Winter Vacation

YAY!! STARTS IN ONE DAY!!!

Tuesday Dec 23-travel from DC to San Fransisco!

Wednesday Dec 24-have lunch with Josh and last minute chirstmas shopping

Thrusday Dec 25- Christmas festivities with the McCary/Creech Family! Including immediate family gift exchange, going to the Ayalas for extended family gift exchanges, food and games!

Friday Dec 26- Cookie Exchange and hope to meet up with JD and Monique (if they arent too tired)

Saturday Dec 27- Hair cut and hopefully hang with Monique and JD in the city.

Sunday Dec 28- Christmas festivities with my little sister...hehe little.

Monday Dec 29- Leave Dads and head to Yosemity with Monique and JD. Spend night at Aunty K and Rod's house.

Tuesday Dec 30-ARRIVE IN LAS VEGAS!! SEE ZUMANITY!!! SEE MAGGY!!! YAY!

Wednesday Dec 31- New Years Eve!! End of the year! Sandi, Thomas and Nate come to Vegas!! YAY!!!!! I miss you guys!

Thursday Jan 1- START TO A NEW YEAR... I hope I have better luck in the new year. Hang in Vegas.

Friday Jan 2-Drive to moms house outside LA with Monique and JD.

Saturday Jan 3- JD and Monique go to LA and I hang around home until Jan 6 when I will fly out of LA and back to DC.

Photo updates!

Here are some picture updates.

First a few from Halloween.

Ger and I

Dave and Ger

Zoro, Coolaide dude, plumber and warewolf

And from Jessie's Birthday Party in November.

Jessie, Aman and Mike

Us Ladies!

Them ladies

Alana's Birthday Party in November.

Ger and Dave

Ger and I

Birthday Girl Alana

Me, Alana and Ger having a good time

Lesley's Birthday Party in December.

Ger, Lesley and I

Im being silly

Lesley's 25th Bash

Lesley's big b-day bash was on Friday night and it was great!!

She really went all out. The place she had it was beautiful and in a great location right off the Dupont Metro. The upstairs area was very class Victorian looking and with the exception of the crooked paintings the rooms decor was really nice! The cupcakes and champagne were delightful!!! The company was lively and full of wonderful chatter.

I had a rough day at work and enjoyed sitting in the corner listening and watching people as they networked, conversed, drank, ate and laughed. It was pleasant.

So HAPPY 25th to Miss Lesley!

Online Dating

So I am at it again. Online Dating. Well kind of.

This weekend a guy I met online is coming from New York to hang out with me in DC. He seems nice and down to earth. I feel as if one can get to know another fairly well online. You learn the way they say things and what vocabulary words they use. Its very insightful, however its still nerver racking meeting someone for the very first time in person.

Im slightly nervous.... we'll see how it goes.

What do you think of online dating??

In the Swing of Things

So things are finally getting busy. I work 4 days a week at All Fired Up. Babysit on Tuesdays and have Sundays and Mondays off to do Christmas shopping, Church and whatever else I feel like doing. I have been making friend and getting things done. It feels good to be getting back in the swing of things.

Thanksgiving for the Misfits

So last night (Dec 7th) Ger and I hosted a Thanksgiving for the Misfits.

We cooked Turkey, Ham, Potato's, Stuffing, Acorn Soup and Gravy.

My co-worker Julie and Jamie (Ger's friend) came over to join Ger, Dave and I. They brought pie and tart. We ate like kings!! The food was great, the conversation great and Scrabble a lot of fun.

Even if your Thanksgiving is a little late it can still be amazing!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving all alone in a new city. Not cool. I refused to do anything Thanksgivingy except watch the Macy's Day parade and talk to my family!

Winter Plans

Bought my tickets home for the holidays!!!

YAY!

I will fly into San Fran Dec 23rd.

Drive with JD and Monique to the Fresno area Dec 29th.

Arrive into Las Vegas Dec 30th.

