Merry Christmas everyone! We celebrated Christmas with our families. Christmas Eve we drove up to Sacramento to Auntie Doris's house for dinner with Greg's extended family. It was good to see everyone and to meet Seth, Steph and Scott's baby boy. Santa took time out of his busy evening to stop by and hand out a few gifts. I (Cheryl) got to sit on Santa's lap as did Jeanette, Tina, Greg's mom, Auntie Bridget and the kids. I guess Greg and his brothers have already "paid their dues" with sitting on Santa's lap as they grew up.
After filling up on yummy food and homemade blueberry pie (yum!), we headed to Auntie Bridget's house to open gifts. We got lots of Home Depot gift cards, which will come in handy to buy paint for the house! We also got a new dog bed for Tachi, a blender, and a dutch oven. Tachi gave me a lovely fleece-lined, fisherman's knit beanie. Apparently he got a job, as a guard dog, to earn money to buy me the beanie. =) Speaking of Tachi, he got tons of new toys.
My family came over for dinner on Christmas Day. We had hot pot (aka shabu shabu), which is really pretty easy to pull together. Greg had picked up most of the stuff, but I wasn't sure we had enough food. So, I went out to pick up a couple extra packs of sliced meat, veggies, fish balls and tofu. It turns out we would've been fine with what Greg got. Guess we'll have to have hot pot again sometime soon. Anyone want to come over?
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Love Shack
We're (okay, I'm) behind on posts. We've been really busy, and I haven't had time to post. So, this is a catch-up post on what we've been up to.
Ritchie and Margaret's Wedding
We attended Ritchie and Margaret's wedding on Oct 25. They had a traditional Filipino Catholic wedding at the Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park. The church is just up the street from where Eugene and Ritchie's old apartment. I have fond memories of that apartment. We (the Tribe) used to hang out there before and after walking to the British Bankers Club (BBC), a local pub.
As we drove into the parking lot, there was a stretch Hummer limo parked next to the church. I'm pretty sure the wedding party rode in that nifty ride. Nice touch, Ritchie & Margaret. The ceremony was the longest one that Greg's ever attended and his first Catholic mass. I was really surprised that he'd never attended a Filipino Catholic wedding before since most of his high school friends were Filipino. I guess he didn't really keep in touch his high school friends. Most people probably don't, which is why it's unusual that the most of my best friends, I've known since high school.
During the ceremony, Greg kept asking me what or why they did certain things. For example, he wanted to know how everyone knew what to respond or when to say the Our Father or why they genuflect before walking into the pew. The two most memorable moments of the ceremony:
Trick or Treat
Our friend Ed's favorite holiday is Halloween. He and his wife, Char, go all out. They turn their front yard to a spooky graveyard. This year Ed built a mausoleum on their porch and out to part of the walkway up to house. He even added a coffin to the graveyard. It looks really great and definitely spooky. If I were a kid, I'd be afraid to go to his house.
To get ready for Halloween, we carved pumpkins at Char and Ed's house. Unfortunately, they didn't last long enough to make it to Halloween. Luckily Ed took pictures. Can you guess which pumpkin is mine and which is Greg's?
On Halloween night, Ed, Greg and some other friends got dressed in costumes to scare the kids (and parents) that came by the house. I think the neighborhood kids were onto them because they just hung around taunting the boys and taking turns getting into the coffin. I think they expect Ed and Char to pull out all the stops. Plus, they saw Ed building the mausoleum and coffin. At first, it was kinda funny, but then it got annoying. Highlights of the evening:
Love Shack
We're in escrow for a single-family home! Yay! It's very exciting. We close in 2 weeks. It's a 3bdrm/2bath, ranch style home in Sunnyvale. We really like the neighborhood: wide, tree-lined streets, well-kept yards/homes and near a park. It's also not on a main road, so there's not a lot of traffic. The house is 59 years old and everything still looks original too. We'll have a lot of work to do on the house after we close.
Ritchie and Margaret's Wedding
We attended Ritchie and Margaret's wedding on Oct 25. They had a traditional Filipino Catholic wedding at the Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park. The church is just up the street from where Eugene and Ritchie's old apartment. I have fond memories of that apartment. We (the Tribe) used to hang out there before and after walking to the British Bankers Club (BBC), a local pub.
