the best decision I ever made

Caleb is by far the best choice I ever made. I am grateful to be married to him. He is the perfect person for me. Pretty sure I've said that a billion times. maybe two billion. :) You can learn more about him on my Bio page. Anyway, we celebrated his birthday the day I got back from my trip. We kept it pretty chill. I invited friends to the park for a game of ultimate frisbee and birthday cake (but not really cake, because Caleb doesn't like cake). I only took one picture of him on his birthday, here it is:

Those are his hands. :) I wish I took a picture of the fruit tart before we started cutting it. This was my first time making it. It was pretty easy. If you want to impress people, just make one of these and arrange the fruit nicely. I won't share this recipe though because I want to find a better one. But anyway, this is really called a fruit pizza, but I put it in a shallow pie dish so then it became a fruit tart.  Fruit tart sounds way more sophisticated than fruit pizza, don't you think? If you're thinking that I was smart for making that change, well, hate to bust your bubble but I'm not that smart. haha. Even though I wasn't a big fan of the crust, everyone told me it was very good. 

Here's a pic I took of Caleb the day after his birthday:

He got this t-shirt as a birthday gift from Josh and Shannon. If you can't read it, it says, "Never trust an atom, they make up everything." Pretty sure I made a valentine for Caleb that said the same thing. Doesn't he look great?

So you all must be wondering what I gave Caleb for his birthday. Well, I thought long, and I mean very very long, about a gift. I had some ideas, but I kept going back to this one gift idea that well, made me hesitant, and yet I knew he would have so much fun with it. In the end, I bought it for him, even though it goes against my very nature. I bought him a computer game. hahaha! I really don't like anything to do with video games or computer games because I feel like the majority of them are time-wasters. However, I do understand that people need to have some gaming fun once in a while. It just gets problematic when they spend too much time...I'm sure you have seen how easy it can be to get sucked into a video game. However, the game I bought for him is somewhat educational and you need to use physics to do well in the game. HOW NERDY CAN I GET? Well, I guess I'm not the real nerd here. The game I bought him is called Kerbal Space Program. It was created in collaboration with NASA. You basically need to design and launch a spaceship into orbit and plan your trajectories to ensure you will fall into the right gravity wells (what's a gravity well? dunno, that's just what Caleb told me) so that you can explore whatever asteroid/moon you need to reach, get data, and take it back to earth. You still with me? I'm not. Pretty nerdy stuff in my opinion. You're basically planning space missions. And I was right, Caleb is totally loving the game right now. He is definitely sucked in. At least I can feel somewhat good about it since he has to use his brain. :)

Overall, I think he really enjoyed his birthday. His parents took him golfing and to a Michigan football game at the Big House a couple days earlier. So he definitely had some fun, and our neighbors even had him over and sang him happy birthday!

Fall is here! I think Caleb's birthday was officially the first day of fall. We are blessed to have a beautiful maple across the street from our house. I love the changing colors.  

Happy Fall!

~Jessie~

Lessons Learned from a Chinese Tiger

So funny story...I was too young to remember this, but from what I gathered this is what happened.

My father was asked to speak at church. When that particular Sunday arrived, he was ready. When it was finally his turn to speak, he started out with an incredible story. He shared his experience of hunting tigers in the jungles of China with his father. I don't know all the details, but I think he accounted one experience in particular and he related all the crucial details of one specific hunt. It was riveting. It was tense. The congregation gave him their undivided attention. After he finished the story, he used it as an analogy for the topic of his message. To be honest, I don't even know what that topic was. After the meeting, friends told him how much they enjoyed that story and thanked him for his spiritual sharing.

This is the funny part...my dad made the whole thing up! Yes, he fabricated a fake experience to fit the needs of his gospel sharing and told it to probably a congregation of at least 100 people. What?! Later on I asked him why he would do that...he just smiled and explained that nobody would question its authenticity. He was right too. At that time we were the only Chinese family in the stake. My dad was the only man from China. He could make up anything he wanted and people would believe it. China was an exotic country that nobody around here really knew about. That might be different now, but back then, China was a mysterious place, and my dad knew it. Clever man.

I imagine my mother rolling her eyes as all of this unfolded. If I could go back in time, I would sit with my patient mother at that meeting while my dad was telling lies to the entire congregation. That would be a priceless experience. I smile just thinking about it. 

Later on my dad did tell people in church that he made up the story. I bet there were some people who were disappointed, but I'm sure they enjoyed the story anyway. Everyone got a good laugh out of it. There were others who still believed the story to be true and my dad had fun with that. It became a mystery whether the story was true or false. And years later, people would still talk to him about his tiger hunting experiences. 