VEGAS FOR NEW YEARS!!!!!

Leave Vegas Jan 2nd and go to So Cal (Redlands peeps)!

Leave from LAX Jan 6th to come back to DC.

AFU

All Fired Up

That's where I am working part time for now.

I work part time at both of the stores that the owner owns. One is down the street and the other is about a 20 minute metro ride away. The one down the street has a very professional feel and the other is more fun and free style feeling. The owner Liz is interesting.... still feeling her out.

Its fun! I have always wanted to work at a ceramic painting place. Its a lot of unloading the kiln and loading the kiln. Unloading boxes, stacking shelves, cleaning and what not. I love it when I get to work with the kiddies. None of the work is difficult, but it is difficult learning the style of the shops. The people that work there are interesting, very artsy and beet to their own styles. I struggle to remember things like stapling on the right side, matching the water bowl with the brush cup... silly little things that I think shouldn't matter so much.

But its work. Not brain surgery. Its something to tide me over while I look for a full time job that I want. But it doesn't pay very well.

The big plus is that after 30 days I start getting 40%off anything I paint or do in the shop!! YAY!! Big plus!!

I am tired and therefore terrible at keeping up with blogs and emails, but I will get in the swing of things soon!!

Madison... NOT

The Madison's

Oh my.... where to start.

Lesley asked if I would go to her to an event to become a Madison. I had no idea what a Madison was, but I'm down to go with someone to something for support. So I went there thinking it would be a good experience, maybe I will meet some people I can network with and that I was there to support Lesley.

We walked into a meeting that we were not supposed to be at and all I saw were tall, thin, blond haired, blue eyed young women between 23-29. Found out that it was the members meeting that we had walked into and that the other meeting was starting after. It was a wine "get to know you" event. The members had their names in Red and the girls trying to become members (pledges) are in black and they are all walking around with wine and cheese talking to each other about brand names, jobs, and name dropping. I found myself smiling and chit chatting while thinking I cant wait to get out of there. There was no way I wanted to associate myself with them and I felt that with each person I speak to I am being more and more judged by people I could care less about.

I had just walked into a sorority for 20something year old women who need that kind of cool kid acceptance. The future first wives club, desperate house wives and Stepford wives.... gag.

I was so relieved when Lesley said she was good to leave. I have never walked out a of a place wanting to mock and laugh at people before. It was ridiculous.

I was glad I went, now I know who the Madison's are and know that I don't want anything to do with them. What judgemental people.... why would others compete to join such an organization??

I'm baffled.

Ger

My wonderful friend Ger.

I have had many friends and many different kinds and levels of friends in my life.

Its ones like Ger that really make me think how lucky I am.

I moved to DC with no job, no real connections; just a few bags and things. And Ger took me in. Gave me a bed. Made space in her closet and fridge for me. She did this for me asking for nothing in return. Not even a penny for rent. She looked up job opportunities, bought me drinks for happy hour, invited me to events and parties. She brings me home surprises like cupcakes, cooks food, and even bought me the most wonderful watch. She has done so much for me. I cant even express how grateful I am to have such an incredibly kind and wonderful friend.

I just hope some day I can do the same for her. I hope she knows and realized how much I appreciate and love her as such a wonderful friend. Thank you Ger.

Off to Earlene's house I go

Last weekend I had the privilege of going to a college friends house in Maryland.

Earlene and I met my senior year of college in some grad classes. We instantly became friends: after all we are both extremely social and love making friends. She moved to Maryland with her husband and 3 kids about 3 years ago. I visited them 2 years ago and they were in the middle of building their big brand new house next to his parents house. And this weekend it was wonderful to go inside and see what they had been so excited to finish for so long! It a big beautiful 4 bedroom house with an in law unit. They still have plans for making the basement into a guest area and den and hope to get a swimming pool in the next few years.