As we drove into the parking lot, there was a stretch Hummer limo parked next to the church. I'm pretty sure the wedding party rode in that nifty ride. Nice touch, Ritchie & Margaret. The ceremony was the longest one that Greg's ever attended and his first Catholic mass. I was really surprised that he'd never attended a Filipino Catholic wedding before since most of his high school friends were Filipino. I guess he didn't really keep in touch his high school friends. Most people probably don't, which is why it's unusual that the most of my best friends, I've known since high school.
During the ceremony, Greg kept asking me what or why they did certain things. For example, he wanted to know how everyone knew what to respond or when to say the Our Father or why they genuflect before walking into the pew. The two most memorable moments of the ceremony:
- When Margaret and Ritchie were saying their vows, we could barely hear what they were saying. Most of the time, the officiant doesn't really say anything. But the priest said, "God cannot hear your responses."
- As they were lighting the unity candle, Margaret accidentally blew it out as she was blowing her candle out. The expression on her face looked like she was thinking, "Oh shit...I didn't just do that." They both quickly re-lit their candles and the unity candle.
Trick or Treat
Our friend Ed's favorite holiday is Halloween. He and his wife, Char, go all out. They turn their front yard to a spooky graveyard. This year Ed built a mausoleum on their porch and out to part of the walkway up to house. He even added a coffin to the graveyard. It looks really great and definitely spooky. If I were a kid, I'd be afraid to go to his house.
To get ready for Halloween, we carved pumpkins at Char and Ed's house. Unfortunately, they didn't last long enough to make it to Halloween. Luckily Ed took pictures. Can you guess which pumpkin is mine and which is Greg's?
On Halloween night, Ed, Greg and some other friends got dressed in costumes to scare the kids (and parents) that came by the house. I think the neighborhood kids were onto them because they just hung around taunting the boys and taking turns getting into the coffin. I think they expect Ed and Char to pull out all the stops. Plus, they saw Ed building the mausoleum and coffin. At first, it was kinda funny, but then it got annoying. Highlights of the evening:
- Apparently the boys were so scary, they made a little girl throw up. None of us actually saw her throw up, but her older brother (we think he was 6 or 7), came up Char and said, "You guys have to be not so scary because my sister walked by earlier and threw up."
- A little boy was dressed in the same zombie costume as Greg. When they stood next to each other, it was like me and mini-me.
Love Shack
We're in escrow for a single-family home! Yay! It's very exciting. We close in 2 weeks. It's a 3bdrm/2bath, ranch style home in Sunnyvale. We really like the neighborhood: wide, tree-lined streets, well-kept yards/homes and near a park. It's also not on a main road, so there's not a lot of traffic. The house is 59 years old and everything still looks original too. We'll have a lot of work to do on the house after we close.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Happy Year of the Rat!
For Chinese New Year, my extended family usually gathers for a meal on Chinese New Year's Eve where we eat traditional Chinese New Year foods. What are traditional Chinese New Year foods and why do we eat them? Uh...well, I'm not entirely sure. But there's generally always fish, dumplings, rice cake (nian gao), and other stuff. I do know that we're not supposed to finish everything because the leftovers are symbolic of having plenty for the new year. At least, that's what I've been told.
So last night I drove up to the East Bay for Chinese New Year dinner. Rather than eating home cooking, we ended up at a restaurant. My aunt, who is a very good cook and usually cooks everything for Chinese New Year dinner, is in Shanghai for the new year. We had fish, dumplings and other stuff, but no rice cake. That was kinda disappointing, but probably better for me from a caloric standpoint. It was nice to see everyone, but the food was not nearly as tasty as what my aunt prepares.
The other really cool thing about Chinese New Year is the red envelopes you get! For those of you not familiar with this tradition, after you pay your respects (bai nian) to your elders, they give you a red envelope filled with money. But since I'm married now, I'm not supposed to get red envelopes anymore. (boo) Instead, I'm supposed to give them out to the single people who are younger than me (read: my cousins). Did I have red envelopes prepared? Nope. Why not? Well, two of my cousins were not home for Chinese New Year, and I wasn't sure if the other one would be at dinner. Thankfully, no one called me (or my other married cousins) on it. What was surprising was that I (and my other married cousins) received red envelopes from my grandma, uncle and mom! Cha-ching! Maybe they forgot we were all married...probably not. Maybe my family doesn't follow the "No red envelopes after you're married" tradition. Or maybe they'll stop giving them to me after I have a baby and give it to the baby instead.
