Starved Rock

Here are some pictures from last weekend's visit to Starved Rock State Park. Enjoy!

Content

Allison here...I've been trying to cultivate an attitude of contentment lately, so I thought I would list some of the items I'm thankful for, especially in this time of national economic uncertainty:

1. Our apartment. I am thankful that it is a safe place, that it is a cheap rent for this area, and that renting gives us flexibility. I am thankful that this place is home and that we have not been forced to leave our home because of finances.
2. Our cars. I am thankful for our main car -- for the fact we have never had to take it in to get worked on beyond an oil change. I am thankful for how it has kept us safe during our long commutes and how it gets wonderful gas mileage. I also am thankful for our second car. Even though it's 15 years old, this car still gets us where we need to go, although it sits on the street most of the time.
3. Our experiences. We have traveled so much this year. I have been or will be going to San Antonio, Los Angeles, Denver, New York City (twice), Detroit and Waikiki. We have done more and experienced more than I could have imagined at the start of the year.
4. My gym memberships. I am thankful that I have access to gyms in my city where I live and the city where I work. I am thankful for ways I am strong and healthy.
5. My cell phone. What would I do without free nationwide long distance? I am so glad that became a reality the same time I graduated college because it has allowed me to have good conversations with family and friends.

So, what are you thankful for?

Seven Random/Weird Facts

Hi...Allison here...my dear friend Mandy from college tagged me on her blog and asked me to post seven random/weird facts about myself. So here goes:

1. Two people commented yesterday on the shirt I was wearing. One said it was from Banana Republic; the other said it was from J. Crew. Seriously, I can't remember the last time I was in those stores. I hate to pay full price for anything, so that's why the awesome emerald-colored shirt I was wearing was from T.J. Maxx. Yep...T.J. Maxx.
2. I once flushed a pager down the toilet. Yes, it was an accident.
3. If I need some motivation when I work out, I flip my iPod to Justin Timberlake or other music you would typically hear at a wedding reception. Pretty much any JT song will get me moving on an elliptical trainer.
4. I recently joined another gym. Yes, another. Now I'm a member of a gym near my work and one near my home. Actually, I've been working out over lunch for the past week and I absolutely love it. It gives me so much more energy for the afternoon that I may be able to forego my lunchtime diet Coke habit!
5. I know how to say "Man, who just farted? Your fart stinks!" in Cantonese. (Thanks to my husband for that one.)
6. I recently learned that the soup I typically eat at my father-in-law's favorite restaurant includes chicken feet. I didn't know that until I saw my mother-in-law sucking on a chicken foot after I had been eating there for two years. Needless to say, my appetite was gone.
7. On that note, I was the pickiest eater growing up. I basically ate a hot dog every day of my life. I wouldn't even eat what my parents were cooking and now I'm having to deal with chicken foot soup! Who would have thought it?
8. (I'll throw a bonus fact in...) Mandy, the dear, precious friend who tagged me, tried to get me to eat more veggies (well, really, any) when we were college roommates. It's taken me a while, but I do eat a lot more veggies now. I now realize they are making me strong and healthy...and help me keep my figure!

Hope you all enjoyed this!

Our new sister!

Here are some pictures from my (Allison)'s brother's wedding this weekend. We had a blast celebrating the marriage of Bart & Liv. Liv is one amazing woman -- she loves God, loves her family, and loves the hurting (she is so involved in helping improve her community). She is smart, funny, beautiful, and loves my brother dearly. We are proud to have her as our sister and to welcome in her wonderful sisters (and brother-in-law and their little ones) and parents into our extended family.

In order to welcome my family into the bride's Filipino family, the guys wore barongs at the rehearsal.

Redeeming Moments

Today I (Allie) learned that officially Chicago is ranked as the most stressful city in America. Even crazy NYC is #2. Chicago is stressful because of its urban density, high cost of gas, wild weather, and commuting nightmares (OK, so I added some to the official list of reasons).

This ranking, of course, does not surprise me. The pace of Chicago life is enough to bring a person to his or her breaking point quite easily. Due to flooding and special events, it's taken me 1.5 hours to get home from work each night this week. And, my work schedule is such that I leave at an off time.

