First House Guests of the Year

January 2, 2012.  We had the pleasure to host our dear friends the Actis Family.  It was very nice to see them after a year and a half since we went to see them and participate in their ministry.  They brought back very fond memories of Colombia.

Being the only boy, Brahms entertained the girls by being silly.

Tim, Shelly, and Matt talked while they ate Crepes and Sausages

Is this Chloe or Sophie?

Matt and Tim

The kids: Ours and theirs

Dainty and Demure girls: Sophie, Kennedy, and Chloe

The grown-ups

Lyndsay, and Kennedy

Tim and I have met Matt and Shelly in two different missions trips already but there seem to be a lot more to learn about each other.  It's still fun discovering each other.  

2013 Begins..

2013

This is the picture we took of our family during the first two minutes of 2013.  At midnight on New Year's Eve, we start the year with a cheerful a toast (sparkling apple cider) and then we clump together for the picture.  The problem this year is that the couch was too small for the five of us.  The bench at the breakfast table is usually the place where we'd pose for the picture but this time we were watching "Pride and Prejudice" prior to midnight and were so lazy to move.

Among the many Filipino traditions that we have adopted as a family is to have the following in place when the New Year comes in: a bountiful table; well-stocked pantry and refrigerator; all bills paid; clean house; and good mood for everyone.  Cleaning the house is always the most challenging part of this.  For one thing, it is impossible to clean the yard, which is a part of the house, in the cold wet winter days.  The garage, which always needs organizing, is also cold.  Oh well... I'll just have to suffer with a desire to have a perfectly clean something throughout the year. 

Tim brought us to Seafood City in Sacramento and had lunch at Chowking.  We don't live anywhere near an Asian community - so this was a treat for me and my kids.  It reminds us of the Philippines.  It is also a treat for Tim because he gets to use his Tagalog skills and surprise all the unsuspecting Filipinos.  Our evening munchies this year included the following:  Fruited Chicken/Macaroni Salad; Shrimp Cocktail; Chocolate Fondue; Pumpkin Pie; Apple Pie; Herbed Sausage Croissant; Lewis-style Lumpia; and more.  

Shannon and Brahms played LOL (League of Legends) while Miriam played Mine Craft since she's not thirteen yet to be able to play LOL.  The three of them played Portal 2 and Lego Lord of the Rings. 

The following morning we all watched the Rose Parade and then the HGTV Dream Home.  It was generally a lazy day because everything should have been done the day before. :) The only thing I had to do was to go shopping (yes, shopping New Year's day!) for things we needed for the next day to host the Actis family.  We also put away all the Christmas ornaments including the gingerbread houses that the kids made.  

Miriam's Fluffy House

Brahms' Luxury House

  

Shannon's Three-Sided House

We can laugh at the days to come because we trust in the Lord.

New Year

2013.  New year and new beginnings.  Unlike other years, I have not had the time to write my resolutions for the year ahead but I have a few ideas that I would like to translate into actions this year.

1.  Smile more frown less.
2.  Understand not dismiss.
3.  Eat less and drink more water.
4.  Keep a journal.

This list is simple as it looks but it will definitely challenge my self discipline.  I'll have to rely on God's help daily.

How about you?

Les Miserables

After four long days since the movie came out, we finally got to see Les Miserables.  I personally give it two thumbs up! And yet I still managed to have cried - really cried that I had to wipe my eyes with my sleeves.  We all cried although we cried at different parts of the movie.

The movie is very poignant. It almost seems like a tragedy just because the major characters die except for Cosset and Marius.  The characters seem to have lived a lifetime of misery.  Their circumstances were all different but all of them lived painful unfortunate circumstances which were either inflicted on them by others or inflicted by a personal conviction as in the case of Javert.  Fontaine in spite of the unfortunate life she lived dies content knowing that Cosset will be in good hands.  Jean Valjean although not free (from the law) found freedom from God through his encounter with the priest and found joy in having Cosset to care for.  He dies happy knowing that Cosset forgives him of his secret past and that she's happy with Marius.  Javert kills himself because he is trapped in an unsolved dilemma within himself.  There came a point in his career when his convictions as a righteous man clashed with his conscience as a person who has been shown mercy.  No longer did he know what to do.  He ends his own life instead of arresting Valjean.