You might be wondering why I'm using the first person singular, I, instead of the first person plural, we, for this post. Well, it's because Greg did not join me last night. He had volleyball. Someone asked me if it bothered me that Greg didn't attend this family function since this is a big holiday for my family and he's my husband. It doesn't really bother me that he didn't go. I think he doesn't really enjoy these gatherings because my extended family either prefers to or can only converse in Mandarin. Really, how much fun can it be if you can't understand most of the conversation and/or very few people talk to you? While I can't really speak Mandarin very well, I can understand most of the conversation and contribute with Chinglish. If I had a choice between volleyball (or some other activity you enjoy) or going out to dinner with people I couldn't really talk to or understand, I would prefer to play volleyball. Wouldn't you?
So last night I drove up to the East Bay for Chinese New Year dinner. Rather than eating home cooking, we ended up at a restaurant. My aunt, who is a very good cook and usually cooks everything for Chinese New Year dinner, is in Shanghai for the new year. We had fish, dumplings and other stuff, but no rice cake. That was kinda disappointing, but probably better for me from a caloric standpoint. It was nice to see everyone, but the food was not nearly as tasty as what my aunt prepares.
The other really cool thing about Chinese New Year is the red envelopes you get! For those of you not familiar with this tradition, after you pay your respects (bai nian) to your elders, they give you a red envelope filled with money. But since I'm married now, I'm not supposed to get red envelopes anymore. (boo) Instead, I'm supposed to give them out to the single people who are younger than me (read: my cousins). Did I have red envelopes prepared? Nope. Why not? Well, two of my cousins were not home for Chinese New Year, and I wasn't sure if the other one would be at dinner. Thankfully, no one called me (or my other married cousins) on it. What was surprising was that I (and my other married cousins) received red envelopes from my grandma, uncle and mom! Cha-ching! Maybe they forgot we were all married...probably not. Maybe my family doesn't follow the "No red envelopes after you're married" tradition. Or maybe they'll stop giving them to me after I have a baby and give it to the baby instead.
You might be wondering why I'm using the first person singular, I, instead of the first person plural, we, for this post. Well, it's because Greg did not join me last night. He had volleyball. Someone asked me if it bothered me that Greg didn't attend this family function since this is a big holiday for my family and he's my husband. It doesn't really bother me that he didn't go. I think he doesn't really enjoy these gatherings because my extended family either prefers to or can only converse in Mandarin. Really, how much fun can it be if you can't understand most of the conversation and/or very few people talk to you? While I can't really speak Mandarin very well, I can understand most of the conversation and contribute with Chinglish. If I had a choice between volleyball (or some other activity you enjoy) or going out to dinner with people I couldn't really talk to or understand, I would prefer to play volleyball. Wouldn't you?
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Hello 2008!
If there was a theme for 2007, it was the year of weddings. Not only did we get married, but we also attended (and participated) in the weddings of several of our good friends. And our wedding-related activities still aren't quite over yet. We met with out photographer few days ago to look at the layout of our wedding album. And we still need to put together our guest book.
We also consolidated two households into one. That was no easy task! We had 2 sets of couches, 2 beds, 2 George Foreman grills, 2 rice cookers, and more. After giving some stuff away, selling some of it at a garage sale and storing the rest of it at our parents houses, we managed to combine our stuff into one townhouse.
What will 2008 bring? We know of at least three more weddings and one baby due any day now! Other than that, we'll just have to wait and see what the new year brings. Hopefully, it will be good health and loads of happiness for everyone!
We also consolidated two households into one. That was no easy task! We had 2 sets of couches, 2 beds, 2 George Foreman grills, 2 rice cookers, and more. After giving some stuff away, selling some of it at a garage sale and storing the rest of it at our parents houses, we managed to combine our stuff into one townhouse.
What will 2008 bring? We know of at least three more weddings and one baby due any day now! Other than that, we'll just have to wait and see what the new year brings. Hopefully, it will be good health and loads of happiness for everyone!
Saturday, December 22, 2007
The Stockings were Hung by the Chimney with Care
We added Christmas stockings to our holiday decor. They're the traditional red ones with the white cuff. We wrote our names on the cuff with glitter glue so Santa would know who's stocking was who's. I don't want him to accidentally put Greg's lump of coal in my stocking. (I'm just kidding, honey. I know you're an angel.)
