{Creative Corner} Valentines 2013

A couple of my Valentine's Day projects for Baby Bear's friends and teachers.

I was inspired by several ideas I found floating around on pinterest and designed a little something myself with Valentine's straw as a gift.







For the teachers, I merged a few ideas from pinterest and designed something for them along with a small gift they could use.

{Creative Corner} DIY Easter garland

I decided to do little Easter decorating. I was inspired by something I had pinned on Pinterest, which was inspired from this blog.



It is very easy and inexpensive to make. I bought 2 bags of plastic eggs from Party City. I used some yarn I had on hand and some extra ribbon I had laying around. I threaded the yarn through the little holes in the tops and bottoms of the eggs (which make the threading oh-so-easy). Then tied some ribbon in between the eggs. Voila, an Easter garland. Total cost was just under $2 since all I had to buy were the plastic eggs.

The end of a decade

Wow, I can't believe that it is the end of a decade.

In this decade...

I met and fell in love with the man I would marry.
I completed my Ph.D.
I got my first real job.
I learned to crochet.
I bought my first car on my own (I always had hand me downs).
I made many new and wonderful friends.
I moved 4 times.
I lost my sister-in-law.
I married my best friend.
I paid off all my credit cards.
I ran a 10K and a relay triathlon.
I became a mother (probably the best things that happened to me this decade).

The last 10 years were packed with so much, some great and some not so great (losing my sister-in-law in particular). Lets see what the next decade holds for me.

Happy Memorial Day

How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!
~Maya Angelou

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers and mothers-to-be!!!

Happy Easter!!

Happy Valentine's Day

I am not big on Valentine's Day. It is more of a Hallmark holiday than anything else.

We are celebrating our Valentine's Day buy spending it with some good friends and yummy food. We are having a Valentine's Gourmet Club tonight with wine and appetizers. I will post pictures soon on my food blog, Rumbly Tumbly Treats. I am trying a new recipe so we will see how it turns out.

Happy New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year to all!! It is the Year of the Ox. The Ox is the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. I think that is very fitting with the current times. Wishing you all the best.

All men and women are made equal

Today, we celebrate and remember Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. He led the way to a nonviolent civil rights movement. As a woman of color, I am thankful for the path he laid for me years before I was even conceived. It is because of him, that I am able to do anything that I put my mind to.

What a wonderful time to be celebrating this wonderful man. Tomorrow is the inauguration of our first Black president. An amazing and historic event. We have definitely come a long way. While I do believe that we have come a long way, I also believe that there is still more to be done. It is unfortunate but discrimination still exists. However, knowing that a man like MLK could make a difference I know that there is hope and there will be change to come. Many people are not apt to change, but change is inevitable it is up to people to make sure that the change that comes is a change in the positive direction.

I have experienced challenges and discrimination being an Asian-American woman. I am pretty fortunate that I have had many opportunities. Sometimes it appears that I am oblivious to the discrimination that I face (I have had friends who have been offended by other's actions toward me that have been discriminatory). It is not that I am oblivious; it is that I usually ignore and brush it off to ignorance. That is my way.

Happy New Year!!

3......2......1

Happy New Year!!!

Top 5 moments of 2008

2008 was a year filled with ups and downs, but all in all I got through it and had some memorable moments. Here are my top 5:

#5 = Getting a new job

#4 = Our 2-week Hawaii trip in Maui and Oahu

#3 = Participating in a relay triathlon (even after finding out I was pregnant just a few days before)

#2 = Our first anniversary


The #1 greatest moment of 2008:

The day I found out I was pregnant. It will be the most important day of 2008 and the greatest moment of my life. I feel so blessed to experience the miracle of life and so thankful for everything. The reactions of family and friends has been so wonderful. I am fortunate to have loving and kind people in my life and their support has been so amazing. Each day is a blessing.

What am I most looking forward to in 2009:

Baby Bear's arrival! I can't wait to see what he/she looks like! Papa Bear (formerly known as Mr. Bear) and I are so excited for the arrival of Baby Bear in 2009. It will definitely be an exciting new year filled with happiness (and anxiousness I am sure). It has already been an adventure to say the least (you can read more about the goings on during my pregnancy in my Baby Bear blog). I am looking forward to 2009. Bring it on!

Holiday treats

We had a really nice, low key Christmas. I kept well within my budget on Christmas gifts and I am quite proud of myself. Homemade gifts were a great way to stay within budget. I made Red Velvet Truffles and cookies and wrapped them up. Everyone seems to love the Red Velvet Truffles!

Merry Christmas!

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!!

Holiday traditions

For as long as I can remember my family has always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. We would stay up until midnight and open our presents at midnight. It was a nice little tradition as a kid. As an adult it seemed to work out well, so that we could celebrate Christmas day with Mr. Bear's side of the family (though we would be quite tired).

Our Christmas Eve celebration rotates among my aunts and uncles homes, this year my parents are hosting and decided to change things around. Instead of our Christmas Eve tradition, we are celebrating on Christmas Day with a Christmas luncheon. I guess it is nice that we won't have to stay up so late, but now we have more places to travel on Christmas Day . I'm a little bummed out about the change of tradition; it is a change from what I have come to enjoy since I was a little girl. All that matters is that I can see my parents and my lola on Christmas. That is what Christmas is truly about: spending time with family.

Anyways in keeping of tradition, I let Chase Monster open his present on Christmas Eve:

Happy Hanukkah

Last night was the first night of Hanukkah. I remember the first time I celebrated Hanukkah. My freshman year of college, my college roommate was Jewish and Hanukkah started before finals began. We had a menorah and lit a candle for each night. It was such a nice way for my college roommate to share her traditions with me.

Mr. Bear's cousins are half Jewish and the first holiday that I spent with them, Christmas day coincided with part of the Hanukkah celebration. It was nice to celebrate both holidays together.

To my friends who celebrate this special holiday: Happy Hanukkah!!

It's the most busiest time of the year!

I love the holiday season. Holiday decorations, Christmas trees and lights, baking, and enjoying the company of family and friends is something I love and look forward to. Last year was a rough holiday season. This year has been better, there is still sadness associated with this time of year as we approach the anniversary of Trisha's passing (it will be one year on Wednesday).

Inevitably this time of the year is an extremely busy one both personally and professionally. There is so much to do with the holiday shopping, baking, and decorating (which I love) and there is all the end of the year tasks to take care of at work (don't love so much). Being pregnant makes it a little more difficult to balance all that I want to do and have to do during this busy time of year. I get tired much more easily and need more rest than I usually require. I have always been the type of person to go, go, go; much like the energizer bunny. This year, I am more like a turtle; I find myself going much slower and having to take my time to rest in between tasks. It is not a bad thing, just requires more planning on my my end.

Even though it is a busy, busy time of the year. I still enjoy the holiday season.

Gobble Gobble

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

I am sure looking forward to turkey, mmmmm. I am also looking forward to being with family.

Happy Halloween

This was the pumpkin we carved last year! Can't wait for all the kiddos to come tonight.

Happy New Year! Happy Rosh Hashanah!

I don't know much about Rosh Hashanah, but my understanding is that this is a very important Holy Day. So I would like to wish my Jewish friends a Happy New Year on their very special Holy Day!

Happy 4th of July

Have a blast!