Earlene and Steve made us Chicken Katsu for dinner (bringing a little Hawaii/Japan to the east coast) and we drank some yummy Mojitos! Sunday we went to church and I watched Earlene teach a 1st grad class for Sunday School. And they even sent me off having been fed bacon, eggs and rice.

It was a wonderful weekend and nice to hang out and chit chat. Just a kind of weekend I needed!

My life as I know it

Job hunting = Stress and frustration

I have never really had a problem finding a job. I have always walked in from one job to the next with no problems. I WAS SPOILED!

I have been in DC for 3 weeks or so and still haven't found anything just right. I spend at least 2 hours a day Internet searching, emailing, going into businesses, applying, calling and interviewing. And still nothing! I'm not being picky either! I was offered one position as a door to door sales rep, but that really didn't entice me.

What have I learned during this job hunting: 1) to do Event Planning people want you to have experience 2)Event planning is being the first thing cut so no one is hiring 3) its hard to convince people that you can do something besides teaching when you have been teaching for over 3 years 4) I hate job hunting.

So I have been heading in the direction of Nannying until the new year. Then in January I can get back into the applying and interviewing. But for now Nannying will pay enough for the holidays.

I do love DC! Its a city full of neighborhoods. Its almost as if you are getting both the city and the town like life at the same time and I love that! Its full of Museums, Parks, Events, Festivals, and Happy Hours. Whats not to love!

So I have just been trying to learn the city and look for a job so that I can get settled into the city and in the beginning of the year find my own place. I just hope it all starts coming together sooner rather than later.

Begging for Blogging

Why is it that no one posts on their blogs any more??

Now that I'm across the world and out of touch all my peeps in Japan have stopped Blogging which makes me sad because I crave to know whats going on in their lives.

For heavens sake start posting again!!!! PLEASE!!!

Yes we can

The next president of the United States will be Obama.

Wow that's a lot to take in.

I'm not the most political person, however I have learned that DCers are.

Having grown up in a city that is primarily republican, but a state that is primarily democrat; you can imagine that I am pretty confused when it comes to politics. I love politics, on the smaller scale. I have no clue about larger scale politics. Not to mention that I have been out of the country the past 3 years.

So it was a bit of a culture shock when I moved to DC and found out how politically minded everyone is, but reflecting back I shouldn't have been so shocked. I went with Ger to her friends house for an election party and was surprised at not only how politically minded they are but also how opinionated they are when it comes to politics. It was very interesting to listen to them all sit around a talk politics and I realized that I need to get with the program.

I am not an Obama nor a McCain fan. However I like Biden and HATE Palin. So when Obama won I really could have cared less. HOWEVER, the idea that I was alive and old enough to appreciate the historical significance of the night was amazing to think about. Its going to be a night and a speech that will go down in history books and I was not only a part of that night in some small way, but I also lived in the Capital of our country at that time. This will open all kinds of possibilities political for our country and although I'm not 100% pro-Obama...even I can appreciate the changes that are about to take place.

Halloween in DC

Halloween! My favorite holiday of the year! But.... to be honest I wasn't really in the mood this year and wasn't planning on doing much.

Ger's friend Priti had a costume party at her apartment and we were invited so I had to think of something quick. After walking around the costume store and finding out that costumes are really expensive, I bought some black angel wings and decided I would do something with those. I ended up deciding to be a fallen angel.

I spent the day making cupcakes, cleaning, running errands and getting ready. My hair ended up looking really cool! I decided to put a boa in my hair and look a little evil ish. This is what it came out looking like.

Then I did pale evil make up and dressed in black. It wasn't the best costume, but it was cheap.

Ger went as Zorro and looked awesome! People couldn't even tell who it was!

Unfortunately, Dave and I drank a little too much punch at Priti's house. After Priti's party we went to a Hmong party and danced and drank some more. The costumes were great. There were a lot of costumes from batman and everyone seemed to be having a good time!

All in all it was a fun night, just wished I wouldn't have drank so much punch.