We even got a stocking for Tachi. It's also red and white, but it's shaped like a dog paw with white patches for the pads of his feet. It's really cute! I have a feeling Tachi's stocking is going to be stuffed with lots of new doggie toys and maybe a few treats too.
We even got a stocking for Tachi. It's also red and white, but it's shaped like a dog paw with white patches for the pads of his feet. It's really cute! I have a feeling Tachi's stocking is going to be stuffed with lots of new doggie toys and maybe a few treats too.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Our First Christmas Tree
A few weeks ago we went shopping for our first Christmas tree. The big question was real or fake?
Growing up, my family always had a fake tree that we'd assemble and then decorate with those glass ball ornaments, tinsel, a few ornaments (like two) that my brother and I made as school projects, lights and a star at the top. Hmmm...I bet my parents still have that baked angel (I think) ornament stored in the Christmas box, collecting dust in the garage. Maybe I should go rescue it. But I digress. It wasn't until I was in high school that we started getting a real tree for Christmas. I loved getting the tree every year. It became a tradition for our family to go pick out a tree at the local tree lot the day after Thanksgiving and decorate it. We'd leave that tree up until the day after my brother's birthday. Mind you, my brother's birthday is January 15. I didn't really mind because the tree made our house feel festive, and I loved the smell of a real tree.
Greg's family was the opposite of mine. They had a real tree when they were kids and then switched a fake tree as they got older. I think his parents tree is really nice. They have unique ornaments to mark special events that happened during the year. I really like that and plan to do the same thing for our tree. In fact, we bought a puau shell angel ornament from New Zealand for our yet-to-be-purchased tree!
Now that we're married and have our own home, should we get a real tree or a fake tree? I can see the pros and cons of both options. A real tree smells great and looks great, but it's not really environmentally friendly, is more maintenance and can be quite pricey. And since we don't have much space in our living/family room, it'd be hard to find a small-ish real tree that didn't look like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. With a fake tree, it just doesn't smell like Christmas. But it is more environmentally friendly, easier to maintain, cheaper, and we could probably find one that will fit well in our living/family room.
So, after looking at a couple of real trees and fake trees, we bought a fake pre-lit tree. It's 4.5 ft tall and fits perfectly in our front bay window! It sits on top of an end table. There's no space to put gifts under the tree because the tree takes up most of the space on the table. We don't have a tree topper for it yet. It looks slightly sparse because we don't have a ton of ornaments, but we'll add an ornament every year. I'm really excited about our tree because it's our tree, and we'll create our own traditions for decorating it.
Growing up, my family always had a fake tree that we'd assemble and then decorate with those glass ball ornaments, tinsel, a few ornaments (like two) that my brother and I made as school projects, lights and a star at the top. Hmmm...I bet my parents still have that baked angel (I think) ornament stored in the Christmas box, collecting dust in the garage. Maybe I should go rescue it. But I digress. It wasn't until I was in high school that we started getting a real tree for Christmas. I loved getting the tree every year. It became a tradition for our family to go pick out a tree at the local tree lot the day after Thanksgiving and decorate it. We'd leave that tree up until the day after my brother's birthday. Mind you, my brother's birthday is January 15. I didn't really mind because the tree made our house feel festive, and I loved the smell of a real tree.
Greg's family was the opposite of mine. They had a real tree when they were kids and then switched a fake tree as they got older. I think his parents tree is really nice. They have unique ornaments to mark special events that happened during the year. I really like that and plan to do the same thing for our tree. In fact, we bought a puau shell angel ornament from New Zealand for our yet-to-be-purchased tree!
Now that we're married and have our own home, should we get a real tree or a fake tree? I can see the pros and cons of both options. A real tree smells great and looks great, but it's not really environmentally friendly, is more maintenance and can be quite pricey. And since we don't have much space in our living/family room, it'd be hard to find a small-ish real tree that didn't look like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. With a fake tree, it just doesn't smell like Christmas. But it is more environmentally friendly, easier to maintain, cheaper, and we could probably find one that will fit well in our living/family room.
So, after looking at a couple of real trees and fake trees, we bought a fake pre-lit tree. It's 4.5 ft tall and fits perfectly in our front bay window! It sits on top of an end table. There's no space to put gifts under the tree because the tree takes up most of the space on the table. We don't have a tree topper for it yet. It looks slightly sparse because we don't have a ton of ornaments, but we'll add an ornament every year. I'm really excited about our tree because it's our tree, and we'll create our own traditions for decorating it.
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