I just had dinner with a good friend who, like me, is a transplant Chicagoan. She and I talked about the disadvantages of city life, especially how we spend so much time commuting and dealing with cityness that we are not as involved in serving in our church.

Yet we know that God has a plan for us to be here. Yes, we could be more involved if we lived in more sustainable towns, but this is where God has us now. And, we know that God gives us ministry opportunities right under our noses.

Tonight, as I drove home from dinner with this friend, I stopped by our local drug store. I was contemplating my purchase, when a woman asked for my help selecting diapers for her grandson. I quickly explained to her that I don't have kids, but she still asked for my input anyway. She was a Greek immigrant who didn't speak or read much English. She didn't know which brand was best and which would fit well on the grandson she's babysitting. We walked to the check out counter, and as I left I said goodbye to her and smiled.

So, while yes, city life is stressful, God still places situations in our lives where we can love others and serve them. Whether it's simply not adding stress to the other drivers we're with on the roads each day or helping someone out when we could be too busy. The key is recognizing those moments and choosing to love and serve instead of focusing on our own stress.

Ode to Caramel

Hi everyone...sorry it's been three weeks since we've blogged. I (Allie) have been dealing with some dental issues that have caused pain and, at times, have prevented me from even eating or drinking. Lord-willing, I think we may have turned the corner.

So one thing I wish I knew before the dental work process is that I would no longer be able to eat caramel. I love caramel, and this season is the perfect time for caramel. Caramel apples, caramel in desserts...ahh...oh caramel. Unfortunately, I scheduled the dental work to happen right after our Hawaii trip so I wasn't as prepared with how the dental work may affect my eating habits. Anyway, I want to say goodbye to one of my favorite foods. Goodbye, caramel...:(

Ok, enough of the sob story about caramel. This season has been a good learning experience for Abe and me. We've learned how to talk each other down from going to "crazy town" (a term our friends Paul & Kristen use to describe freak outs) when we start having stress reactions. God always uses these experiences to refine us...it's just the refining fire is very hot!

Now that our lives (hopefully) are settling down, we're getting excited for a big event to come in the next couple weeks -- my brother's wedding! We are so excited to see our family and to spend time with our future sister-in-law and her wonderful friends and family. We're ready to party!

Adventures in Paradise

Hi everyone...Allison here providing you with more details on our adventures in the paradise called Hawaii. (Check out Abe's post below for a more thoughtful reflection.) Abe and I feel so blessed to be able to go to Hawaii. This trip was an unexpected find at an affordable price. We booked it with the thought that we would have lots of adventures that hey, to be honest, we probably won't have the opportunity to do for a while either based on finances (since we're planning on buying a house next summer) or status of life (i.e. adventures that you can't do with a family). So, here are some of our adventures:

1. Surfing. We took a one-hour surf lesson. Well, actually it was 3 minutes of on-land training (1.5 minutes of that was in Japanese to accomodate our other classmate). Then we headed into the water. Abe calls this experience the scariest hour of his life. I was able to ride a couple of waves while standing (bear in mind that I didn't know how to stop so I almost hit two girls on a raft. Thankfully, they peeled off in different directions so only the raft went barreling through the air.) Surfing, however, was a humbling experience for Abe. He did manage to ride a couple waves, but had the same stopping problem I had (no one told us to stop you have to jump off, but we figured that out eventually.) In the end, I know I would take a surf lesson again, just with a different company. Honestly, I never would have even tried surfing lessons, but it was Abe's idea and, since he's always saying I need to be more adventurous, I was too chicken to tell him I was scared!

2. Snorkeling. We had a much better experience snorkeling than surfing. We saw tons of fish. The only downside was that in order to see the fish you had to swim near coral without trying to touch it since coral is a living organism. However, since we went at low tide, this was tough, especially when the waves started picking up. I have a welt (not a bruise, but a welt) on my leg from getting knocked into coral. In the end, we would definintely do this again. This was Abe's favorite part of the trip.

