even when my hormones get out of control and I yell and/or cry for no reason. I was having a little bit of a hard time last week (and I feel like a weenie saying that, because honestly I cannot imagine pregnancy being any easier than what I've been fortunate enough to have experienced) and Eric surprised me with some flowers:

I feel so blessed to have such a beautiful (and growing) family. Each passing day makes this little growing miracle more and more real, and I get more and more excited! We're in the home stretch now-- got our hospital tour tomorrow, birthing classes at the end of the month, and before you know it, I won't have time to blog because I'll be feeding and changing diapers! Simply amazing.

We're having a baby...

2011-08-06T19:46:00.000-04:00

... my baby and me!

I'm sure I'm not the only one to notice that Google has designed their logo in celebration of Lucille Ball's 100th birthday today. On it is a TV icon that actually plays clips of "I Love Lucy" episodes, and the channel 3 clip totally got me all giddy.

I very much remember every detail of this episode, and seeing it today just made my heart go pitter patter:

This really is a pointless blog post, but I just cannot help my excitement! I often come across random things in my day that just remind me how blessed we are with this little miracle on the way, and I feel the need to share it with the world!

Oberly Sappy

2011-07-28T14:55:00.004-04:00

Even before getting pregnant, I've been known to be a giant sap. But with the surge of hormones brought on by pregnancy, its gotten to a whole new level. While driving yesterday, Carrie Underwood's "All-American Girl" came on the radio, and it totally brought tears to my eyes.

Here are the lyrics that totally got to me:

Since the day they got married
He'd been praying for a little baby boy
Someone he could take fishing
Throw the football and be his pride and joy
He could already see him holding that trophy
Taking his team to state
But when the nurse came in with a little pink blanket
All those big dreams changed

And, now, he's wrapped around her finger
She's the center of his whole world
And his heart belongs to that sweet, little, beautiful,
wonderful, perfect All American girl

We are wrapping up the 29th week of pregnancy, and got 10 weeks until Riley's due date. Pregnancy is starting to get really uncomfortable, and Virginia's heat wave isn't really helping much, but as smooth as this pregnancy has been I really cannot complain too much. I am getting really anxious to meet our little girl. I cannot wait to rock her to sleep and sing to her all these songs that already make me think of her!

What's in a name?

2011-07-14T16:51:00.000-04:00

... a baby by any other name would smell just as sweet! We haven't exactly kept our baby's name a secret, but I figured I might as well make it blog official. Our little girl will be named Riley Hong Oberly.

It was hard for Eric and I to agree on names, but we both agreed that we wanted our children to have somewhat unique names, but nothing too eccentric. Eric's hometown celebrates a children's poet named James Whitcomb Riley. Eric also vaguely remembered a conversation with someone about their niece named Riley, and had since always thought the name was cute for a girl. Upon mentioning that, I agreed, and we decided no discussion needed to further be had-- we had agreed and we're sticking to it... so Riley it is!

Hong is my middle name as well as that of some of my favorite women-- my mom, sisters, and my niece Brooke. I found it an honor to carry on the tradition of the women in my family and also thought it'd be neat to pass down to Riley some of her Vietnamese heritage in her name.

The name Riley is of Irish and Gaelic origin and means "courageous." Hong is Vietnamese for "rose." So there you have it-- our little courageous rose girl.

Never before have I been so eager to put a face to a name!

Babymoon

2011-07-07T14:51:00.000-04:00

Eric and I just returned from about a week-long visit in Fort Lauderdale, FL. It was so relaxing-- exactly what we needed! The flight tickets were inexpensive, Grandpa Nial let us use his condo, and Eric's Dad let us use his car... cheap trip plus R&R, can't ask for much more!

Every morning, we walked out to the beach, got some sun, walked around Lauderdale by the Sea for some lunch, and headed back to the condo to cool down. Once we were back to a comfortable temperature (it is super hot in Florida!), we walked downstairs to the pool at Mayberry Mansions, the condo that Grandpa Nial let us stay at. The residence was so lovely and peaceful-- we absolutely loved staying there!

Eric enjoying the beach

Please disregard our beach hair

Our home for the week

After pool time, we took a daily nap, and come evening we'd either venture out to a local restaurant or meet up with Eric's Dad and his friends for some fabulous dining. We were well fed in Florida!

And on the final night, as we were shutting down the condo, we both looked at each other and agreed that we weren't quite ready for the vacation to be over. Usually when we're on vacation for that long, we're both ready to be home by the last day, so that tells you how much we enjoyed this last hurrah before the baby's arrival. It was a fun little vacation, one that we will always remember since the next vacation we take will be significantly different, but in the most awesome way possible.

CA Baby Shower

2011-06-23T15:54:00.001-04:00

Within the span of 2 years, my siblings have managed to throw me the best bachelorette party, a chic surprise bridal shower, an amazing surprise 30th birthday, and just when I thought it couldn't possibly get better, they outdo themslves by putting together a breathtaking baby shower for our little girl.

I cannot express in words how much time and energy (and money) it took to put together this baby shower-- but what was so touching about it was how happy my entire family was to do it. We stayed up until 3am the night before, doing crafts, cooking, last minute details, and everyone was all smiles and energy. The following day, as we were tying up odds and ends before the arrival of the guests, my family let me take some time to get ready, and as I was doing my hair, I could hear the sound of my mom, Aidan and Brooke just laughing and then the rest of the family following in laughter and it just brought a smile to my face. You can't find this sort of love anywhere else.

beautiful setup in my parents back yard

drinks table with the diaper cake K2 made

cake pops, gourmet marshmallows and chocolates

French macarons <3

Sprinkles cupcakes and fruit tarts

food, glorious food!

classy hor dourves

mini sandwiches

cheese and crackers

There were so many details of the party that I didn't take pictures of that took a lot of time and effort. The banner, the games, the favors were all handmade. All the food was prepared by my siblings, the decorations were put up my the family-- it was simply amazing, for lack of a better word. I try to never take for granted how awesome my family is, but they sure know how to remind me time and time again. I am so thankful for a loving family, and I am thankful my baby girl will be born with that same fortune.

And thank you to all who attended and completely spoiled us with gifts and words of advice, support and encouragement. I am so touched by it all. I can't wait to introduce our daughter to each and every one of you!

Cousin Time

2011-06-23T15:31:00.001-04:00

Anyone who knows me knows that my cousins are like siblings to me. I love them very much, and I am so happy I got to spend time with them while I was in town. On Thursday, we met at Shik Do Rak and did some serious damage at an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ restaurant. If you know the Ngo family cousins, you know that we excel in the sport of eating-- and if it isn't considered a sport, we make it one. You snooze, you leave hungry!

Linda & An

Khoackie!

Sisters!

In typical Ngo cousin fashion, we ate and laughed all night-- and I wouldn't have it any other way. Thank you for making time to see me while I was in town, cousins. Love you!

Next Generation

2011-06-23T15:06:00.002-04:00

I'm really beyond excited to enter the journey into parenthood, but one thing I have already gotten to experience and enjoy is being an Aunt. There are few things that can make me as happy as spending time with my nieces and nephews, and I got to do just that on my most recent California visit. I cannot stress enough how fast the kids grow up-- I am actually having conversations with Aidan and Brooke now, and it is nothing shy of amazing.

I landed at LAX around noon, and Bao and I hung out until 3 and picked up the kiddos to do some spoiling. We took them to Build-A-Bear at Downtown Disney. It was so fun seeing them actually having opinions on the animals that they wanted and liked.

This was Aidan's original choice...
He eventually changed his mind.

Hello Kitty comes in pink!
Life could not be better for Brooke
(until the Belle princess dress became an option)

The kids cleaning their new furry friends.

It was really fun watching them figure out the whole process and totally enjoying it. We walked out of Downtown Disney, and our princess, Brooke, couldn't resist completing her royal status with princess makeup.

Doing whatever it takes to become a princess.

Somebody changed his mind about face painting
when he saw a stranger applying it to his sister.

We then headed to Mom and Dad's house to wait for Chi Hai and have our traditional family dinner at Big Mama's. We used to do this every week when I was still living in California, and it was nice to bring back an old tradition (and getting to eat some home cooking wasn't too shabby either!).

"YY" is so much fun!

I was beyond happy that the kids totally remembered me and embraced me right away. I spent every following day with them for the rest of my Cali visit, and each time I have to leave it gets harder and harder. These are two of the most charming and lovable toddlers ever, and I really am not just saying that because I'm their Aunt. They are just super fun and sweet, you're doing a wonderful job with them, Anh Chi Hai. Love you all!

Parents' Reaction

2011-06-07T12:21:00.001-04:00

I totally forgot about this! I wanted to blog about this for a long time, but this happened before news of our pregnancy became completely public, and I just remembered it now.

I wanted to tell my parents that I was pregnant in a fun way, but it is hard to do while being separated by 3,000 miles. I recruited the help of Chi Hai and technology, and the result couldn't have been much better.

The following video is mostly in Vietnamese (and my broken-Vietnamese) but the reactions are great nonetheless. Me and Chi Hai are explaining to my parents that I gave them a webcam too, just like the one Chi Hai has that we are using to Skype with. I continue to tell them that I specifically bought it for them so that they'll be able to talk to me and all their grandchildren, and thats when I flash the ultrasound photo. See their reaction here:

Shout out to the videographer with the cute laugh!

DC Baby Party

2011-06-06T19:29:00.001-04:00

The entire Kane family, along with the help of some of my gal pals in the DC area, got together to throw Eric and me a barbecue to celebrate our baby girl. It was beautiful afternoon filled with great people and delicious food.

Mr. Kane was kind enough to open up his home to us for the party location. He seriously has one of the most beautiful back yards we'd ever seen. Here's the family dog, Boscoe, enjoying the yard:

Friends that came out to celebrate, eat delicious food, and enjoy a beautiful Virginia day:

I took this photo before all the food was out-- there was so much food at this party! The baby was very happy about that! And please note the duck-- it was a project that Henley made in middle school.

It was a lot of fun, it felt wonderful to be around friends who are so genuinely excited to welcome our baby girl. You can view the rest of the photos here. Thank SO MUCH to you all who helped make it possible!

Just kickin' it

2011-05-31T17:34:00.000-04:00

I've been feeling little kicks from our baby for a few weeks now, but recently they've gotten stronger and more frequent. I haven't been able to to time it so that Eric would be able to feel the kicks too, until Sunday night. We were laying in bed and getting ready to sleep when I could feel a lot of baby activity going on in my belly, so while we were talking, I told Eric to just keep his hand on my belly. And sure enough, our little girl came through and wished her daddy a happy birthday with a little kick. Eric chuckled, and asked me "how do you sleep with that going on?!" haha, it was a very sweet moment... one of our first little family memories that I will never forget.

Ba Ma visit DC

2011-05-14T13:42:00.000-04:00

A pregnant girl, a woman in sequins, and her turtleneck wearing husband enter a bar... the start of a joke? No... actually, its one of the highlights of my weekend. My parents arrived in VA late Thursday night, and I had a wonderful time with them while they were in town.

They didn't land until 11pm Thursday night, and by the time we got back to our house, it was really late, but not late enough for my dad to turn down a glass of cognac and shrimp chips. We stayed up and just talked and laughed until everyone got too tired. The next day, we met my dad's friend, Bac Dan, out in Eden Center for lunch and spent the majority of the afternoon relaxing and watching old episodes of "Family Feud". Now anyone that knows my family knows that my parents are quite the dancers. They go dancing every weekend, and one of their musician friends recommended a dance lounge for them to check out in the DC area. So we while getting ready to go out that night, my dad somehow mistakens shaving cream for hair mousse (this is after he shaved with the protective cap still on his razor). After all that chaos, we head out to V3, expecting the typical lounge targeted towards the older Asian crowd, but instead were greeted with the loud sounds of Usher's "OMG" and a dark room with green and red laser lights. Obviously, this was not at all what we were expecting, so needless to say, we left. But, my go-with-the-flow parents just came up with a plan b. We stopped by this little market nearby, bought some snack foods, came back and just relaxed, and the night couldn't have been more perfect.

At the train station with Dad

and of course, a photo with mom!

