My Journey…

Happy New Year!!!

2007 has been very kind to me and my family. Here’s a list of happenings (I will skip the bad ones) in 2007 that I am thankful for.

Jan - moved into a new apartment and we absolutely loved it. Adam’s dad and step mum visited us in Houston and we had a great time together.

Feb - Adam’s mum and step dad visited us. It was a surprise visit for Adam’s birthday. The look on Adam’s face when he came home was priceless.

March - Adam asked me to marry him (which has to be highlight of the year).

April - Went on a holiday in England (my first time there) and visited Surrey (where my MIL lives), Oxford, Nottingham and Cambridge.

May  and June - Was back in Malaysia which was great. Alot of eating and drinking. This is also the month that wedding planning officially started.

July and August - nothing much happened which should be great news won’t you agree?

September - Went on a holiday to Cabarete in the Dominican Republic.

October - Another trip to England, this time we went to Brighton and London.
My first trip to France. We were in Paris and then to Blois and Tours in the Centre Loire Valley.
My first live rugby match and it was the Rugby World Cup!

November and December - parties, parties, parties…

I hope 2008 would be another great year. This is the year I turn 30 and get married.

The wedding is in March and we will be going on our honeymoon right after that. That should keep me occupied until the end of April. There’s a holiday planned for September and who knows, we might be leaving the US end of this year. If we do leave this year, there will be loads to do.

I wish that 2008 will bring all of us great health, good luck and happiness. Cheers to a great year ahead of us!

Wait, what? Resolutions? Nah… I think I will skip that this year. It doesn’t really work for me.

What happens when 2 girls about 5 ft 3in buy an 8 ft Christmas tree? Alot of hardwork, cursing and laugh… that’s for sure.

A few days before our Christmas eve dinner, Beatriz told me she needs to get a Christmas tree. One morning I went to my usual grocery store and noticed that all Christmas trees are on sale! Only $10 each! 

A few hours later, we were there picking a tree. We wanted something small, something that looks healthy and something that will fit into the Jeep. We found it!

The guy working there was helping us to pack the tree into the Jeep. It wasn’t easy, there were still bits of the tree that was jutting out and I can’t shut the back door. Hmm… we shall just leave it unclosed and drive home slowly.

Once home, it was only the 2 of us trying to get the tree out of the Jeep. It proves difficult. Beatriz was pushing the tree from inside the car and I was pulling from outside. Finally the tree is out, Beatriz held the top and I held the bottom of the tree and dragged it into the house. Finally, it’s home and in the spot we prepared for it. We then realised that the tree was not as small as we thought it was. Once in place, we see that the top of the tree is almost touching the ceiling!

When we thought the job is done, we realised it was just the beginning of a hard working day. While we were dragging the tree in, alot of its needles fell. There’s a trail of needles from the car leading into the living room and then in the dining room. Not only that, since the tree was in the Jeep, can you imagine the pile of needles and branches which came off from our yanking? Loads! I spent 30 minutes vacumming the Jeep to rid the mess in it.

The same day we spent 1 and a half hours shopping for decorative items and set up the tree. It was so much fun.

This is the outcome from our hard work.

The guys can’t believe we did it ourselves. Initially they thought we were lying when we said we brought the tree home ourselves. Knowing us, they expected the tree to be delivered but no, we surprised them this time.

Our Christmas eve dinner was really good. We had the usual Christmas meal spread and alot of booze. It was a pretty cold day and it was nice to start the cold evening with some Vin Chaud (hot wine).

Adam (and Kim) all ready to dig in.

There were so much drinking that night that the guys were drunk before midnight. I am not kidding, we didn’t get to countdown to Christmas since everyone was drunk. Oh well, there’s always next year and they promised to behave themselves for our New Year’s eve party.