Across Country Trip: Days 25-27

Days 25-27

Everyone woke up around 3 and 4 am and caught flights back to California. Shannon and Manny left at 5am to drive to Georgia. And I left at 10am to meet up with them. The drive was about 8 hours and felt pretty long the last few hours. I stayed in Suwanee City which is about 45 minutes outside of Atlanta with Shannon and Manny. We ate dinner at an English pub where I had really good soup and then we went to bed. It had been a long few weeks and we were all exhausted.

The next day I spent hanging out at their house doing laundry and getting some things at the stores. I watched movies and slept in late. It was a nice lazy day that was much needed. Manny even cooked us dinner before we watched the wedding videos and checked out wedding photos.

My last day on my trip I spent 10 hours in the car driving from Atlanta to DC. The drive was nice. The leaves were erupting in colors of greens, browns, oranges, reds and yellows. The more north I drove the crisper the air became... fall is in the air. I arrived into DC around dinner time and Ger and Dave helped me bring my stuff into the apartment and Ger and I ate some Thai food ( I love Thai food!). It was a long day and I was ready to settle into one place and glad I had finally arrived to my new home city!

Driving to DC... it looked so Fall-y to me

Last road side picture of my trip

Across Country Trip: Days 23 & 24

Days 23 & 24

After we got back from the cruise there were a few days that before everyone left that we decided to explore the Disney World Parks. Disney World has a lot of parks 1) Magic Kingdom (same as Disneyland) 2) Epcot 3) Animal Kingdom 4) Hollywood Studios. We had two days and therefore we had to pick two parks to go to. The rest of the family went to Magic Kingdom the first day, but Jessica and I were a little Disney-ed out because we had been to the Disneyland in California and the one in Tokyo recently; so we decided to check out Hollywood studios.

Hollywood studios is full of live shows and how things work behind the scenes. The biggest attractions there are 1) The Live Stunt Show 2) Aerosmiths Rocking Roller coaster and 3) Hollywood Tower of Terror. All three were really good in my opinion. We did most things at the park that we wanted to do with the exception of the Toy Story ride that I wanted to go on. We even did the roller coaster twice! The night show Fantasmic was really good!!! It was like Fantasia with water, fire, fireworks and of course Micky Mouse!

Me and Jessica at Hollywood Studios

Jessica the park navigator

3D Glasses: all the rage

I found a refreshing bottle of Coke

Hollywood Tower of Terror

The Car Stunt Show

The second day the whole family went to Epcot. The older folks wanted to be finished at the park by 1:00 and therefore we spent the morning doing only the most popular attractions 1) Soaring 2)Race Track and 3) I forgot the name but the one that goes through the ages in the Epcot ball thingy. At lunch time we headed to the side of Epcot that is full of different countries: China, Japan, Germany, South Africa, Italy.... Each country area has foods from the region, shopping stores and things from the area. We all tried different foods like fish and chips from England, German Beer, Seafood from San Fransisco.... It was fun trying the different things from different areas of the world.

Me and Jessica at Epcot

Universe of Energy ride at Epcot

The family left after that and Jessica and I went and caught a few more of the attractions: Journey into Space and the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

We even got back in plenty of time to pack, go to dinner and go swimming before bed!

Disney world was a lot of fun! I hope that I can go back and hit the other parks and even re-visit Hollywood Studios and Epcot. Its expensive, but a lot of fun for the whole family!

Across Country Trip: Days 19-22

Days 19-22: October 12-16

My step-sister and now brother-in-law invited close family and friends to go with them on their Honeymoon to the Bahamas. Since my brother-in-laws father works for Disney we got great deals on a Disney Cruise to Nassau and Castaway Cay. My brother-in-laws family, my dad, step-mom, step-sister Alisha, Brother-in-law Jason, Sister Jessica, Shannon's friends Brian and Poppy and the Newly Weds all went.