I woke up this morning and made my parents breakfast before taking them to the train station to continue their east coast trip. And as I watched them get on the train, I felt my eyes well up with tears. I then realized that I really missed my parents, and was going to miss them now that they're leaving. We didn't do anything particularly special, but it was so nice and comforting to have them around. I don't know if its the years I've spent living here without them, or the fact that I'm on the journey towards parenthood myself, but today I realized that the reason my parents drive me crazy at times was really because they love me like crazy all the times. I have this renewed appreciation for my parents, and I hope I never forget this feeling. If my daughter can one day feel about me what I feel for my parents, I will be so happy with that!

It's a GIRL!

2011-05-09T22:52:00.001-04:00

I had my sonography appointment for an 18 week anatomy scan for the baby today. Although the baby wasn't very cooperative for some images that needed to be taken, she was ever-so-kind to reveal that she was indeed a "she!" We are being blessed with a sweet baby girl!

Here she is rolled up into a tiny little ball

Here's her little profile- you can see her hand behind her head

For lack of a better word, seeing our baby again was amazing, and finding out that she's a girl just made this pregnancy so much more real, and yet still so unbelievable. I really need to work on my mother's intuition though. I seriously was convinced that I was carrying a boy this entire time. Hopefully that will kick in in the next few months.

Baby, is that you?

2011-05-05T17:12:00.000-04:00

I had another prenatal appointment yesterday. We are 17 weeks 4 days into this pregnancy, and already up 12 lbs! The baby's heart was beating at 155 bpm and sounding good and strong! I had some blood drawn and was sent on my merry little way. The doctor also arranged for an ultrasound for an anatomy scan of the baby for this coming Monday, and I am hoping a particular "part", if you will, within the anatomy scan will reveal if the baby is a boy or girl!

On Tuesday, May 3, while I was sitting behind my computer ~~chatting~~ working, I was convinced that I felt the baby move. While googling such a sensation, I've read this movement described as many things, including flutters, bubble popping, cell phone vibrations, butterfly wings... none of which are alike if you ask me. The best I could describe it is if movement had a sound, it was like light ticking. Something like, if somebody could so gently tap you inside your lower belly, if you could imagine something that crazy, that is what it felt like to me. I still wasn't convinced that was the baby I was feeling, but since Tuesday, I have began to feel it more often and more strongly, and I am pretty certain that it is the baby saying hello.

I still get into moments where it is so hard for me to believe I'm pregnant, but with each passing day, it gets more and more real. I imagine it will be really real once the we can give the baby a name after finding out its sex. The anticipation is driving me nuts, but luckily for Eric, his favorite pregnancy symptom is keeping me fairly occupied... nesting!

Tofani Reception

2011-05-04T14:54:00.001-04:00

Eric and I spent this past weekend in Indiana to celebrate Erin and Mike's wedding reception. The two of them actually got married in a beautiful ceremony in Hawaii on Valentine's day earlier this year, but decided to have an Indiana reception for friends and family who couldn't make the journey out there.

We got in Thursday afternoon, and spent the afternoon teaching Parker to get more comfortable riding his bike without training wheels. He got the hang of it really fast!

Lexi was a natural, Parker took a little bit of time,
but mastered it by the end of the day

On Saturday morning, we watched the kids' soccer games. Parker scored two goals, and Lexi scored one! I was really impressed by how athletic they both are.

Once the games ended, we were full into wedding mode. The sisters and I headed to Z's oyster bar to set up the cupcakes, and get hair and makeup all done. The guests arrived at around 7, and it was good eats and good partying from there.

The Oberly siblings at the reception

The bride was breathtaking, the venue was awesome, the food was delicious... it was a wonderful reception! Here's to a lifetime of love and happiness to Mike and Erin! Welcome to the family, Mike!

How Sweet It Is

2011-04-26T16:22:00.000-04:00

I am 16 weeks and 2 days into this pregnancy, and the second trimester has been a dream so far (knock on wood). I have a lot more energy, I'm sleeping without any pee breaks, and I just overall feel awesome!

The day that Eric and I found out we were pregnant, we had just gotten back from our California/Colorado trip, after having just celebrated my 30th birthday. I was unpacking, as Eric was tidying things up downstairs, when I saw a home pregnancy test that I had left in my suitcase. I had previously read that you are to store those tests at a certain temperature, and thinking that the belly of the plane is too cold for the test, I figured it wouldn't be any good, so I decided to take it. And that was when it happened:

My immediate reaction was "OH MY GOSH!"and hearing me rustle around made Eric think that something horrible had happened, and he yelled "WHAT'S WRONG???" So I ran downstairs, with the test in hand, and in an overly excited, and embarrassingly giggly voice said "I think we're pregnant!" I then explained to him that I wasn't sure that the test was any good though, to which he responded "Well, go get more!!"

So I hopped into my car, and I remember while driving, the chorus to Tim McGraw's "Felt Good On My Lips" playing. Now this song has absolutely nothing to do with pregnancy, but the chorus includes a line that says "whoaaa, how sweet it is" and I vividly remember my body filling up with complete happiness and just smiling at the sound of that, thinking indeed how sweet this really was. And since that very moment, any time that song plays on the radio, I am taken back to that wonderful day and I cannot help but smile. I love how music has that ability to bring you back in time!

Oberly Joyed!

2011-04-10T17:24:00.000-04:00

Ok, so the very last post was a little deceptive. Although, I haven't really been out much for the past month, its not because nothing is happening in our lives. In fact, something pretty big is happening... and that is my belly. That is because as of today, I am 14 weeks pregnant, and couldn't be happier about it!

We found out about our little blessing early February. This baby has been very kind to me so far, I was hit with nausea but somehow dodged the vomit bullet, and I am very thankful for that. Besides that, my most unpleasant pregnancy symptom was a quickly filling bladder. But hey, if that's as bad as I got it, I can certainly handle that!

We decided to keep this news to ourselves until we hit around 8 weeks, when we decided to spread the excitement to our family. Our families have been wonderful-- very happy and extremely supportive. I am so thankful to have a big sister who is my go-to pregnancy source and eager baby shower planner, and a thoughtful little sister who sends me encouraging words as well as candles to keep me calm and relaxed while I'm having a freak-out moment (I love you, sisters, its not just the hormones talking!). I am very grateful for my strong network of loved ones during this exciting and yet sometimes scary time.

And just like that, this becomes a pregnancy blog. I don't have the words to describe how genuinely and extremely happy and excited I am about this blessing. I will do my best to keep my blog updated with all the baby news, and I hope you'll join me on this wonderful journey of a little miracle.

where did March go?

2011-04-01T09:09:00.000-04:00

Wowee, I just noticed there are no posts in March! Unfortunately, it is because I didn't do much in March. This will be a boring post. You could probably stop reading now.

Indy had a pretty bad seizure on Sunday. Eric and I had to take her to the emergency vet, where she stayed overnight. We met with a neurologist the next morning who took a look at her blood work and ran some neurological tests to determine that she does indeed have idiopathic epilepsy. The seizure scared us enough to start her on zonisamide (anticonvulsant medicine). So far she's responding well to the medicine-- I'm very pleased it hasn't had any effect on her personality. She's still the same, lovable, goofy beagle.

Winter is slowly melting away, and Spring is teasing us here and there with good weathered days. I could not be more happy about this. Bring on the sunshine!

April will be a fun month. Hopefully I'll have more things to write about with some fun events we have coming up.

Oberly Faithful

2011-02-17T20:15:00.004-05:00

Last week at church, our pastor challenged us to tell one person why we believe in God. I have decided to step up to the challenge in a very passive and yet very scarily public approach and blog about it. I get this strong feeling of vulnerability when I decide to talk about my faith. I'm positive a lot of it has to do with how new it is to me, but each time I do talk about it, I always leave the conversation feeling a lot better and never regretting the decision to do so.

You will recall a night in November of 2009 when Indy went into seizures and her heart stopped 3-4 times on our way to the hospital. That night was probably one of the most horrific nights of my life. Not [only] because I'm a crazy dog lady who loves her dog way too much, but just seeing any living creature hanging on to dear life that way is a little bit traumatizing. I always talk about what a horrible night that was, but if it had to happen, it happened in the best way possible. The slightest little change of detail that night would have resulted in a very different and very sad outcome. That night, I stopped believing in coincidences, and started believing in miracles. That night, and the preceding nights, I prayed for her life as if my life depended on it and Indy is enough living proof to me that prayer works.

That following Sunday, we went to church with Eric's mom. The service was nice, it was kind of the kickoff to the holidays, and so the pastor thought he'd do this fun little game where everyone stood up, and on a projection screen was "Merry Christmas" written in a language with 4 multiple choice options and you had to pick one, and if you got it wrong you had to sit down. There were maybe 10 slides, and by the 9th slide, yours truly was still standing. Lo and behold, the 10th and final slide was "chúc mừng giáng sinh", "Merry Christmas" in Vietnamese. Now, some people might see this as a coincidence, but by that time, I knew better. Of all the Sundays in a year, of all the languages possible, of all the times I am not in Greenfield, IN, the first time I decided to go to church w/ Eric's family... it is too much to just be a simple coincidence.

My experiences that weekend lead me to look back on my life, on times when my faith was tested and I failed to commit. There were many times in my past when I just prayed, hoping someone would listen. And that weekend, for me, was confirmation that someone indeed was listening and answering my prayers.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." -Philippians 4:6

For personal reasons, this has been a prayer heavy week for me. And with every prayer, I get a sense of peace and satisfaction-- simply because I trust in God.

13 going on 30

2011-02-02T15:12:00.003-05:00

This is a story about lies and deceit. But most of all, this is a story about love.

If you can recall, for Christmas, Eric got me tickets to California to celebrate my 30th birthday with my family and friends. Since then, I'd pester Chi Hai about details of our California visit and my birthday party. I was told that when we got in on Thursday (January 27th), we would have a nice little dinner with my immediate family, then on Friday night (January 28th) we would all attend a fancy OCS (Office Candidate School) reunion party with my dad and that my birthday party would fall on Saturday, January 29th. Remember these dates, as it explains how I was completely fooled by my loved ones.

Of course I was beyond excited to be coming home, so I spent a lot of time shopping for the perfect dress and chatting with Chi Hai about the party. She insisted that all I could know is that the party would take place on Saturday at my parent's house, and to be dressed at present at 7pm.

So fast forward to the weekend where Eric and I actually get to California. On that Friday, thinking that the party was going to be at my parent's house the following day, I spent the morning cleaning the public areas of my parents' home. I wiped and dusted the kitchen countertops, scrubbed the bathroom toilet, swept and mopped the entire house. Needless to say, my mom came home beyond grateful.

Mid afternoon, I chatted with Chi Hai, as I always do, and during our chat, she asked me to ask my dad about the party that night. My dad called my mom, who emailed Chi Hai, who forwarded me the following invitation with details to my Dad's OCS reunion party:

The important thing to note here is that there is a party for Vietnamese families at 7pm at the Marriott Hotel in Fullerton. Or so I thought...

Throughout that Friday, the family was pushing me to wear my birthday dress instead of another dress I had brought, but I was being difficult because I had clear intentions to wear my birthday dress for my birthday party. My mom told me to make sure I dress nicely to meet my dad's friends since I never see them. Eric inquired about a color scheme, since my sisters and I liked to match to events. Chi Hai tried to tell me that my other dress actually matched my party theme better, so I should switch the two. The lie that finally worked was Chi Hai telling me that as a surprise, Bao bought me a really expensive dress to wear to my birthday party, and I should wear the one I bought Friday night, so that I wouldn't have had to have bought it for nothing. So now, thinking the joke is on Bao, I got Eric involved, telling him that I know about Bao's surprise and if she asks, I'm wearing this red dress so that we all could match. Once again, the joke was on me.

When the clock hit 6:45 that night, my dad was rushing us out the door, when suddenly he had this urgency to finish watching "Family Feud". We pulled into the parking lot of the Fullerton Marriott at around 7:15pm, and before going in, my mom wanted to call Chi Hai to see where the rest of the family were. Chi Hai told my mom that they were almost there and that they'd meet us inside. Upon walking into the hotel, we asked the hotel desk clerk where the OCS party was taking place, and they pointed us into the right direction.

We found our way to the ballroom, opened the door, and this was my reaction:

from seeing all of this-

all of my loved ones yelling "SURPRISE!!":

photoshopped posters:

of course, cupcakes a la Chi Hai:

See more photos from the party here!

