i feel special

[yk] so last sunday, my bridesmaids planned the most wonderful shower for me. every single detail of the shower was tailored for me...they all wore my wedding colors, prepared tiramisu ingredients so guests could make their own, served my favorite foods, made the most awesome recipe scrapbook, decorated so beautifully, got me a spa package (totally need it after my project ends!), and gave my guests the cutest favors (little glass dessert bowls from crate and barrel!).

at first i was a little apprehensive about going to my own shower. i've been to many showers and even helped plan a few...but when you're the one who's being showered, it's kinda weird being the center of attention. i guess it's a precursor to the wedding. since i've been traveling, i feel like i've lost touch with many people...but seeing my friends this weekend reminded me of how God has blessed me with ladies who genuinely care about me and have made an impact in my life. so ladies, thank you for taking time out of your day to attend my shower and shower me with your love and company! i can't wait until i'm back in houston so i get to reconnect with everyone!

i felt truly special.

boo. . .

[gw] So looking over my split times, I'm more upset with myself now that I didn't finish under 5. I could have. boo. But I have to give myself a break. With temperatures hovering a little bit over freezing the whole race. With this whole warm winter, I was not prepared. I never have run in cold freezing temperatures.

And my plan of splurging on all the food I put off till after the marathon isn't working. I can't bring myself to eat that much. Yvonne has had more influence on me than I thought. :) hee hee. So I think I'm going to stick with spinach salads for lunch.

My ankle is more sore than it has been. I've stopped taking ibuprofen cause I want to toughen it out and cause of the side effects, but I might take one tonight. Here's a link that I got about pain meds.

Coming soon. . . my marathon and distance challenge medals! whoop!

Weekend of Encouragement

[gw] So this was a busy weekend for both of us. Yvonne went to a shower for Michelle and in turn had her own on Sunday. (You'll probably get a post on that later.) I had my marathon. I didn't make my goal of finishing under 5 hours. But that's okay. All the conditions weren't there for me to meet my goal All that matters is that I finished. And I'm recovering nicely today. Not too much soreness. Those ice baths really work. But thanks to Brian who took me back home and all the people out there cheering us on. I think I'll stick to half marathons for a bit until I can get enough time to train for my next marathon. Yep, I said it NEXT marathon. Just want to also thank my coaches Janie and Gabby from Rogue. There were always there to answer questions, for support, and pushing me up the hill when I felt like just walking it. But now I realize, I'm going to miss my marathon training regimen. What am I going to do next? I'll go back to 24 hour fitness and work on my upper body, abs, and work on the bike. Maybe I'll do a triathlon. hahaha

Mom, Happy Birthday!

[gw] It's my Mom's Birthday today by the chinese calendar. This keeps us on our toes every year, cause we have to figure it out every year. It's January 19th on the chinese calendar. Good thing it's in January, so we only have to count 19 days from Chinese New Year. Happy Birthday Mom!

Deal of the Week

[gw] Saw this posted on one of my deal sites: TMobile Unlimited Family Messaging Plan for $9.99 It's quite nice. Now I can text message Yvonne, so I won't disturb her with a call if she's busy. It's valid for sms, pictures, and video! Hot deal especially since it's 4.99 for 1 line. Now I get all lines. :)

So for Valentine's day, Yvonne and I actually celebrated it last Saturday. We went to Cheesecake Factory (my favorite restaurant, and one of Yvonne's favorites.) How can you not like this place? It has the best service, quality food, and don't forget the awesome cheesecakes! Yum!! We ordered our favorite appetizer, calamari, and favorite dish, Louisiana Chicken Pasta. We tried a new dish as well, Chicken Madeira, cause I was craving their mashed potatoes and Yvonne was craving asparagus. And let me tell you that was a great choice. The chicken was great! Our waters were always filled, and the manager went to check on our dishes in the kitchen after we finished our calamari. Can't wait for the next time. (picutres to come)

But after the Freescale Marathon this weekend. I'm going to go down some KFC and Marie Callendar's Kahlua cream cheese pie.

Arcadia

From watching an old Joan of Arcadia episode.

son: what do women want?

mom: shoes

son: what else?

mom: it's complicated, you might have to spend the rest of your life figuring that one out.

son: I knew what they wanted in high school. so different now. what do I have to offer her, except for my wit and charm. That's a given.

mom:she wants to be respected, listened to, understood, she wants flowers, she wants to laugh, she wants to trust you, she doesn't want to read your mind, she wants to be valued for who she is. Sometimes she wants you to just shut up and stop fixing things.

son: this is going to be very difficult.

What's wrong with my eyelid?

What's wrong with my eyelid?
Originally uploaded by fortewu.

Can anyone tell me what's wrong with my eyelid? I was woken up at 5am this morning. Not because I wanted to, but I was paged. . . :( Oh the glory of being in IT. But now, I'm exhausted. TGIF, and I get to catch up on some sleep. I have about 3 loads of laundry to do, and some vacuuming as well. First weekend away from Yvonne since August. Pray for Yvonne as she works through the weekend as she's nearing the end of her project.

1 half marathon = 21.097494 kilometers

[gw] It's been a really busy for me lately. It's been hard for us to plan a wedding and spend the time working on building a foundation for our marriage. Can I say how difficult long distance is? But we're still doing well, and it helps that we're able to work on our communication skills cause we're limited by time. We just wish that we had more time to spend together. :) Thanks for all the prayers everyone.

So to update you all. I went back home to Houston this past weekend for my grandfather's funeral. It was a nice, simple, and a time to say goodbye. It was good to see a few of my cousins as well. Came back on Saturday, and proceeded to rest up for the 3M half marathon on Sunday. I didn't have a PR, but I blame that on being sick the entire week. It was a fun race though. I ran all the way from the arboretum to 12th street. Best thing of all, I recovered quickly. I stopped limping after the first day. Looking forward to the last race, the Freescale Marathon!

Haven't done a wedding post lately, but here's some more advice. . .
- Come up with a dummy email address from gmail to give to vendors. They don't stop harassing you, and you have no idea where they get your address from. Give friends another email address for both of you to give to friends.

- Cakes are sold by the slice. That was news to me. . .

- Use plaxo to keep updated with your friends so you don't have to go after them to ask for mailing addresses.

- Honeymoons are quite expensive. But it's fun to be using all (2 years of travelling for work) reward points and going for cheaper! Thank you Delta, Marriot, Hilton, and Hertz.