This post is dedicated to my Dad. It was his birthday yesterday and I wanted to do something special for him. He can afford everything he needs and wants and so I figured it would be more valuable to share with him my thoughts and some lessons I have learned from him. Some are funny and silly, but all are meaningful. These lessons aren't in any particular order. If anything, it is chronological. 

Lessons Learned from a Chinese Tiger (the tiger is my Dad...obviously)

Don't be a Picky Eater. When I was maybe four or five, I absolutely refused to finish the veggies on my plate. We had that veggie medley on our plates of peas, carrots, and corn. When I was young, I loathed peas. So naturally, I didn't want to eat them. My father struck me a deal. For every pea I didn't eat, I would have to take a slap on the hand for it. I didn't think that was a bad deal so I immediately accepted and held out my hand for the first slap. To make a long story short, I only lasted two hand slaps and I ate the rest of my peas. I didn't take my dad up on that offer ever again.

Kisses are a form of currency. Growing up, if I needed help from my dad, he would always ask, " What do I get? " When I was really young, I would shrug and then he would immediately suggest, " how about ten kisses on the cheek? " And of course I would give him the kisses, alternating cheeks so that it was even on both sides. As I grew older, I caught on and didn't have to wait for him to suggest. I would offer my price on how many kisses I would give. I started having a running tab of kisses that I owed him and a lot of the time I would whine and be reluctant to give him more kisses. I'm pretty sure I owe him more kisses than I can ever pay back. I know this lesson seems silly, but I think there is something to be learned. This is a great example of parental love to a child. This mirrors the love Heavenly Father has for each one of us. I don't think I will be able to truly understand this kind of love until I have a child of my own. My dad only asks for kisses, and when I am reluctant to pay, he helps me anyway. I am truly grateful to my dad for doing this. It not only lets me know he loves me, but also teaches me of Heavenly Father's love for all of his children. I plan on continuing this practice with my future kids.

If you're wondering, I'm the little baby in my dad's arms. :)

Being bald is not the end of the world. My dad started losing his hair in his early twenties. Really young. Imagine what that can do to a young man's self esteem. But if it ever bothered my dad, he never showed it. never. Life goes on, and if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I've only known my dad as a bald man and quite honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. I think he looks great. I'm pretty sure my brothers and I have made jokes about his baldness and that never got him down. Plus, he has a lovely collection of hats, and I think he looks so cute when he wears beanies in the winter. 

taken from thewoksoflife.com

The secret ingredient is the green onion. 
So my dad loves to cook. He doesn't like baking so much, but cooking is where it's at for him. For a time there was this one chinese dish he would cook all the time that required green onions.  A picture of this dish is on the right. It's one of my all-time favorites. He went through a phase where he cooked this all the time. And always, without fail, at the dinner table he would say, " the secret is in the green onions." Pretty soon he started saying that for other dishes and it became an inside joke for our family. My dad always enlisted our help to prepare dinner. My father-in-law recently complimented me on how well I chop vegetables. I owe that one to my dad. Because of his insistence that we help him with dinner, I have learned many of my cooking skills and repertoire of asian dishes. I'm also going to put a plug in here for my mom too. She has also taught me a ton about cooking and my childhood is filled with happy memories of her savory dishes. Thanks Mom.  

 Don't mess with Asian Pride. In my senior year of high school, I ran for student body president. The previous two years, I had been class vice president for student government, so it was pretty much expected I would be student body vice president. I could have ran for student body VP and easily taken the position, but oh me...I didn't. Instead I ran for student body president against my good friend who had been president since 6th grade. Why did I do that? Honestly, I think I was just curious to see what would happen. There have been many who have run against her, but she has always been victorious. We both ran a good campaign, and it was close, but I did not win. And I really didn't have any hard feelings. I had a good experience being in student government, and I knew our student government would be in good hands.  But anyway, the lesson I learned was during my campaign. I used slogans with Chinese characters that represented honor, virtue, and truth. I don't remember exactly the sayings on the posters, but throughout the entire process, my father taught me more about our Chinese heritage and it made me realize how proud he was to be Chinese. Ever since I was young, he has been involved in the Chinese community, volunteering his time to organize events and share with others about Chinese culture. He loves learning about Chinese history. His example has taught me to be proud of who I am and the special heritage that I have. I hope I can carry on that Asian pride to my future kids.    

I know that was only five lessons, and there are plenty more and counting, but I think I will stop for now. I know my dad is not perfect and he has his weaknesses, BUT he is still my hero. I am so grateful for his love and patience throughout the years. Happy Birthday Dad! I hope this year is a good one filled with awesome adventures. 

I love you!