Bao was the Mistress of Ceremonies and kept the party going with her 4 hour 90s R&B mix. She set the tone for a slideshow that Jackie put together (click the link of you can stand looking at pictures of me and my youth for 7 minutes), and also gave the toast before we clinked glasses full of Champagne provided by Shanielle and Carter.

At some point, I was put on the spot to give a speech. And I am really awful about speaking unprepared (no really, I think I even declared this. And I know this has already been one long blog post, but I really want to try saying my public thank yous one more time. It really is the very least I could do.

I am still so blown away by this celebration of my 30th birthday. My imagination could never have come up with anything like this. I want to thank my friends and family for truly making it one of the most special nights of my life, but also for flourishing the first 30 years of my life with such great moments and memories. This was, without a doubt, my favorite birthday, and I have had a ton of good birthdays!

Eric, thank you for making it possible for me to be with all my loved ones on my 30th birthday. This is without a doubt my favorite birthday, and its possible because of you.

I really want to thank Chi Hai, Anh Hai Mike, and Baoby for dedicating so much time out of your busy, busy lives to put this together. I am still in complete awe of all this, and I am so touched by the amount of time and the amount of love you have invested into making me this happen. I appreciate you and love you all so much.

To Tina, Jackie, Khoa, Shanielle, Carter, thank you too so much for your contributions to making this possible. You all are always so willing and eager to help whenever needed, and I do not take any of it or any of you for granted. Thank you guys so much!

I honestly do not have the words to express how grateful I am and how happy I feel-- I am truly blessed! If that night was a sign of things to come in my 30s, then bring it on! Because it is going to be awesome, I know it!

Progress Report

2011-01-19T16:44:00.001-05:00

The first few weeks of 2011 have been pretty uneventful, yet relaxing. Besides the usual rejecting patents, botching dinners, and a Colts upset that we don't speak of in this house, there isn't much to report. That is all about to change, with my next few weekends being filled with visiting family and friends with my big 3-0 around the corner. Meanwhile, I thought I'd let you know that I've been staying pretty on track with my resolution to run and train for a half marathon. Check out my January running log:

I have yet to commit to a race, but my strategy for now is to increase my distance slowly to reduce the possibility if injuring myself. It's been a little bit of a challenge running in the cold Virginia weather, I've sacrificed spending money on every day clothes for running clothes that I'd never wish for anyone to see me in, but all in all, I'm really pretty proud of myself and I feel great about the progress I'm making.

I'm also posting this so that it makes it harder for me to get lazy and fall off the wagon. Here's hoping it works!

Reflecting on 2010

2011-01-05T17:01:00.002-05:00

"Whoooo is that girl I seeee... staring straiiiight, back at meee..." Okay, sorry, I could never resist a Disney song when the opportunity presents itself. My dear friend, Christopher Jay, who has been blogging ever since he discovered he has fingers, does a summary of his year every year. I am stealing this idea, and am presenting to you my year in a nutshell.

There are three major things that I am taking away from 2010, all of which are extremely personal to me, so bear with me as I do my best to put myself out there in words.

At the end of 2009 and for all of 2010, I committed myself to discovering faith. There were times when I found myself seeking help that could only be fulfilled by God. Throughout the year, at times when I sought comfort and peace, I found it through prayer. My hope going into 2011 is to strengthen my knowledge of and my relationship with God.

Last year's annual review included a specific hope for 2010, and that was for Eric and I to start a family of our own. This still has yet to happen, and there was a stretch of time that I really struggled with the disappointment of it not happening and the desperation of wishing for it to happen soon. What I've learned (and am still working on) is trust, patience and gratitude-- trusting that when the time is right, it will happen for us, and meanwhile, patiently waiting and being thankful for things that we still are able to do before this major change in our life.

And finally, in the last few weeks of the year, a lot of my close friends unexpectedly lost loved ones. And from this I was reminded that life is way too short and to truly, truly cherish those that I love and those who love me. I don't think I was ever one to be shy about telling people that I love them, but I am definitely taking advantage of all opportunities to do so. In this coming year, I want to show my family and friends more often how much I care about them. I want to be able to brush off the small petty things and appreciate every minute I have with everyone, because you never know when it will be the last one.

"Whyyy is myyyy reflection someone IIII don't knowwww~~" Okay sorry, had to lighten up the mood a little bit with some more Disney. Anyway, I have another resolution that I've only committed to a handful of people, and I figure I should make it public to force myself to stick to it. I am committing to running 4 times a week. In 2011, I want to run my first half marathon.

And there you have it folks. I can't complain at all about 2010. It was a really good year for me, and I am very thankful for it. I am definitely looking forward to this coming year. I don't want to jinx it, but I got a really good feeling about 2011.

Sew good from afar

2011-01-03T15:57:00.000-05:00

... but far from good. So if you follow my blog, you will recall that I agreed to sew a dress for my sister-in-law for her beachy Hawaii wedding. Our conversation took place over Thanksgiving, when Erin was talking about her wedding dress and said that all she wanted to wear was a white kimono dress. Naturally I responded with "I can TOTALLY make you one!!" and I was totally wrong, as you will soon see.

I gained some confidence with yesterday's sewing success, and decided to dive right into this project. I picked up some shiny white material, and checked the layouts of my pattern at least 8 times before scissors touched any of the fabric. All was going pretty smoothly, and I got so into it, I actually finished her in one afternoon.

I had some serious issues with the skirt bunching in the wrong areas, and Heidi Klum and Michael Kors would've definitely auf wiedersehen'd me for the awful hem job I did... but nonetheless, this dress was sewn with love, and I actually tried very hard to make it turn out as good as possible. I'm hoping practice will eventually make perfect for me and sewing.

My favorite part of the dress was the part that didn't require any sewing. I added little crystal beads to the tie in the back, just to add some wedding flare to a pretty simple dress.

I don't expect Erin to wear this at her wedding, in fact I'm hoping that she won't because she deserves to wear something much more beautiful and not home-made by me. I'm sure you'll look great in what you do decide to wear Erin... um, unless you decide to wear this dress, haha ;)

Sew Warm

2011-01-02T21:55:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, Chi Hai got busy on MarthaStewart.com and emailed me several crafty links, including these simple yet adorable fleece hats. So this afternoon, as a sick Eric Oberly was under the weather and under his snuggie and overdosing on Sunday football to feel better, I declared that I was bored. To remedy my boredom, I got dressed and headed to the fabric store to fulfill these custom order hats for Aidan and Brooke.

I had used online templates/directions before, and I often find that they aren't always as easy as they claim to be. I actually made a prototype of Brooke's before I decided that I actually can commit to making these.

Brooke's hat with ears

Brooke's hat is a white polar fleece. Before the ears, if you lay the hat flat, it actually looks like a rectangle. To make the ears, I tied the corners together, and secured the shape by hand-stitching. As previously mentioned, I had practiced this hat so I knew it was doable. So as soon as I finished it, I had to come up with a game plan for Aidan's.

Aidan's navy blue and red hat

Aidan's was a little bit trickier, with the horizontal stripe going through it. Okay, it wasn't that much harder, but it was important to me that the stripe was perfectly even all around, and that was a little bit of a challenge. But just as the rule of construction, I measured twice and cut once and was successful upon first try. The second challenge was the pom-pom. I wasn't confident that I understood the directions correctly, but I trusted my instincts and got lucky a second time, and that too turned out. Like Brooke's hat, this one also looks like a rectangle right before the finishing step. All that needed to be done was sewing the corners together, then pulling the corners directly down the top center of the hat, and topping it off with the pom-pom.

Now I'm usually not very confident that things I sew will last after one wear. This one is no exception. I'm hoping that after their snow trip, Brooke won't come back with a one-eared hat, and Aidan won't end up with a rectangle on his head. Have fun, kids! Di Ba misses you!

Auld Lang Syne

2011-01-01T18:08:00.000-05:00

Eric and I went out with a bang this year and celebrated New Year's Eve at an event hosted at the Willard Intercontinental, a beautiful and historic hotel in Washington DC, known as the crown jewel of Pennsylvania Ave. We were immediately excited about the celebration as soon as we set eyes on this gorgeous hotel.

outside the beautiful Willard Intercontinental

the breath-taking lobby

The party, hosted by thingstodoDC.com, consisted of 10 themed party rooms, including a Times Square room, and our personal favorite, the Japanese room with Karaoke included:

Our own New Yorkers representing in the NYC room

Look out Backstreet Boys, there's a new boyband in town

Although we hit a few snafus due to poor planning by the event hosts, I think I can speak for all when I say we had such a wonderful time. The hotel was beautiful and our group of friends who celebrated with us were just amazingly fun. I still am on the high of having had such a great time sending off 2010 and welcoming 2011. This really set the tone for the upcoming year. I have a great feeling about you, 2011!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2010-12-28T18:22:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! This year, Eric's mom and sister came into town to celebrate with us. On Friday, we all went to the nursery to pick up a $10 Christmas tree and brought it home to decorate, while cookies that we later decided to call Grinch cookies (they're pistachio flavored and green) were baking in the oven.

Christmas morning, I got busy with preparing a turkey, some stuffing, sweet potatoes and cornbread casserole. I will purposely be omitting a picture of my finished meal, but in my defense, I think it tasted better than it looked... After eating lunch and opening presents, we headed into DC to visit the US Botanical Garden, where they had various holiday exhibits.

And while we were out, we braved the cold and went to see the National Christmas tree. Here is a photo of the family in front of the Indiana tree, the National Tree, and the White House:

The next morning, Andrea took Mom and me to see "The Nutcracker" at the Warner theatre as our Christmas gift:

And that wrapped up our time together. The weekend went by way too fast, and most of the time was spent hanging out, relaxing, laughing and watching Christmas movies and musicals. It was awesome to have two of our favorite women in town for the holidays!

And now, a moment of gushing directed towards my husband. For Christmas, Eric presented me with a box and in it was a Washingtonian magazine and a card. In the card, he wrote some mushy things that of course I love, and explained that he subscribed me to the magazine to visit their recommended points-of-interest monthly. He explained that he had already picked the first month's location, and that I could find it on page 21. And lo and behold, on page 21, Eric taped a copy of flight tickets to California to celebrate my 30th birthday! He had been collaborating with my sisters to surprise me, and decided to give it to me for Christmas. So save the date, family and friends! I'll be in town the weekend of my birthday!

Gal Pals

2010-12-22T17:16:00.000-05:00

Two of my favorite gal pals, Kha Tu and Tiffany came to visit me for a couple of days. I don't know how to put into words how much fun I had with them. The majority of the time was spent just being silly girls, talking and laughing, and boy did I need that quality time spent with them.

They got in late Sunday night, and like girls we stayed up until 4am talking and sharing secrets. The California girls didn't wake up until noon the next day, but as soon as they got up we were out and about. We started off the day having lunch at Cafe Salsa, in Old Town Alexandria. And for those of you who are wondering, yes you can salsa dance there as well as eat salsa.

After lunch, we headed into the city to do some sight seeing. It was frigid out, and I'm proud of the girls for braving the cold. K2 had to constantly wipe her nose before what she referred to as "snotcycles" formed.

Tiffany, K2 (the weak-minded) and "HOT CHOCOLATE! HOT CHOCOLATE!!!":

K2 picked up epilepsy and always had to sleep while in my car after having been fed, so she did just that while Tiffany and I walked through the Smithsonian of Natural History:

We then proceeded to head home, picked up some beer and 5 guys burgers, and hung out with Eric for a little bit before getting dolled up to go salsa dancing. And by go salsa dancing, I mean watch Tiffany tear up the dance floor while K2 and I cheered her on.

All the girls, including Indy:

Tiffany showing K2 some moves:

That night, K2 had a craving for jumbo slice pizza, and for you DC locals, you know exactly what she's talking about, especially after a night of dancing and drinking. She had to settle for some pizza joint on our way home though, where we experienced what we coined a "ba hai mot... mot hai ba" experience, but out it got 2 slices of pizza for the price of one!