It is a story of slavery and freedom.  Valjean, although under the law, was free to love.  Javert, an enforcer of justice, was a slave to the law.  And most of all, it is a story of mercy and of love.

I was amazed at how well Anne Hathaway (Fontaine) sings.  Russell Crowe's deep opera-voice suits the character (Javert) he played especially in the epic scene of him singing on the rooftops.  When Hugh Jackman sang his parts -especially when he is talking to God - the emotion was so powerful, I had to cry.  

On the Second Day of Christmas...

My true love bought me a pair of pearl earrings from Costco today.  This is not like the usual surprise gift -  he asked me to choose and I did.  Today we stopped by the store to get them.  What a great ending to our lunch date at Rubio's where we both had Blackened Mahi-mahi Burritos.  I'm not so sure whether mahi-mahi is a fresh-water fish but I see that we had an aquatic theme for the day. 

Pearls are beautiful...and my true love is such a thoughtful man.

Two Christmas Parties

Women's Group of Cornerstone Christian Church
Ellie Retallack hosted a beautiful Christmas party/ bible study at her house on Normanton Place.  Her house was fully decked, beautiful and cozy and the smell of spiced apple cider filled the air.  There were probably fifteen of us who attended with me being the youngest in the group.  In other words, this was a group of "enlightened women" and although I haven't had the years to earn such honor, it was a pleasure to be physically among them.  Ellie served a delicious lunch but the best part of it was dessert; I enjoyed a generous piece of pecan pie.  I  watched Kris Morphew agonized to eat only a fifth of her piece, probably because of the excessive amount of calories that are packed in it.  (But it's Christmas time - we need the energy for doing all the stressful activities like shopping, eating, worrying, eating, cleaning, eating, shopping, cooking and eating again.) The elephant gift exchange was also exciting.  We were all "stealing" everyone's presents.  The scarves were the hottest items. In the end, because I had the number one, I got to do the final "steal".  I traded the four pairs of crazy green and purple socks for a Thomas Kinkade 2013 Calendar.
It was good to be with the people from Cornerstone again.

Green Acres Christmas Party
This was more like a grown-up cocktail party - finger foods, open bar, and a comedian entertainer. The comedian was not so nice in that he used a lot of dirty jokes.  I was glad that we did not sit near the stage because I would not have liked being the subject of his jokes.   But since there were no kids around- it was alright.

Seeing my co-workers outside the work place revealed something about each of them beyond what I would normally see at work.  I'm sure they also found out something about me - like the fact that my husband and I do not drink alcohol. :)  On one hand, Tim got to meet most of my co-workers.  It's always nice to have a face on the names that your spouse talks about.  

Anyway, two Christmas parties in one day are indeed doable! 

Uneventful Death

Life is like a computer.  One day everything is alright and on other days things go slowly.  Sometimes when things are not going as they should, you can do something to fix the problem and sometimes you can't.  Still on other days there are no noticeable problems and then all of a sudden the computer screen turns blue and you hear this unusual beep- which is like a straight line on a heart-beat monitor.  That is exactly what happened to my old computer. It died.

Tim, who is a fix-it guy, immediately makes an official announcement that the computer is dead.  Then he proposes to buy a new one.  I could have rejoiced with the idea of a new one but it's just so cruel to replace a friend immediately upon dying.  Of all the computers in the house this one was slow and at times very slow.  But it was mine and I can always wait for it to cool down before I can continue using it.  It has taught me patience - a virtue that is rapidly disappearing in this society. 

I miss my computer.  In the meantime, however, Miriam's computer is my computer when she is not using it.  This arrangement is working so far. The only problem is that someone (not me) will have to install some of the software  useful to me like Photoshop Elements.