Leaving Florida - view from the ship

Dad, Step-Mom Jeanne, Shannon & Manny (the newlyweds)

My sister Jessica and I on the deck of the ship

One of two towers of the ship

The ship was huge and had Disney Decor, 3 Dining Rooms and a Buffet, 3 pools (one for Adults only), an Art Gallery, a Theater, a Movie Theater, Rout 66 (the area where all the bars were) and wonderful cabin rooms! Dad had warned Jessica and I that our rooms were cheaper so we didn't have a balcony or as nice of a room, but in actually the only difference was the balcony-every thing else was the same! It was huge! A bed, a couch, TV, bathroom, closet and even a vanity. The crew on the ship were so nice!! Every single employee that you passed greeted you and if you had a problem they were always more than happy to assist you! The food was amazing! I even tried Escargot.. not my favorite, but not as bad as one might expect. I ate so much food on the ship-I must have gained 5 pounds!

Me and Jessica at dinner one night

Jessica and I at the last dinner on the ship

In Nassau Dad, Jeanne, Jessica and I went on a catamaran cruise and deep sea snorkeling! I love snorkeling so I was super excited!!! The lady sitting next to us panicked like crazy... it was kind of funny. The crew of the excursion were throwing food to the fish so they call swam around us in schools of fish. It was so awesome!!! The actual island of Nassau was a let down for me. It was more touristy that I expected and people were all trying to sell you things every where you went. It made it difficult to get a feel for local life. I like to get to know the local side of places I visit.

Castaway Cay is an island owned and run by Disney. Its made for only beach play. Jessica and I went on a Sting Ray Excursion. We got to feel and pet the sting rays and then snorkel with them! It was amazing! I learned that Sting Rays can get as big as a 22foot span in the wild. I learned that they are friendly creatures and the main reasons why people get stuck by them is because they step on them and the sting ray reacts by defending itself. I learned that Sing Rays like being pet and are actually friendly. The scary thing was that they bury themselves in the sand so its hard to actually see them and made Jessica and I nervous to step down in the sand while we were snorkeling. It was my favorite thing on the cruise by far!

Every night there were events and live theater plays. The plays were cute and made for kids, but I enjoyed them a lot!! There were also adult activities that we did like a cooking class, napkin folding and towel folding (Our room cleaner folded our towels in a different animal shape every night for fold down). There was so much to do that we could only do a handful of things each day.

One of the live theater shows on the ship

It was a great experience and I really enjoyed it and spending time with the family and most of all my sister.

Across Country Trip: Day 18

Day 18: October 11, 2008 - Shannon and Manny's Wedding

The whole reason why I was in Florida was for my step-sister Shannon's Wedding. Manny and Shannon are so well matched. They give me hope in finding someone that I'm not only crazy about but someone that is a best friend and makes life work together. I was also very excited that they were getting married at Disney World... I love Disney! Its where you can be a kid and feels so playful!

The day came and my dad and step-mom woke up early to go help the bride and groom while my sister and I had the job of making sure our side of the family made it to the wedding ready and on time with out getting lost. We headed out wayyyyy early and got there early but sat and had a few drinks at a near by pool while we waited. It did start raining so we went to the lobby of where the wedding was held and waited for the rain to die down. Manny and Shannon asked if I would be one of the videoographers for the wedding since they couldn't afford a professional one and I had brought mine since I was traveling across country. I said yes of course. So as soon as we were allowed outside I set up my camera and found some good areas for some good shots of the wedding.

The wedding ceremony itself was only about 15 minutes long (THANK GOODNESS... long weddings are such a drag). They had a sand combining ceremony and it was beautiful. The guitar player was really good as well. Shannon looked beautiful and made a wonderful bride. The flower girl (Manny's Niece) was too cute!

After the wedding there were pictures and then a cocktail hour. The cocktail hour was a great idea. It gave the bride and groom time to take pictures and the guests time to sign their wedding board and relax and mingle. The reception was wonderful in my opinion! The cake was also very beautiful. Everything had an ocean theme to it. The cake had seashells and the tables had seashell like center pieces. The MC played really good timeless music that everyone could enjoy. But the best thing was the food!! This wedding food was amazing!! Everything from the pasts to the fish to the cake! I give it 100 thumbs up!