The next morning, the girls got up early, and by early I mean 11am as opposed to noon. We headed into Chinatown DC to dine at matchbox, a favorite of mine and Eric's. But while you're there, be careful not to talk to loud. You never know who's eavesdropping... we followed lunch with some shopping at Potomac Mills Mall. Then we headed back to my house to get dolled up to have dinner w/ Eric and Ben at National Harbor. Once we got there, we ate at Ketchup and walked around and enjoyed the holiday lights that were up. It was a cold night, but beautiful. And I learned that in 7 years, a phenomena called solar eclipse will happen in the US, not to be confused with "daylight"...

And our night ended with watching "Eclipse", and by that I do mean the 3rd of the Twilight series, not the Lunar Eclipse that happened on Monday night.

And this morning, I had to let take the girls back to the airport to go home, and it was incredibly sad after such a fun weekend. For those of you who took the time to actually read this post and are utterly confused by all the nonsense, I commend you for your patience. But you know that a post that is full of inside jokes means that it was an awesome time that we all spent together.

K2 and Tiffany, thank you so much for coming out here to visit. I cannot tell you how much fun I had with you both. I value your friendship so much, and I am so thankful for you. Love you girls, have a great holiday!

Double the Fun

2010-12-21T10:24:00.001-05:00

Eric and I spent last weekend in California, to visit my family for the holidays. We got to babysit the kids one night as Chi Hai and Anh Hai enjoyed a night out at a fancy party. We took the kids to Pretend City after school, a place they'd been before and enjoy visiting.

Aidan not shy about his music, and Brooke probably upset that the other girl is wearing the princess dress:

Tee-time with Duong Ba:

Aidan was absolutely fascinated when he figured out how to make that thing spin with water:

Brooke caring for the felt plants:

I wish I had taken more and better pictures, but we were too wrapped up enjoying this rare time that we got to spend with them. The kids are completely different from the last time we visited them (in September!) and I know it'll be the case the next time I see them. They are just more fun than anyone can imagine. I miss them so much and I am dying for my next visit to see them again.

Sew Addicted

2010-12-03T12:18:00.002-05:00

So when I started talking about possibly sewing a beachy wedding dress for SIL Erin, Chi Hai reminded me that sewing a dress really isn't that easy, especially one for a wedding. So, she suggested I practice. I had been promising Chi Hai an apron for over a year now and really have been neglecting my sewing machine lately, and so yesterday I got off my butt, headed to the fabric store and purchased an apron pattern. Instead of springing the money on fabric there, I decided that a rookie like myself should really save money (in case I screwed up) and so I headed to good ol' "Wally World" and bought $4 worth of fabric. I was somewhat pleased with my choices, given their limited selection. So I brought all this stuff home, laid it all out, unraveled the pattern and thought "what the heck did I get myself into?!"

Nonetheless, I decided to carry on, and see where this sewing journey would take me. After what seemed like hours of just cutting along the lines of the pattern and the fabric, it was finally time to put the petal to the metal and do some sewing!

My feelings of being overwhelmed quickly were overtaken by excitement when I was able to put together this cute little pocket for the apron:

This burst of excitement boosted my enthusiasm to put the majority of the apron together last night. My plan of attack was to save the rest for this weekend while Eric was away at drill, but I woke up this morning and jumped right on it, too excited to just let it sit unfinished.

The waistband and the ties were the most challenging part of this apron for me, and they're by no means perfect, but I just carried on, following the instructions the best I could. And after hours of sewing, pressing and cutting, here she is... the final result!

Giving Thanks

2010-11-29T20:08:00.001-05:00

This year, Eric and I spent Thanksgiving in Indiana. As usual, it was a fun-filled weekend. We got in early Thursday morning, and headed to Erin and Mike's place in Fishers. Mike spent the whole morning/afternoon preparing our Thanksgiving dinner, and Eric and I got to act like kids with Lexi and Parker:

The next day, Eric met Matt for lunch, and I got to spend lunch and the afternoon with my mother-in-law. She took me to a local diner, and afterwards I went to her workplace to help her finish some last minute errands and to spend some time with the residents. That evening, Eric and I linked up with the Pfeiffers to brave the cold for Indianapolis' annual lighting of the tree ceremony:

The following Saturday, we linked up with everyone to have pizza before the girls (Mom, Erin, Lexi and myself) split off to catch "Cats" the musical, and the boys went to the arcades and played miniature golf:

The weekend ended with a football game that is never to be spoken of ever again. At least Lucas Oil Stadium was amazing.

As always, I am extremely thankful for my family and their unconditional love and support. I'm thankful for a husband who loves me and challenges me. I'm thankful for friends, old and new, who stick by me through thick and thin. I'm thankful for a healthy little beagle that we thought we might've lost a year ago. It may only be acknowledged every once in a while, but I am truly thankful for these blessings every day.

To the Pillory!

2010-11-21T15:22:00.000-05:00

Oh groupon, how I love thee! Via groupon, we got a great deal for visiting Medieval Madness (think Medieval times, minus the horses and jousting, plus aspiring improv comedians). The ticket came with a 4 course dinner complete without utensils, all the ale you could drink, an improv show, and some sword fighting. The beautiful thing about this dinner show was the staff's true passion for preserving the arts. Of course, the free beer didn't hurt either.

I called to make reservations. Someone failed to make a note that I am female:

This guy's jokes were totally corny and cheesy (The jester, not Eric)

Running Army Strong

2010-10-24T19:54:00.002-04:00

This finisher coin means that I did it! I was able to cross the finish line of the Army 10-Miler, and I couldn't be happier about it! I figured I'd write about it now while I'm still on my post-run high, and not after I go to bed and wake up in pain and possibly feeling different about the experience.

Last night, I went to bed overwhelmed with anxieties that lasted up until they fired the cannon to start. A million thoughts went through my mind but as soon as I started my run, all those thoughts went away and I was completely focused on my pace. I'm not going to brag about my pace because honestly there isn't much to brag about! haha

It was a beautiful day for a race. It also helped that the course was amazing, passing by all of DC's monuments. The first 6 miles went pretty smoothly, and I somehow missed the 7 mile marker, which made that 6th mile seem like forever. After mile 8, I was starting to run out of juice, but at mile 9, a runner came up next to me and told me she liked my haircut... even after having run 9 miles. This amused me enough to give me that little boost I needed to sprint the last mile and accomplish my goal. Running the last quarter mile with all the spectators cheering you on is really something out of this world.

I am really proud of myself! If you asked me 4 weeks ago if I thought I could run 10 miles, I would probably laugh because the idea of it was so ridiculous. Thanks to Eric and Andrea and all my family and friends for being so supportive and encouraging and pep talking me when this felt like an impossible goal to achieve. Who knows, maybe there will be more posts about running after this one.

Here is a photo of Andrea and me once we found each other after the race:

Here's our awesome course map:

Run to the beat of my own drum

2010-10-13T18:48:00.001-04:00

This is my official public announcement-- I will be running in 2010's Army Ten-Miler! I had to google the website to link it to my blog and the website kindly reminded me that there are only 10 days until the race! I got a lot of emotions about this one.

I actually intended to run the Army Ten-Miler in 2008. I was training for it while Eric was deployed, but as fate would have it, he came home for his 2 week leave, which coincided with the race date. At the time, I obviously chose to spend time with my boyfriend who I haven't seen in months rather than run 10 miles and spend time recovering from such a run. After that, the idea of running just kind of fell off the face of my world.

Fast forward to 2010-- my athletic Mr. Fitness USA husband decides he wants to train for a full marathon, and run the Army Ten-Miler in between. Three weeks ago, he went to the doctor to check up on his sore legs, and sure enough was diagnosed with shin splints. The doctor advised Eric not to run for 6 weeks, meaning he will miss both his marathon and the Army Ten-Miler. My goofy self had to make a joke about taking his spot in the race, and somehow jokes became reality and I found myself training for a 10 mile run that then would take place in a month. Does that sound crazy to anyone else but me?

So come all the feelings of nervousness and doubt. When I was intending to run this race in 2008, I was running 5 miles a day for quite sometime. However prior to this change in race plans, it had been forever and a half since my feet had seen my running shoes. It seemed over-ambitious and unrealistic, but I figure why not give it a try? By the end of two weeks (last weekend) I was able to run 6 miles. My goal is to be able to run 8 this weekend, and finish off at 10 come race weekend.

After my 6 mile run, I felt very tired in the knees and started to get very nervous about this commitment to training. I was unsure I would be able to do it, and a part of me still is. However, while running today I decided that as long as I did my best and just finished the race, I would be very proud. I am by no means a runner, and being able to cross the finish line of a 10 mile race would be an awesome accomplishment for myself. My goal isn't to run 10 miles in a set amount of time. My goal is to finish a race I wanted to finish years ago.

Wish me luck, family and friends! I'm going to need it!

Paper Anniversary

2010-09-28T18:54:00.000-04:00

I love Eric Oberly! This past weekend, Eric took me to NYC to celebrate our first year of marriage. I remembered thinking last year on our wedding day that there was no way anyone could love another person more than I loved Eric. And yet here I am, one year later, finding myself loving him more now than I did even then. Yes, the rest of this post will likely be this mushy. Consider yourselves warned!

The first gift in paper form were train tickets from Alexandria to NYC. When we got there, we walked up a few blocks to the Distrikt Hotel, a charming yet modern hotel tucked away behind Port Authority, close to Times Square. We were told by several friends that the top of the Rockefeller Center was the way to go as far as getting a great view of the city. They were absolutely right, but unfortunately we were unable to get any great photos to prove it. This one will have to do:

We grabbed some pizza on our walk back to the hotel and got washed up to partake in the second gift in paper form... tickets to see "Wicked". This was our first time seeing it and I wish I could put into words what it did to me. I thought it was absolutely amazing, and was embarrassingly giddy after leaving the Gershwinn Theatre.

We had amazing front-row balcony seats:

The next day was designated Central Park day. We walked around beautiful Central Park, visited its zoo, then followed up with a visit to the American Museum of Natural History. We stopped by McGee's for lunch (McGee's is the bar that inspired Maclaren's in "How I Met Your Mother"). While there, we ran into some Colts fans that told us that Keats was where NYC Colts fans caught the games. Of course, we headed there!

The next morning and the entire day, it poured in NYC. We already had tickets to take the ferry to Liberty Island, so we sucked it up and went. Because of the rain, we were unable to get any great photos with the Statue of Liberty, but believe me when I say she was a beauty! Before heading back to the hotel room to relax, we took the subway to Momofuku. I had heard great things about their pork belly buns and their compost cookie and will report that I very much enjoyed both! After lunch, Eric and I gave our feet and legs much needed rest before getting dolled up to go to Daniel Boulud's restaurant, Daniel. This was, hands down, the best meal of my life! And as good as the food was, the service was equally great. We were completely spoiled there, as our server knew it was our anniversary. I don't know who told him that sweets were the way to our hearts, but we ended our 3 course dinner with 6 (count them) desserts! The restaurant was way fancy, and I really hope we'll get to experience something like that again.

And as if those 3 days weren't enough, Eric surprised me with a present that was a year in the making. He started a journal in October 2009, comprising thoughts and memories we shared throughout our first year of marriage, with intentions to share them with me for our 1 year anniversary. He definitely still knows how to make my heart go pitter patter.

It was such a wonderful weekend. I can't even tell you how great I still feel from the high of it all. I love my husband, and I am really looking forward to all the things our second year of marriage will bring!

sew what do you think?

2010-09-23T16:00:00.002-04:00

Its officially Fall, and we've had a couple of beautiful days here in Virginia, but after the few beautiful days come the bitter cold days of Winter. What this means is bye-bye dresses, hello sweaters, which I hate. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a pretty snowfall now and then, but putting on layer after layer is a total drag. My Winter wardrobe is fairly boring-- I stick to a formula consisting of a sweater, scarf, and coat. As such, I have a closet full of plain, solid colored sweaters that frankly I am bored of but need to keep me warm as the weather changes. I decided not to invest in more sweaters that I don't care too much about, and save some money by adding flare to my existing sweaters.

The first victim of my fabric surgery operation was this olive green sweater I got from Target for maybe $20 (Photo was taken last year on NYE):

So with this, I hopped on to etsy.com and searched for a lace applique. Found one I liked for $8. I received it in the mail today and first thing I did was pin it in place

(edit: my older sister so kindly pointed out that the tag on this sweater looks like it says 2x, when in actuality my macbook mirrored a photo of the label that reads xs. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

The lace was so delicate that I didn't feel confident about running this under my sewing machine. So I went old school-- threaded a needle and sewed it down by hand. It's not a very huge transformation, but I like the little detail adds to it.