Jessica

my awkward years if you can't tell :)

What's been going on the last couple of months...

Here is just a sampling:

Caleb got a coat for his birthday. I have a matching one that is hot pink!

Caleb's birthday dinner: Parmesan crusted tilapia, Garlic Green Beans, and Cilantro lime rice

Another Birthday Surprise! Dragon Fruit! I found this randomly at a grocery store.
We both enjoyed this fruit a lot while living in Hong Kong.

I made A LOT of pumpkin cookies

We visited an apple fruit farm called Wasem's in Ypsilanti.
You could pick your own apples.

They also had a pumpkin patch, very convenient. 

I thought these gourds looked really cool

Here's the pumpkin we carved!
The Boogey Man!

We watched "Hocus Pocus" while pumpkin carving with our neighbors

Our neighbor's pumpkin, "Let It Snow" is the title of Jonathan's Christmas album.
And it's actually available for purchase now at jonathankeithmusic.com
You should buy it.

Ahhh! I skipped a month!!

Wow, I didn't blog AT ALL in the month of March. There are many updates that need to be given. Here we go:

Firstly, I began working at Nu Skin full-time. Yup. I make the big bucks. It's a really great company to work for; I'm very grateful to have this job, even if its not for much longer. (I'll talk about that in a little bit.) I really don't make that much money, but we have been able to build up our savings, which is good for us. 

My birthday was in March! I can't believe I'm already 26! That makes me sound so old, but at the same time, having Caleb in my life makes me feel young. And I know that I am still young, but still, life is moving along at a pretty good pace, probably because I'm enjoying life way too much. Caleb cooked me a nice dinner, and then afterwards we invited friends over for peach cobbler. It was yummy. I got several gifts for my birthday, but I wanted to mention one of them that Caleb gave me. There were several times I would reminisce about a certain herbal tea that we would make in high school. Ever since then if I wanted tea, I would look for it in the grocery store, but I would always have to settle for the regular chamomile. Well, not anymore, Caleb got me this:

My favorite tea! Well, one of my favorites. And not just one box, but eight of them! (he could only buy it in bulk online) I don't drink tea all the time, but I absolutely LOVE this one. I want to thank my friends Mariana and Dawn for introducing this beverage to me. I love mixing honey and milk into this drink, it hits the spot every time. 

Also in March, Caleb was gone almost every single weekend. He went to visit schools for graduate programs. Well, the time has come to make a decision. Just last week we made our final decision.

Drumroll please....we have decided to attend the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in the fall! 

We're going to be Wolverines!

So now we need to figure out how we're going to move out there. We pretty much just want to get rid of all our stuff and drive across the country in our little pickup. It's going to be so much fun. 

Okay, on to other updates. I have a new nephew! My sister-in-law, Shannon, had her boy in march. His name is Phoenix. He is so cute! I got to visit them while they were in the hospital and we've also been going over to their apartment to visit.

My cousin Shelley came in March to go snowboarding, so I went skiing with her. We went to the Sundance resort night skiing. Super cheap. Super fun. The conditions weren't that great, but we still had a great time. It had been at least two years since the last time Shelley went boarding, so she was really excited. We also went to visit a friend in her home, and then we went off to the outlet mall in Lehi. 

 

That's all I have for now, I can't think of much else that happened in March. I am ready for spring to come!

Caleb’s Special Day

Hey Everyone,

So Saturday was Caleb's birthday, we started off the day by making breakfast together. Sorry I don't have any pictures of the breakfast, but we made hashbrowns and scrambled eggs with cheese and mushrooms. It was so good! The night before I wrapped his gift while he was asleep and so he was so surprised to see it on our dining table this morning. He opened it right away:

 He then began reading right away...

we then had to run some errands, but afterwards we visited with one of our family friends and got vietnamese pho at the Pho Noodle House on state street. We were both in heaven. There aren't very many places around here that have vietnamese noodles, so this was a special treat for both of us. Thank you Maisie for taking us out! This is what our pho looked like:

Afterwards we got ready for Caleb's little birthday party, we called it "Caleb"s Toyota Tailgate Party." We decided to have a fun gathering in our parking lot at the back of Caleb's truck. Our place is way too small to have a party, but our parking lot was perfect for such a gathering. We celebrated with ice cream floats and mini-fireworks. It was quite the show. I don't have pictures of the fireworks, but here are our group photos from the party:

The pumpkin was made by Ben, Caleb's brother. He also gave him some lovely chapsticks ("it's the gift that keeps on giving."-Ben) and some chocolate facial masks. Thank you Ben!

Overall, it was a perfect Saturday. I'm so glad Caleb had a memorable birthday. We are so blessed to have good family and friends.