By the end of the night I was exhausted and ready for bed as was everyone else I think. And the next day we had to get up early to head to the ship for our 4 day cruise to the Bahamas!

Unfortunately since I was busy video taping I was unable to take pictures, but I did sneak only two in while we were in the limo going from the wedding to the reception. (we got to ride in the limo because we were the brides family)

Jeanne, Alisha and Jason with Grandpa Richard in the background

Me and Jessica in the limo

Across Country Trip: Day 17

Day 17: Shannon and Manny's Wedding Rehearsal

We spent most of the day relaxing and resting up for the busy next week. There was the wedding, cruise and Disney world to tackle still.

Rehearsal dinner was at the Boardwalk across the lake from where the wedding was being held. We arrived early and ate a good meal (I had great hummus). Then we walked over to the gazebo place that the wedding was being held and it was a beautiful place! I wasn't in the wedding nor really needed but I helped out and took lots of pictures for them and hung out with my other brother-in-law.

The Groom and Bride to be (my soon to be brother-in-law and step-sister)

The Gazebo that the wedding will be in


Rehersal

After the rehearsal it started to pour rain (the only really heavy rain we had really) so they decided to have our rehearsal desert inside the American building at Epcot. So we all walked in ponchos over to the building. I didn't make the best shoe choice and my feet were hurting so badly I walked barefoot most of the way (and I HATE to be barefoot and walk on the dirty ground so you know my feet REALLY were in pain). The desert party was great! The little cute pastries were delicious and I had some good hot tea. Everyone sat around and chatted and laughed until it was time for the main event.

Delicious Deserts

The main event of the night was a private seating area to see the fireworks show at Epcot! I love fireworks and was so excited to see them! The show opened with a globe that lit up, then the globe rotated, then it was like a TV where it showed different African animals and places around the world and then lastly it opened up and fireworks exploded out of it! It was amazing and beautiful!!! I loved the fire works show and more so I loved that we had our own little area where people weren't pushing and shoving their ways in front of us!

Jeanne (my step-mom) and I can't wait for the fireworks

YAY for Fireworks!

They are so beautiful

It was a beautiful night and Shannon and Manny seemed so happy! It was wedding perfect.

Across Country Trip: Day 16

Day 16: October 9th

We spent the first part of the day relaxing and kicking back by the pool. It was nice to relax and enjoy the sun and talk with family members.

Alisha, Jason and Dad hanging by the pool

Grams, Jeanne, Shannon and Gramps chit chatting the day away

October 9th is my step-sister Alisha's birthday. This year she turned 30! So we decided to have a birthday dinner at Downtown Disney in Rain forest Cafe. There were about 20 of us for dinner and we had a great spot on the lanai and ate incredible food! There was a poster of her that we all signed (a special poster), a birthday hat, cake and even presents! It was a great dinner party!

Alisha (step-sister) and Jason (brother-in-law)

Alisha and I

Birthday girl in her birthday hat

Across Country Trip: Day 14 & 15

Day 14 & 15

The next two days I spent driving across I-10 from New Orleans to Orlando Florida. I spent the first day driving to Pensacola and the next to Orlando. Its beautiful out in the pan handle side of Florida. I drove about 8 hours the first day and 5 hours the second. It was nice but I was ready to get out of the car for a few days.

Beautiful Florida

Entering Florida from Mobile Alabama

The country side of Florida

I arrived at Disney World in Orlando in the afternoon and checked into the hotel before the rest of the family arrived. The hotel was awesome! We stayed at Pop Century Hotel on Disney World properties. We stayed at the 50's era wing and had a hotel the shape of a bowling pin. It was really cool how the hotels were decorated. That night I gave hugs and hung out with the family for dinner and the rest of the evening.

Our hotel

50s wing hotel pool

Hotel giant decorations