And here I am being a dork and modeling my new-old sweater:

Sew.... what do you think? I'll be happy if the darn thing doesn't fall apart after one wash...

O-beer-ly

2010-09-14T21:03:00.002-04:00

Bill and Leslie welcomed us into their lovely home not only to feed us delicious food, but also to show us how to brew our own beer. The Oberlys know better than to turn down good food and beer!

About a month ago, we came by for Eric and Bill to actually mix the beer potion. Ok, that's not the technical term for it and in actuality it seemed like a very complex process, but I was baking cupcakes with Leslie while they were doing that part of the beer brewing, so I'm not 100% sure what went on then. But we came back tonight to bottle the beer that was made, and this time I got to be a part of the action.

It all started with this Ale Pail, with its ever-so-handsome design:

But make sure your children don't taint the beer!

Bill fills the bottles with beer (with Leslie in the background, fully supporting my blogging):

and Eric puts the caps on the bottles, as I pretend to be helpful:

And here are a few of the completed bottles of Oktoberfest beer that we bottled tonight. They got a couple of weeks until they're ready for drinking:

It was a very fun and unique experience. It's nice that Bill and Leslie totally know what they are doing; I can only imagine the mess that Eric and I would have made if we were to take this on ourselves. We got to sample some of the pumpkin beer that they previously made. It was delicious, and I'm not even a beer drinker!

Here's hoping we'll get to do this again soon! Thanks Bill and Leslie!

Cali 2.0

2010-09-11T14:55:00.000-04:00

Post vacation blues are definitely hitting me hard today. Aidan and Brooke truly are the wonder twins. I have the best parents and siblings anyone could ask for. And needless to say I'm head over heels for my husband. I am so blessed with an amazing family, and I miss them all very much right now.

Eric and I spent Labor Day weekend in California visiting family. We got to spend a lot of quality time with family, and Eric finally got the chance to get to know Aidan and Brooke. Luckily, they took us quickly. Namely because Eric became the mayor of water town:

We also took the kiddos to the sea life aquarium in Carlsbad, after visiting Ba Noi:

The majority of the weekend was spent eating Anh Chi Hai's delicious cooking, swimming, taking A & B to the park, and just hanging out and being goofy... and I wouldn't change a thing about it. I can't tell you what it is, but this was one of the most fun visits to California, and sure I say that every time I visit, but I also mean it every time I say it.

Thank you family, for a wonderful visit yet again!

Squeezebox

2010-08-27T22:53:00.000-04:00

For whatever reason, early this morning I had the strong urge to play my accordion. I guess I should start by saying, for those who don't already know, I studied the accordion from age 4-18. Music school played a huge and wonderful role in my adolescence. I loved playing the accordion and also formed some of my greatest friendships while in music lessons. I eventually stopped taking lessons when it was time to start college.

When I moved to Virginia, it was important to me to have my accordion with me. But the sad truth is, my accordion has only been out to breathe maybe three times. Which brings me to today. I can't really explain it, but I just really wanted to take her out for a spin. It is nothing like riding a bike! You can forget how to play, which can be so frustrating especially when I think back to how good I used to be. But while playing today, I saw glimmers of hope, little reminders that its still in me somewhere, and that was just enough to get me hooked. Hooked enough to practice for a solid four hours. And with that, I close with a picture of my arm with a bruise on it. For you volleyball players, you think you have it rough on the arms... try playing the accordion.

Oberly Crabby

2010-08-22T15:25:00.000-04:00

This isn't a post about me being in a crabby mood. Yesterday, Eric and I spent our afternoon with some friends at Maryland's crab and beer festival. You read that right, friends... all-you-can-eat crab and all-you-can-drink beer.

The event took place at the National Harbor, MD. When we arrived at the tented area, we got in line to receive the above glasses to taste the various beers and wines available. We found an area under the tent to sit at, and sent the boys to get our helping of crab, corn, and coleslaw.

before:

after:

It was a lot of fun, the crab was delicious and needless to say, we made sure we got our money's worth of both crab and beer.

Life Playlist

2010-08-07T11:09:00.002-04:00

I know a lot of people who are really into music and who are super proud of their collection of songs. I love my music too, but truth be told I'd be far too embarrassed to let anyone go through my ipod to see the randomness that is my itunes playlist. I am well aware that I like a lot of cheesy songs. But today, as Eric was away at drill, and I had the house to myself, I blasted my ipod and put it on shuffle as I was cleaning up around the house, and a series of songs came on, each that reminded me of a different time in my life, and I felt compelled to write about it.

"Water Runs Dry" by BoyzIIMen: Without a doubt, the II album started it all. My sisters and I owned the tape, and it was what was always playing in Chi Hai's powder blue 86 Corolla when she started driving. This album was what made 90s R&B my genre of choice!

"How You Gonna Act Like That" by Tyrese: Okay fine, this song doesn't really remind me of a time in my life as much as it is an inside joke between Bao and me.

"Watch What Happens" Stanley Turrentine: All instrumentals-- I know I downloaded this song because I remembered an accordion arrangement of it played at Martin Music Center, and loved it! So naturally, it made me think of my accordion days.

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day: I can tell you exactly how the music video goes, because I watched it several times a day every day when I had my job at Hot Topic Headquaters, where TVs featuring music videos were on all day.

"So Happy Together" by The Turtles: I know I downloaded this song when my family had this short-lived idea to start a family band... we were "Too Fickle for a Name", hence the name. I spontaneously bought a drum set, Bao was on bass, An was on guitar, Chi Hai was on keyboard, and we had the Nguyens as our singers. I can't help but smile when I think of this time.

"Move Your Feet" by Junior Senior: A GREAT song to run to! I know this because it was a constant on my playlist while I thought I was half-marathon training when Eric was in Iraq. (I "thought" I was, because I actually never did run it...)

Anyway, the reminders of all these memories made me smile this morning, so I thought I'd share the happy thought with all of you. That is one of the many reasons why I love music so much.

P180X

2010-08-04T18:47:00.003-04:00

The burn-in on the screen of our plasma TV with the P90X logo reminded me to blog about my workout experience. Over 90 days ago, I made a public commitment to finish Tony Horton's 90 day workout. And no, I do not look like a body builder, but I'm happy to say I stuck to my workout commitment and it did do great things for my health and strength. So here are some of my thoughts on the program.

Sure, Tony Horton is somewhat obnoxious, and naturally you're not likely to like someone who tells you to do things that initially pains your body. But making a game out of the things he says and pushing myself to try my best and believe in the system was well worth it. Doing any physical activity an hour each day for 90 days will certainly make changes to your body, and this is a great way to do it. The program is based on "muscle confusion"-- just as your body is getting used to certain movements, the workout changes to focus on other movements. That said, there is a lot of variety in the workouts, and variety to me equals less boring. Out of the 13 disks, my favorite was the plyometrics disk, with Kenpo being a close second.

I was pretty good about this the first 60 days. Around the end of that time, I cheated on P90x with my new bicycle here and there, but overall I noticed the most change in my shoulders, arms, and legs. In fact, I'm getting ready to arm wrestle Eric. Okay, no I'm not, but I enjoyed it so much, I'm starting my second round of P90X. Now do you get the title of this blog post? P90X + P90X = P180X??... to my geeky friends, please don't give me a solution to that equation...

And on that note, free tickets to my gun show for all (and my buddy Jamie's):

Nothing comes close to the Golden Coast!

2010-07-30T13:02:00.000-04:00

.. and thank you, Katy Perry! Last Thursday through Tuesday, I got to go to just about my favorite place ever-- Orange County, California. My family is there, my family that is now so different with the addition of my niece and nephew, who I have completely fallen for after spending my entire visit with them.

Since I've come home, I've sang excerpts of "baby signing time" with a little bit of sadness that Aidan and Brooke aren't around to finish the last line for me. [insert Brooke's "me.. me... meeeee"]

This was one of the most eventful visits home. Started the weekend dancing the night away with my parents. For those of you who don't know, my parents love to dance! On Thursday night, we met them at Nhu Y in Fountain Valley for some 8 entrees of fish and some singing and dancing.

Here is a photo of my twinkle-toed parents:

The next day was full out girls day with my mom and sisters. We met at Jim and Grace's home in Riverside to meet my new niece, Abigail Grace Stefanovic:

Then the Ngo women headed to Ontario Mills mall where we did two things we enjoy: shopping and eating. That evening, I came home and got to spend time with Aidan and Brooke at the park. These kids love being "ah ah" (outside).

The next day we mosied on down to San Marcos to celebrate my grandma's 90th birthday! I cannot stress how much I love my Ba Noi. She played a huge part in raising me and my sisters. I thank God that she is here to celebrate our 90th birthday, and continues to be full of good health and spirit to hopefully celebrate a handful of more birthdays to come.

This is me with our birthday girl, the oldest member of the Ngo family and Brooke, the youngest member of the Ngo famly

Here is a photo of Ba Noi with all her grandbabies/nieces/nephews

Ngo family parties are the best! We have amazing food, and great conversation. We just sit around and laugh and be our goofy selves, and I missed this so much.

The next morning I had dim sum with some of my friends. It gets so hard to visit friends because I do so much with my family in the short time of my visits, but I could not be happier to have had time to see my buddies. I love these people and every time I get with them, its all laughs.

Me with the ladies:

Me with the fellas:

And then it was off to the Orange County fair with the Lamily and Bao. I have to say, I've always enjoyed pigging out at the fair, but this was without a doubt my favorite fair experience. Namely because Aidan and Brooke were so excited to be there! They pointed at farm animals, got excited when seeing stuffed animals, and were just over stimulated with their surroundings. It was one of the most precious things I've ever seen and I am so glad I was around to experience this with them.

A & B loving the "moooo"

My final day in California was spent at the happiest place on earth. Bao and I had this crazy idea to take Aidan and Brooke to Disneyland along with the Abris trio. When Shanielle showed up, we were finally 5 adults with 5 children. It was a lot of chaos, but totally worth it. I was too busy to take photos, but here are some photos taken by Chi Hai. I also got to meet up with Deejay, who is a friend I grew up with and she is now 8 mos pregnant, and just about the cutest pregnant woman ever.

It was very hard to sum up a trip that was packed with so much fun. Here are the rest of the photos taken during my trip. I'd like to close with a thank you to my husband, who sacrificed his trip to stay home and take care of our sick beagle (who by the way is doing a lot better). I came home to a house that was cleaner that I've ever seen it. Eric, youre the best. And to my family, what a wonderful visit I had in California. That was one of my favorite visits, and I feel so blessed to have such an awesome family.

Prayers for Indy

2010-07-21T11:11:00.003-04:00

Indy is back in the hospital under critical care due to seizures this morning. She seemed fine and wanted to leave with us, but we were advised to keep her there in case she should seizure again. I know there are a lot of people that are going through much more serious things, and it may seem silly to pray for a dog, but Indy is my life and I ask you to send a prayer or two her way.

This morning, just minutes after Eric left for work, I was heading upstairs to my home office, where Indy usually follows me and sleeps as I work. I heard a thump on her way up, and when she got up, she had her foot tight against her body as if she had injured her foot. So I picked her up and took her back downstairs, where she began shivering, a sight all too familiar to me (during her trauma last November). I got dressed quickly and before I could step out the door, Indy went into a seizure. I was able to get her into the car and to our home vet where they gave her shots to stabilize her. Eric met me at our vet, where Indy again went into another seizure, and our doctor advised us to take her to a nearby 24 hour emergency care hospital, where she is now. The whole ride there was scarily dejavu for us, but I feel better now that she is under constant watch. The whole frustrating part now is figuring out what caused the seizures and how to get rid of them. We're still waiting to hear from the doctors, as our baby is under their care.

I know a lot of people won't understand the love a person has for their pets. Frankly, I don't care about those people. I love my dog, she is my best friend, and I can tell you that no one can love you more unconditionally than your dog. I pray that Indy comes home to us safely, the same dorky, prissy dog she always was that I simply adore.

