Then and Now

All credit goes to God who is the designer and source of everything!  We continually thank the Lord for all He has been doing in our lives.  God is good, all the time!

Landed At Last

Twenty one days after he left his former company, Tim travels to Taipei for the first time as an employee of Insyde.  It appears that the order of the day is meeting people and learning about the  this company he now works for.

We thank God for the grace and peace He has provided. The Lord is good to us and we will praise Him always.

Anniversary Trip 2012

Last year was Portland. This year we went to Asilomar for our annual fun trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  The place is located in Pacific Grove, California which is adjacent to Monterey.  Since our anniversary happens in the dead of winter, it is quiet a challenge to find a place to go outside of California. 

We spent most of the day on two different beaches in the area.  We hiked.  When we stopped, Miriam observed the tide pools; she and Brahms played chase with the waves.  This morning our destination was Monterey Bay Aquarium.  This is probably the fourth time that I have visited the place.  Miriam was a toddler when the last time we came but she could not remember anything about it. 

This is the first time we celebrated our anniversary without my Shannon.  I missed her so we kept connected electronically. Brahms and Miriam did a great job making up for missing silliness that would have been provided by Shannon.

The second night that we were there, we went to see a mivie at an old fashined theater - there is no surround sound nor high definition.

Tim maintained his tradition of unnecessarily having us all walk to a destination that eventually does not make sense.  After we toured the aquarium, we were all tired and hungry.  In search of a nice place to eat, Tim refers to his dependable GPS through his cell phone.  So we walked.  Our steps turned into yards, yards turned into blocks, and blocks turned into miles until finally we got to the place.  There was much celebration until we found out, thirty seconds later, that the restaurant is no longer in business.  And so we had to walk back and ate in a small restaurant where the food would have been more exciting had we been in a better mood prior to eating.  So we had ribs and hamburgers.  Sigh.

If I count the years, twenty one is a long time.  But if I list all the fun times and blessings of being married, as if we only had begun.  I thank God for giving me Tim! 

Crossing the County Line

Wilson Boulevard end here.

When coffee ceased to be a goal for our morning walks, Tim and I began to take other hiking routes around our area.  Today was the second time we took the route that involves crossing the county line.  We started from the end of the Wilson Blvd. and onto a footpath that eventually joins Iron Point at Empire Ranch in Folsom.  This is a very good walk except for the fact that we have to climb really steep hills twice!  We tried to reverse our path by starting on the other end - Treviso Way but it was the same - we still had to climb up the same hills.  These walks definitely make me want to take long hot showers afterwards.  

Also, I have joined a hiking group of women from church.  During the last two months we hiked on Salmon Falls Trails.  I'm amazed to see bikers there considering that the road is rough, narrow, and steep.  Our group has to stand in line at the side of the pathway for them to pass.  And then there are runners who can manage to breathe and talk to us while running to pass us.  We are the slow hikers but we talk fast while we walk.  We go once a month and so far it has been fun. (It might be different in the summer when the weather is really hot.)  These hikes makes me want to sit down and watch TV after my long hot showers. 

A New Season is About to Begin

Under heaven, everything will change.  Change is sometimes dreaded because it is inflicted upon us by external forces.  On the other hand, it can come upon us as a result of slow internal processes guided by our thoughts, priorities, and aspirations. Either way, when one change happens, hundreds or even thousand other changes will come along.   And the required adjustment can be overwhelming or invigorating.  I've written some of my thoughts about this in my other blog (When Climate Changes).

Our family is undergoing changes - positive changes.  These are exciting days but our faith is being put to the test. Right now, we are constantly reminded of the Giver of all that we have and hope for.  It is tempting to use the things we see and hear as parameters for determining things that ought to be good or not.  And yet the ways of the Almighty God are beyond our comprehension.  I would prefer that our thoughts and actions be guided by the Spirit because in God alone do I trust.

Tim is getting a new job.  He has been working for Phoenix Technologies (a leading BIOS company) as Chief BIOS Architect for sixteen years and enjoyed it.  At one point I called his job as a hobby-job because he loves programming - he writes codes for fun. He considered himself as an idea hamster - producing patentable ideas.  He has at least eight US Patents in his name.  As a family, we enjoyed and appreciated the financial rewards and stability that it offered.  At the time when some employees were being laid off for one reason or another, he was being offered retention bonuses in order to remain.  His services are valued - no doubt about that.  When we moved to El Dorado Hills he worked at the Intel facility in Folsom on a Phoenix/Intel collaborative project.  When the project was done, he was allowed to work from home which is priceless for our then growing family.  Tim is a very loyal sort of guy but his personal aspirations drive him to take a big stride now to welcome change. 

 So far, Tim has accepted a new job offer, resigned from his current job and has two weeks to transition away.  This is a bitter-sweet moment in his career.  But just like the birth of a baby, the labor pains to bring forth an unknown and unseen child pales in comparison to the hope of launching a new life that will soon grow for us to enjoy.

God is good to us! 

2Q Schedule

Someone is taking a lot of Computer Science classes this quarter.  If she manages her time well then she might still be able to squeeze some time to play League of Legends (LoL) with her friends.

 Already, when Shannon came home for Christmas, I could no longer understand most of the programming terms that she and her father were talking about.  Somehow, bits of those programming-genes got embedded in my daughter's brain cells.  One day we might still have another programmer in the family, which is not bad at all. 

I'm posting this schedule for my reference.   It is wise to know exactly when to disturb my daughter. 

 

Super-duper Espresso Maker

So the super-duper espresso maker is in my kitchen!  It's Tim's  new thing!  The irony is that he left to go to Taiwan right after he got it.  As a result I got to experiment with it for a whole week.  I used to miss my morning coffee whenever he's gone on a business trip - but not this time.

This machine is very convenient to use.  It grinds the coffee beans; dumps used coffee grounds, which have been pelletized into something that resembles a Reese's candy, into a receptacle.  The only thing I need to do is to fill the coffee bean container every three days depending on how often I make coffee; fill up the water container and empty the coffee grounds once every day.  Everything else is a push-button process.  I can even choose the intensity of the coffee and the amount of espresso per operation.  How cool is that?   The other day I was telling my son, jokingly, that I miss the scattered coffee ground all over the counter where the grinder is located.   I miss cleaning the sink from all the used coffee grounds.  The carafe and the filter, I sure miss cleaning them! (Not really!)

Tim likes coffee-making gadgets.  So far this is my favorite of them all.