Brew @ the Zoo

2010-07-17T09:24:00.002-04:00

Last Thursday, Eric and I joined some friends at an annual beer tasting event held at the National Zoo. Brew at the Zoo gathers a handful of beer vendors and a large amount of the local beer connoisseurs (read: young professionals who like to drink beer) together at the zoo to sample a variety of beer. It was an extremely hot day; thank goodness we had cold, refreshing beer to cool us down.

When you enter the zoo, you walk down to the pavilion where the event takes place. Every drinking participant gets a mug as a souvenir but also for beer! Notice the fill line at the bottom (and thank you hand model, Jamie Kucab):

Behind us is a small section of the many beer tents that were there. I was designated driver, so I'm holding a milkshake instead of a mug. Unfortunately this wasn't "Shake at the Zoo" and I did not get free refills:

There were also food vendors there, and when your hands were full of food, you had friends to help you wash it all down with a beer:

It was a fun and chill event, I know Eric enjoyed the beer and we both enjoyed the company. I wouldn't be surprised if we attended this event again next year... I'm still waiting on "Shake at the Zoo" though.

4th of July @ Galway

2010-07-06T20:08:00.005-04:00

This year we spent July 4th with Eric's family up at his Grandpa's lake house in Galway, New York. I heard about Galway very early in our relationship, but never had the chance to go until now. The great things I've heard about it could not be more spot on. It is such a beautiful place, so peaceful and yet so full of things to do. The family introduced me to Quizo (which is Galway's version of Bingo), they took me to the candy shop (can't find prices better than that), and Andrea even walked me to the "Gingerbread house".

Grandpa's lake house itself is one of the most charming houses I've ever seen. Aside from all that, it was great to relax on the lake and spend such quality time with the family. It was awesome to have the majority of the family in town (but we missed those who couldn't make it!)

Here's the outside of the house:

but here's our temporary home for the weekend:

Even Indy got used to the tent. On the last night, she nosed it to let Eric know she was ready to sleep. This was quite the weekend for our little beagle. She even learned to swim:

It was fun to learn about and relive most of Eric's childhood Galway memories. I hope that this is something we will continue to do every year, but even more so than that, I hope this is a tradition that the family will share with the generations to come.

Welcome home, Eric!

2010-06-25T06:29:00.000-04:00

Eric returned from AT earlier than we thought he would, so when we saw his Jeep pull in the drive way, Indy starts to spaz, and I pull out the camera. Needless to say, we're both glad to have him back!

be all that you can be

2010-06-11T22:18:00.000-04:00

Its that time of year again. Tomorrow morning, before the roosters wake up, Eric will be leaving for his two week annual training with the Army. You would think that after having been separated for a year that two weeks would be a breeze, but it honestly doesn't get any easier. I've known for a while now that these two weeks would be coming up soon, but as I wished him a good night tonight, it was a lot harder than I expected. It then takes me to the moment when we did have to say our goodbyes before he deployed, and I can't help but think about all the soldiers who are currently overseas and their families.

I vividly remember the feelings of sitting in a football stadium full of families of soldiers getting ready to deploy, and sharing with them the feeling of being proud of our soldiers for their commitment and bravery, but also feeling equally scared, sad, and anxious. I wish I was better about remembering this feeling on a daily basis because everyday there is someone feeling what I felt at that time and what I would really like to do is offer them the comfort they seek and the appreciation they deserve.

Tonight, I ask two favors of you. First, I personally ask you each to take some time out of your day to thank a soldier. They sacrifice so much to protect the beauty that is America. Secondly, I ask that before you go to bed tonight, to please say a prayer for the safe return of our troops.

On a lighter note, I have a bonus favor to ask. Please call me frequently in the next two weeks to keep me company and to make sure I'm not eating myself out of my misery. =)

you'll look sweet, upon the seat...

2010-06-07T18:49:00.000-04:00

...of a bicycle built for one! (not two, only because I haven't yet tricked Eric into getting us a tandem bicycle).

Well, the cheesy throwback of a childhood song is the introduction to my newest addiction. Last Saturday, Eric and I went out and he bought me a bicycle. While we were driving it home from Dick's Sporting Goods, I shared stories with him of how my dad used to take my sisters and I out to the park to ride our bikes as he read a newspaper. Bao and I would be crammed into the back seat of the Chevrolet Cavalier along with 2 bicycles (mine and Chi Hai's, since Bao's was so little it fit in the trunk!) I remembered feeling the excitement of going out to the park with my family and the reminiscing of these memories built up present day excitement.

Eric and I took bikes out for a spin. Eric had intentions of just showing me how to get on the bike trail by our house, but adrenaline kicked in and we ended up riding from our house to Mt. Vernon. The total round trip ended up being approximately 16 miles but I was having too much fun to notice. That is until an hour after I got home, and the soreness in my bum started coming through...

I took the bike out today by myself and the fun factor was no less than day one. I can't believe how much I am enjoying something as simple as a bicycle. I also love that its something athletic that I can do with Eric (since he pretty much kicks my butt at all things sporty). Hopefully this bike will get to see a lot of the DC metro area and be the source a lot of blog posts.

gentlemen... start your engines!

2010-06-01T09:58:00.000-04:00

Eric's 29th birthday was no different than any other of his birthdays that we've celebrated together. We spent Thursday on the road to Indiana to be with family and friends and thousands of our other closest loved ones attending the Indy 500. This was one of my favorite trips to Indiana. Andrea and Zack were back, the Dunns were in town and it was just a really pleasant visit. Most of my time was spent with the wives while we were on duty to pick up our inebriated husbands. haha I had a really great time and I'm sure Eric had yet another awesome birthday.

This is how we found the boys after carb day:

The Dunns (with baby on the way!)

The Pfeiffers: Sorry Gina, the photo looked good on my tiny camera screen!

The Oberlys

A special thanks to the men and women in the armed forces for your service to this wonderful country. Thank you for keeping America the land of the free and the home of the brave. Happy Memorial day!

yo-ho! yo-ho!

2010-05-04T19:31:00.000-04:00

... a pirate's life for me! Last weekend I got with a few friends to partake in the DC Challenge. If you're not interested in clicking the link, its an urban scavenger hunt. Picture amazing race, but in DC. Costumes were optional, but naturally we went that route. We decided to run throughout the city dressed as pirates:

At around 2ish, about 250 teams (that's a LOT of people) gathered by Union Station to get our set of clues. They handed out 12, and we were to complete 11 and meet back on the mall by the Washington Monument. We were only able to complete seven (and a half, but by the time we got to our 8th destination, it was being closed...). It was a hot day in DC, but it was so much fun and this is definitely something we'd hope to do again.

Here our clue read: "In the park named for a famous Frenchman, Conception Picciotto has been protesting nuclear weapons more or less nonstop since August 1, 1981; She's watched over five presidents from her prime spot. If she's not there, or is sick of DC Challengers, a photo with her tent and signs will do."

This took place right infront of the white house. There just so happened to be a rally going on that day (really? in DC?...) but we managed to squeeze ourselves to the tent pictured behind us.

"DC has more than a few crime fighters: if they've got a badge and a gun, take a picture with them. It shouldn't be hard: in DC you'll find 1,800 Capitol Police Officers, 1,300 officers of the Secret Service's Uniformed Division, and 4050 officers of the Metropolitan Police Department."

This officer was patrolling the rally, but didn't mind to smile in a picture with a bunch of crazy kids dressed as pirates.

bring it

2010-04-21T20:21:00.000-04:00

Nine days ago, I dipped my feet into a little workout routine known as P90X. I kept this mostly to myself, not knowing if it was something I wanted to or was able to commit to. And here we are, nine days later, and I am making my commitment to this fitness program public knowledge.

The inspiration to attempt P90X came from many places. The first being that I will soon be working from home, and therefore lose the convenience of having an on campus gym. The second is have workout buddies (who will remain anonymous until they too choose to publicize their P90X commitment) keeping me in check. I used to be a pretty shy gym-goer, really keeping to myself while working out, but I've recently found that having a gym buddy (or in this case, a workout buddy) pushes you to work harder and makes it a lot harder for you to be lazy or make excuses to skip a day... which turns into 2.. which turns into a week. You get the idea.

On that note, I'm putting down the laptop... and picking up my burger. haha just kidding... or am I?!

bawwwston with my sistahs

2010-03-31T22:51:00.006-04:00

Chi Hai, Bao and I decided that instead of birthday presents, we would spend the money on a trip. It was the end weekend of Bao's spring break, and we decided to meet each other in Boston. I honestly feel like we could meet anywhere and it would just be one of the most fun weekends ever.

Both my sisters were sleep deprived when they picked me up at 8am, and I give them much credit because as soon as I landed, our trip started. We were in Boston for a short 48 hours, but managed to pack in a lot of sight seeing and a lot more inside jokes. No wonder I always got in trouble for laughing too much while growing up. Its hard not to laugh when I'm with my sisters.

Here are some photos of our trip that really don't do it any justice. I had such a great time, ate some of the best food, and laughed harder than I've laughed in quite a while.

Boston greeted us with snow. Here I am with Chi 2 in front of the Boston Public Library:

We had lunch here. Oysters and cocktails (easy on the fruit salad, Chi Hai)

Thank goodness Chi Hai's iphone helped us get here...

Toni Braxton + dinner at Giacomos= BEST NIGHT EVER!!

The next morning we got some Dunkin Donuts coffee and Bagels to start our day.

Walking the freedom trail and loving it

Stopped for some chowda at Quincey Market

Awesome sushi at FuGakYu

I tried to choose photos that had more than one of us in there, and now it looks like all we did during our trip was eat. The funny part about that is, there are a lot of other things we ate that I didn't highlight in this blog post (cannolis, macarons, and the best breakfast ever at bambara). Take a look at Chi Hai's post for reveiws on all the things we saw and ate. And on that note, I leave with a question for Bao:

Did you LOOOOOOOVE this trip?!?!?!

guten tag & bon jour!

2010-03-25T20:21:00.001-04:00

Well when "snowpocalypse" hit the DC area, Eric and I had to cancel our trip to Utah. We decided to use the money we got back from that trip towards tickets to Germany to visit Andrea and Zack while they were still there. This was my first time in Europe and I am simply in awe of everything we saw. To say the vacation was amazing is a complete understatement. I had such a great time!

We flew into Nurnberg and drove to Bamberg where Andrea and Zack currently live. Eric and I napped until they came home from work. They woke us up, put Eric in lederhosen, and took us to a local brewery where we ate delicious food and drank delicious beer. It was also St. Patrick's day so we met up with a few of their friends to celebrate:

The next day, Eric and I left and headed to Frankfurt. On the way there, we stopped by Rothenburg ob der Tauber and ate lunch and walked around. It was such a cute little town. There were several shops and museums, and we decided to stop by the punishment and torture museum.

We made it to Frankfurt, stayed the night, and visited the zoo the next morning before continuing our journey to Paris.

We finally made it to Paris, and packed the two days with site-seeing. We had dinner at the Eiffel Tower (one of my "bucket list" items) and we also watched a show at the Moulin Rouge. We saw the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Opera House, and the Arc de Triumph. We also fit in eating pastries and drinking beer (while wearing ties and barretts!)

After Paris, Eric and I headed to Friedrichshafen to visit Eric's buddy Phil and his wife Kati. Our visit with them was way too short. We woke up early next morning and headed to Schwangau to visit two castles of King Ludwig II. I fell absolutely in love with the castles. The first is Hohenschwangau and the second is Neuschwanstein. The photos do not do them justice!

I cannot say enough wonderful things about our vacation. I imagine it will be quite a while until we'll get to visit again, but I really can't wait until that day comes again.

Thanks to Andrea, Zack, Phil, and Kati for your hospitality! It was so much fun to hang out with you guys!

Auf wiedersehen & Au Revoir!

sweet, sweet angel

2010-03-09T17:37:00.000-05:00

about a week ago, i wrote a post about praying for baby layla grace and the marsh family. it was announced on their twitter page today that layla grace went to Heaven early this morning. i don't know layla or the marsh family, but their story has moved me in a way i am unable to describe.

i was driving back from an appointment when "i'll be missing you" was playing on the radio. for those who don't know, one of my closest friends passed away when we were 16 and i made it a vow to not change the radio station whenever that song was played, in his memory. and as the song played, i immediately felt compelled to check the marsh family twitter page to find that layla too has joined the other angels in Heaven.

for a whole week, i checked up on layla as if she were my family. i prayed with thousands of others for a miracle as much as i prayed for her peace. and i am as heartbroken as i am relieved to hear of her passing. this two year old girl has touched so many people in her short, precious life. i am sad for the marsh family but i am thankful to have been one of the many people touched by their sweet angel, layla grace.

layla grace

2010-03-03T22:23:00.000-05:00

family and friends, with all my heart, i ask you to take a moment to pray for layla grace and her family. layla is a beautiful young girl who is battling a cancerous tumor in her abdomen (stage 4 neuroblastoma). i was made aware of her life and her story through my sister's blog, and i immediately felt compelled to spread the word and ask for prayers.

i really want to write so much more but i don't even have the words to describe what i feel right now. i just ask that you continue to pray for her and her family.

moms know best

2010-03-02T22:56:00.001-05:00

this past weekend, eric's mom flew in to pay us a visit. if you ask me, she didn't stay nearly long enough, but we spent her time well and it was a visit packed with fun and laughter. eric and i picked her up at reagan national airport and headed straight to old town for lunch. afterwards, we dropped off eric at work and spent some girl time at yvonne's hair and nails (for those of you who follow my blog, this is indeed the spa where bao and i experienced the fish pedicure). i then took her to grand mart where she got to see the wonderful chaos that is an international supermarket. we met up with eric and headed to national harbour where coincidentally it was restaurant week. we ate at bond 45 and shared the entire restaurant week menu-- it was delicious. it was freezing out, so instead of walking outdoors, we did the next best thing-- walked indoors at the gaylord national.

we kicked off the next day in china town and had dim sum (for her first time!)

afterwards, we visited the newseum (that is not a typo!)

it was such an interesting museum! its hard to describe it, but its basically filled with all the big events that were ever documented, it was jam packed with history-- it covered just about every major event you could ever think of. i was extremely moved by their tribute to 9/11. for you locals, i highly recommend you visit the newseum; you won't be disappointed!

that night, we put together a meal with the groceries we bought at the market. eric grilled some bulgolgi and i made some kimchi fried rice. we just sat around, ate dinner, and ended the evening watching "bedtime stories".

the next morning, we got up, attended church, and ate brunch at the silver diner. we had a few hours to sit around and chit chat (indy had a few more hours to sit on grandma's lap) and it was time to say good-bye. the weekend was a lot of fun, and you know how time flies when that happens!

platinum star day

2010-02-26T09:37:00.001-05:00

if i could still get tiny stars on a chart to represent what kind of day i had, yesterday's would be platinum. i came into work like any other day, logged onto my computer to find an email from my supervisor with "congratulations" in the subject. i figured it would be an email to the entire work group congratulating someone on a promotion. turns out, it was intended for me! i got results back from the certification exam i took at work about a month ago, and i passed! this opens great doors of opportunity for me and is a huge relief lifted up off my shoulders. i took the exam the day after bao and i went to see the mariah carey concert (the morning before sangria met "death") and i left the examination room feeling awfully defeated. so to find out yesterday morning that i passed was an extremely pleasant surprise!

in the evening, we met up with some friends and ate dinner at champs in pentagon row. the weather was cold and windy, but that sure didn't stop us from ice skating outdoors! it was so much fun, i can't even remember the last time i went ice skating. its definitely a lot harder than i remembered, maybe i was just more fearless when i was younger. nevertheless, it was a great time with friends. and i went to bed with a huge smile on my face, completely satisfied with my day.

in a matter of hours, eric's mom will be landing in dc. i am really looking forward to this very fun-filled weekend!

alive and well

2010-02-24T20:01:00.002-05:00

yesterday i was having a pity party for one (myself). lately i've just felt like i'm out of things to do, like i've gotten into this routine and i need a little pizzazz every now and then. i spoke to eric about it and i started thinking about all these things i've always wanted to do, and today i woke up and decided i would do them!

the first thing i did when i got home from work was pick up my guitar. i remember not too long ago sitting in the car with eric when "im alive" by kenny chesney and dave matthews came on and at that very moment i said out loud "i want to learn this song on the guitar!" i wasn't too familiar with it, but i liked the guitar part of it immediately. so i did some googling, found some tabs, watched some youtube, and was able to pick it up rather quickly!

and its not just the ability to play the song that made me feel so good. it was also the lyrics of the song. it was just perfect for what i was feeling, and was just what i needed to kick me in the butt and realize how great i've got it.

life is good. i'm alive and well.

turn that frown upside down

2010-02-21T19:30:00.002-05:00

there are always going to be moments when life comes at you too fast or too hard, or days when you feel sad or blue. people have all sorts of different outlets to pick themselves up and make them feel better. my medium of happiness and joy is definitely my niece and nephew. aidan and brooke are two people that never fail to make me smile. its amazing that even from across the country, these two little boogers can totally turn even my worst of days completely around.

here's a video of them showing off some of the words and signs they know:

i always imagined growing up that when it would be time for my sisters to have children, i would be around to watch these kids grow up. it saddens me at times that i can't be physically closer to aidan and brooke. i am amazed everytime chi hai sends me photo or video updates. they grow up so fast! too fast!

valentine's day

2010-02-15T00:05:00.001-05:00

a lot of people seem to dislike the idea of valentine's day-- they criticize that it is a hallmark holiday. i am the complete opposite of these people. i love valentine's day. sure, i love everyone every day, but i love love so much that i love the idea that there is a day dedicated to love. i am very lucky to have a life full of love; love for my husband, my family, my friends, and of course, indy, our beagle.

on friday, eric came home with a bouquet of flowers. this morning, i woke up to the smell of bacon, eggs, and french toast. eric woke up at the crack of dawn to prepare me this wonderful breakfast. after we enjoyed our meal together, like kids we got excited to exchange gifts (i realize that by now, i had already gotten flowers and breakfast, but what can i say? i'm a lucky girl!). i got eric some games for the new ps3 we recently purchased and he bought me cupcake mix, frosting, and a heart shaped muffin tin. so of course, i baked them and we indulged in cupcakes for the remainder of the day.

i put the bouquet of flowers in a vase, we displayed the cards we exchanged, and we got a box of truffles from the zechers:

i'm a little embarrassed to display how many cupcakes are remaining (because we ate the rest) but here's the funfetti valentine cupcakes with the mold eric bought me:

it was a great valentine's day. i can't help but think about the valentine's day where eric was in georgia, training before his deployment and how miserable i was to be alone on valentine's day while anticipating being without eric for a year. i am so thankful that we are here today to celebrate love and the love that we share.

in other great news, we are adding one more to the family! ...my sister-in-law, erin, and her boyfriend mike got engaged today!

lucky

2010-02-11T00:46:00.002-05:00

lucky i'm in love with my best friend, but also lucky to have such loving and talented relatives! i can't believe i lagged on posting this. eric's sister, andrea, was our officiant at our wedding. while writing the ceremony, she had an idea to incorporate the letters eric and i exchanged while he was deployed in iraq. she got in touch with my sister bao for musical help and bao recruited our cousin, linh. put those two together and they always deliver sweet and beautiful music. the following is a video of this surprise that they put together for us on our big day. i know i've posted a lot of videos prior to this one, but if you only have time to watch one, i hope it is this one. this is so special beyond words, so take a look and listen for yourself!

Van & Eric//Ceremony Performance from Monachetti on Vimeo.

go shorty! its your birthday!

2010-02-02T18:56:00.001-05:00

a few months ago, i got an email that mariah carey would be playing at d.a.r. constitution hall here in dc. so naturally, the first thing i do is call bao and ask her if she's able to come out to catch the show with me. so she flew out, got here on wednesday the 27th, we head to my home, tease the hair, and head on out. we had dinner at georgia brown's, and for those of you who haven't been, you absolutely must. dinner was awesome. we then cabbed over the the concert venue to partake in the mariah experience. she was AMAZING (yes, the capital letters were necessary... she was that good!). constitution hall was such an intimate venue and mariah really went all out for her audience. i don't have the words to explain how great of a show it really was.

the next day, bao and i got up and decided to head to la tasca in old town for some tapas and sangria for lunch. what started off as a nice, sunny little lunch turned into an unplanned party.... resulting in me getting kicked out of rock it grill later that night for being sick in their bathroom... i really don't care to go into details about that.

needless to say, friday i was not up for partying. bao took me to a spa in alexandria that is known for their fish pedicures. it really was as weird as it sounds. haha we were so ticklish for the first 5 minutes we couldn't exchange words. but i have to give it to the fish.. my feet really have never felt so smooth. while being pampered, we brainstormed and came up with an idea to throw a last minute dinner party. we decided on korean food and went to the grocery store to buy all the fixings. a few friends came by, ben baked an ice cream cake, and it was just a nice little night in.

all in all, my 29th birthday was one of my favorites. i came home on wednesday to find a card and some gummy candy from eric. the card he gave me was the same card that he gave me three years ago before we officially were a couple, and inside this one he wrote "three years later, same card from the same guy!" i just feel very blessed and very loved and am so grateful for the life i have.

date night

2010-01-24T19:53:00.003-05:00

eric did some browsing of the internet and found out that this week was restaurant week in old town, alexandria. so he took me to a restaurant called bilbo baggins, which is a few blocks off of busy king street. upon entering the restaurant, we really didn't know what to expect, with a restaurant having a lord of the rings reference as a name. it had a very bar-like environment, the menu upon first glance seemed pretty typical, but when our dinner was brought to us we were pleasantly surprised. i had duck and eric had salmon and both were delicious. i had already taken too many bites out of my dinner when i thought about taking a photo of it for blogging purposes.

good bye 2009, hello 2010

2010-01-02T18:18:00.001-05:00

2009 was without a doubt one of the best years of my life. i started off the year with my fiance home from iraq and meeting the most precious set of twins ever, aidan michael and brooke hong. i spent most of the year busily planning an october 3rd wedding, only to have all the plans thrown out the window for a major upgrade. winning the us weekly/weddingchannel.com contest is still unbelievable to me. it might be cliche, but our wedding day really was the best day of my life so far. i am so thankful for a wonderful year of life, that my family and friends remained healthy and happy, and that i am married to my absolute best friend.

here are a few things i hope 2010 brings us:
i hope to get my next promotion at work.
i hope aidan and brooke and in fact the whole family will continue to be strong and healthy.
i hope andrea and zack will be happily situated in the states.
i hope family and friends will visit us.
i hope the year will end with some baby news of our own ;)

thanks 2009, you were very good to us and i am extremely grateful!

wedding video: ceremony & reception

2009-12-15T12:15:00.002-05:00

they did it again, the guys at monachetti have blown me away with another video-- this time, its our ceremony and reception. take a look below!

Van and Eric (Ceremony and Reception) from Monachetti on Vimeo.

girl's best friend

2009-12-04T13:11:00.002-05:00

nope, not diamonds-- dogs! my beagle, indy, is sleeping right next to me as i type this, and i could not be anymore happy or thankful for it.

last week, on a whim, eric and i decided to head to indiana to celebrate thanksgiving. our friend was driving to chicago for the holiday, and didn't want to drive alone so we decided to get dropped off by him. it was nice to see family and friends, but what was intended to be a pleasant long weekend turned out to be a nightmare.

on friday, we returned to eric's mom's house to a shaky indy. she was uncontrollably shaking, but still looking us in the eyes, so eric picked her up and we took her to noah's animal hospital, the brandywine location. while being checked out, indy went into a seizure, but the doctors had taken xrays and suspected that it was overeating. they tried to give her hydrogen peroxide to force her to vomit, but that didn't happen so they pumped some charcoal substance into her system to try to cancel out any toxins she may have ingested. she came out on a leash walking pretty happily, so we thought that was the end of our situation. eric decided to get a pet friendly hotel to give indy a quiet night's rest, and this is where things just got worse.

indy was shaking again and we were trying to get her to relax, walk it off, lay in her bed, and none of that was happening. luckily, noah's at brandywine gave us pamphlets to their 24 hour emergency location and i was dialing there number as indy went into another seizure. and a split second later, in eric's arms, indy froze up, her heart stopped beating, and all i remember at that point was both eric and i screaming. i ran out to get the car, eric ran out with indy, i moved over to the passenger seat and held indy as eric hopped into the driver side and drove what turned out to be the most horrific and yet important drive of our lives. on the way there, indy was in an uncontrollable seizure. two more times on that ride, her heart stopped beating but eric reacted quickly and breathed into her face, and i just hugged her tightly asking her to hold on. 25 miles and 25 minutes later, we got to noah's 24 hour emergency center and handed indy to them. their first statement was that indy's heart was again in arrest. but they came out shortly after to tell us they were able to revive her. before we left that night, we went to see indy who was still shaking a lot, but was given ivs to regulate her.

just as we got to the hotel room, dr. thellman called me to tell me that indy's temperature was dangerously low and that we should come back to visit her because it would be unlikely that she would survive the night. we drove back, and just as we petted her, and sat in the waiting room, her temperature began to slowly rise. we stayed in that waiting room until the last few readings read a consistent 97 degrees, which was when things started looking more hopeful. that night, i called the hospital every hour and come morning, she was at 99 degrees (it is regular for dogs to be between 100-102). shortly after, dr. thellman called us again to inform us that indy had vomited quite a bit, and that our next action was to perform surgery. her stomach had been cleared of foreign bodies, but her intestines appeared to be clogged still. we met with dr, kalt, who informed us that the surgery would be very high risk, especially for a dog in indy's condition, but without the surgery her chances of living were nonexistent. so we found ourselves again, highly stressed and worried in the candle scented waiting room. one hour later, the doctor came out with a smile, and it just felt so much better. he informed us that indy's surgery went as well as it could, her vitals were strong throughout the entire surgery, and that we have 'one lucky puppy'. and from there on, it was back to regulating her temperature and seeing if she was able to eat and drink again.

to make an already long story a little shorter, we are now back in virginia, all three of us... indy is on the road to recovery. we have a little bit of a ways to go, but i am not complaining one bit. i am so grateful that somebody was looking down on our little angel puppy. she really is a miracle. i'm thankful that eric and i were able to react and work as an unstoppable team in a time of crisis, i'm thankful that my family and friends all showed so much support for us and concern for indy, i am thankful for the dedicated crew at noah's animal hospital-- all of which contributed to my little family being together again at home.

wedding video: preparation

2009-11-16T18:02:00.002-05:00

the wonderful team at monachetti provided eric and i with our wedding videography (they did the wedding video for lisa loeb). they are a great group of guys and presented us with the first part of our wedding video. it was released on weddingchannel.com, and here is the full version that was posted on monachetti' blog. it seriously took my breath away! i cannot wait to see the rest of the video! so if any of you happened to stumble on my site and are planning your wedding, i highly recommend monachetti! you will not be disappointed!

Van and Eric's "Dream Wedding." (Full Prep Version) from Monachetti on Vimeo.

ahoy, mate!

2009-11-15T09:31:00.000-05:00

eric and i just came back from our honeymoon last night. for 9 nights, we were aboard the grandeur of the seas destined to stop at four eastern caribbean islands. this was my very first cruise, so i really wasn't sure what to expect. upon arriving to the port, i was simply amazed by the cruise ship, which i later overheard people say was not one of the bigger ships.

upon arriving to our stateroom, we received a pleasant surprise from eric's mom. she sent us red velvet cupcakes, which was just the kickoff to our next few days in the all-you-can-eat wonderland:

we spent the first two days at sea before we arrived in san juan, puerto rico. it was actually really nice to explore the boat, and have absolutely nothing to do. you can imagine how relaxing it was. in san juan, we visited the two old fortifications and roamed the downtown area:

our next stop was st. thomas. st thomas had tons of excursions to offer, but eric and i decided to just be beach bums and hang out at megan's bay, rated one of national geographics top ten most beautiful beaches.

the next stop was semana, dominican republic. eric and i had vacationed at an all inclusive resort in punta cana before, and after this stop, we decided the DR was not for us. it is a beautiful island, but we've had our fix of it.

the last day was without a doubt the best beach weather ever. we stopped at labadee, haiti and this was my favorite stop. we rented beach mats and laid out in the warm water, enjoyed the sun in the clear blue sky, and drank the local drink of the day. i was very relaxing and a great final stop:

i wouldn't be me if i didn't take a moment to comment on the lovely towel animals that were put at the end of our beds each night. ive seen towel animals before, but they got real creative on some nights, putting my sunglasses on the animals, and even hanging a towel-folded monkey from the ceiling:

it was a very relaxing few days, but we are definitely happy to have our feet on land and be home, sweet home!

think of the happiest things

2009-11-04T00:54:00.002-05:00

... its the same as having wings! eric and i spent the night before halloween with some friends at the national zoo. they hosted an event called "night of the living zoo" and it was a lot of fun. we entered a costume contest with chris and jenna, and lost to a group that dressed up like characters from 'where the wild things are'. that movie just came out and frankly, their costumes were amazing, but hey, second place? i'll take it!

hope you all had a great (and safe) halloween!

1 month-iversary

2009-10-31T10:55:00.002-04:00

my sweet husband sent me this little bouquet of flowers with the disclaimer "i know you don't like carnations, but this didn't come in any other flowers":

how sweet is that? and zero calories!

sewing project #1

2009-10-29T20:50:00.000-04:00

okay so i worked on these yesterday and today... they really didn't turn out that great, and only look good in a blurry photo... so here is that blurry photo:

just in case you still need an explanation, these are bibs for my niece, nephew, and their buddy jaxton. they're really rather goofy looking, but hey, you have to start somewhere, right? be on the look out for more random sewing products from yours truly!

sew awesome!

2009-10-28T17:35:00.000-04:00

as the high that comes immediately after the wedding starts to come down, i find that i end up having way too much time on my hands. i know the whole wedding was planned for us (thanks again amy, jacalyn, and lindsay) but there were times when my email inbox was overflowing, all the phones were off the hook, and i was about ready to pull out my hair. so now while eric is chugging away at the pto working hard i have a lot of free time and so i decided i needed a hobby. normally i would bake, but with eric not being home as often, i didnt want to end up having to eat all the sweets that come from the oven by myself, so i ruled that out. with halloween around the corner, i got into a crafy mood, and decided that sewing was what i wanted to pick up. i used to play around with my mom's sewing machine fairly often... and i know chi hai has embarrassing photos of me playing designer with some scarves, so i thought it only appropriate. i am currently working on a project for three of the cutest infants in southern california and i would post photos of my project, but i'm really uncertain where this is going at this point. hopefully i will be able to have a post about the end results! wish me luck!

eat, drink, be married!

2009-10-12T17:58:00.001-04:00

i cannot believe we are where we're at now. the wedding is over, and although it was about two weeks ago, i remember it as if it happened last night. that was, without a doubt, the best night of my life! it was amazing to have all our friends and family in our neck of the woods and just have a grand time. of course having 5 star vendors helped make the event spectacular, but at the end of the day, those vendors went home, and it truly was our 5 star loved ones that brought the party. i wish i had words to describe the feelings i get when i think about our wedding. whatever the feeling is, i hope every couple feels this same way about their wedding and about marriage. it is simply amazing. i will try and do a full day recap when i get the photos back from our photographer.

so here we are, beginning our new life together! i'm excited about everything the future holds for us, and am making an effort to write about every significant milestone along the journey. so please bear with me!

behind the scenes

2009-08-23T11:15:00.004-04:00

it has been a very long time since i've written anything here. at first i was worried about making information public before i was allowed to, but with the wedding about a month away, i think everything is known now. eric and i have been sent to new york a few times to take care of planning. i will do my best to update with all the little details, but its hard to get into blogging about things twice. yup, i blog for us weekly. they post my events on their website as if things happened weeks apart, when in reality, most everything happened within a span of 2 days. its crazy how fast this wedding is being thrown together, but its all been very fun and with the wedding coming up so soon, its so exciting to almost be there and see everything come together!

really? us???

2009-06-25T20:55:00.005-04:00

well you read about the contest in a previous post... now read about the winners... US!

http://www.usmagazine.com/wedding/winners

it was incredible! us weekly and weddingchannel.com sent us to new york, telling us that they were doing last minute decision making and needed to interview all the finalists! turns out, they sent us up there to tell us that we've won the contest!! i cannot put into words how amazing this experience has been so far and we've just begun! the last 48 hours of our lives has been just insane and out of this world, and we are so grateful for all of it!

we couldn't have done it without the support of our friends and family. and a HUGE shoutout to soldier's angels who blogged about us as soon as they heard a military couple was in the running.

please follow our story on usmagazine.com!

Répondez s'il vous plaît

2009-06-15T17:22:00.004-04:00

i just got home from work and a huge box was waiting for me infront of the door. i opened up the box, and ta-da... my invitations have arrived!

here's a little teaser:

these could not be more perfect! they're nothing too fancy, but simple and clean and i absolutely love them.

i actually ordered these babies online. the original design comes with a brown ribbon, but my lovely invitation consultant, lisa, allowed me to change the color to match the color scheme of the wedding. she has been a dream to work with! i went through several stages of changing colors and designs, and she never once got impatient with me. she always provided me with detailed answers and amazingly quick! i highly recommend anyone to work with her. feel free to contact me for her info if you see anything on the website that you like. i will be happy to share her information and you will be happy to work with her, i promise!

wedding planning gets so much more fun when things start really happening! be on the lookout for one of these to be showing up in your mailboxes in the near future!

yes we can!

2009-06-05T13:38:00.002-04:00

a few weeks ago, i was feeling silly and bored and decided to answer a few questions and entered a "win your dream wedding" contest sponsered by US Weekly and the weddingchannel.com. i really didn't think much of it, until a few days later when i got an email telling me that they were considering eric and i as top 10 finalists in the contest. i corresponded back and forth with them, sent them more photos of eric and i and today, they launched the site with yours truly among the top 10:

http://www.usmagazine.com/dream-wedding-2009-couple-5

to vote, click on "vote for us" at the page above or go to:
http://www.usmagazine.com/wedding/vote?checked=5

and check our names, and hit the "submit final vote" button at the bottom. although voting is not the only thing that determines the winner, i'm sure it plays a big part in the final decision.

haha this is all very fun!

blessing in disguise

2009-05-03T10:16:00.004-04:00

so last week i wrote about the situation with our photographer. i immediately met with a new batch of photographers knowing that with a wedding 6 months away, its likely that a lot of photographers are already booked for our wedding date. this time, i came around with a lot more experience, i knew where to look, what we were looking for, and had a clear number as far as a budget goes.

the search lead me to joe and katye brier of the happy couple wedding photography. they themselves are a happy couple, married and shooting wedding photos together. most brides will talk about the moment they find "the one" when talking about their wedding dress. well, i had this moment with my photographers. they were so easy to talk to, i explained to them what i was looking for in wedding photography and they just lit up and were so eager to work with me. they're friendly, down to earth people which is a bonus on top of the fact that they are both extremely talented photographers. i am very excited about this!

hair part two

2009-04-29T19:19:00.005-04:00

well, the boys are out playing a soccer game today, and i have the house all to myself. that meant i had time to work on my wedding hair again! i stopped by michaels on my way home from the gym (so yes, this time around, i am again in my gym clothing) and picked up some silk gardenias just to get an idea of what kind of hair accessory i may want for the big day. the result? a side low do with the flower positioned in two different places. i tried to put more volume in the hairdo than i was able to do last time and i think im starting to get an idea of the style i want on the wedding day.

flower high on the my left side:

and flower on the lower right side:

i pulled out some of the hair in front to frame my face in the second photo. i think i like that, and i also think the low do needs to stick out more from the front, if that makes any sense.

please offer me your thoughts and opinions!

first wedding snafu

2009-04-28T23:36:00.001-04:00

well, just when i thought we were moving forward and fast, we took two steps back today. i got in contact with our photographer because i noticed he hadn't deposited our check to hold our wedding date. turns out him and his wife have been experiencing a rush of things and they are likely to move to florida, and will not be in the dc metro area in october. we decided that it was probably best not to enter contract, and so here we are... without a photographer. this drives me nuts.

i've spent the majority of my day looking into more photographers. there are so many photographers in this area it is ridiculous. but at least i feel comfortable knowing that there are a lot of people who will be capable of doing a great job.

and so, the search continues...