3. Kayaking (Attempt). This adventure did not go as well. Being midwesterners, we were unaware that doing anything water-based in the late afternoon was a bad idea due to high tide and fiercer waves. (Bear in mind this was why our surfing experience was so bad -- we went surfing at 3:30 p.m.) So, here we were at 3 p.m. trying to put a kayak in at a beach. We flipped over at least 3 times before some locals felt sorry for us and towed us out. But then the tide pushed us to an area of the water we weren't supposed to be in. We got yelled at by some kite-surfers, but were really unable to do anything about it. (We were paddling like crazy, but we were actually making negative progress.) We eventually let nature bring us back to shore before hauling our kayak back to the rental place. Thankfully, there was a great shaved ice place in the same shopping center. And, we took a scenic route back, so it was a good experience in all. We would try this again, just on a less choppy body of water!

Overall, we had a great trip. We did a lot of things we never thought we would ever have the opportunity to do. And even the rough parts of our adventures left us with good memories that we'll never forget.

Thoughts on our trip to Hawaii

Aloha everyone! This is Abe blogging! Allison and I just got back from Hawaii Wednesday night. Allison will come up with a separate blog post shortly, but I thought that I'd just share with everyone what God revealed to me during this trip. In short--our lives are too cluttered with stuff/things that distract us from God and our relationship with Him. For us, those distractions include commuting, work, internet, e-mail, tv and school as examples. I think that it's partially due to city life and partially due to our society as a whole. Society says to us, "You're not busy? What is wrong with you?" So we just keep going and going and going--it wasn't God's design for us to live harried, crazy lives. As a matter of fact, moving too fast actually hinders our relationship with God. We never slow down long enough to hear his voice. It gets so much easier to listen to God once we take away those distractions. Which brings me to our trip to Hawaii....

As you may know, Allie and I try to take a quarterly marriage retreat four times a year--this time is meant for us to connect (or reconnect) with God and each other. After coming back to Chicago, I realized how many things have been distracting us from God in Chicago. When we were in Hawaii, however, all those distractions were gone--no school, work, limited internet access, and no tv (except for the Olympics at times). It was just us, nature, and God (not to mention that we were in Hawaii!) What a perfect setting to have a marriage retreat.

I think that Allison and I really enjoyed ourselves (heck, we went surfing, hiking and snorkeling!), but, more importantly, God revealed some things to us that we need to work on as a couple. It was very humbling when God revealed this stuff to us.

Anyways, I think that the book that I have started to read has helped me to unclutter my mind a bit. One of my favorite authors is John Eldredge (author of "Wild at Heart"), so I started reading his newest book "Walking with God." I've learned from personal experience that life is so much easier when you walk with God and ask God for direction, as opposed to doing your own thing--it's when I haven't asked God about a decision where I've gotten into trouble.

Anyways, mahalo (this means thank you in Hawaiian!) for reading! We'll have another post up shortly!

My Driving Philosophy/Why I Love the Olympic Opening Ceremony

So here are some of my (Allison's) random thoughts, if you're interested:

Driving here in Chicago is so interesting. People here do really crazy, agressive and downright stupid moves. If you allow more than 2 feet between you and the car in front of you (no matter the speed), someone will try to fit into that space. While people are by and large driving slower on the freeways to save gas, there are still the people who zoom-zoom between cars like it's a video game. While I could try to either drive that fast or be agressive so that I block other people, etc., I've realized that it's not worth stressing over, so if people want to pass me, they can do so. Because with the price of gas being $4 a gallon or more, driving faster or being more agressive is actually costing me more money. Even if it took 1/4 gallon of gas to be more agressive, that's a $1 out of my pocket. No offense, but the other drivers of Chicago aren't worth my money.

On another topic, I've been watching the Olympic opening ceremony tonight. I love the opening ceremonies. (Some of you attended my opening ceremony party for the 2006 Olympics.) Here's what I love:
--the crazy artsy stuff that's usually pretty freaky no matter the host country
--watching the parade of nations. This year I decided to cheer for countries in which I have been in or in which I know someone from. (I said a special cheer for Hong Kong!) :)

Anyway, I just love seeing all of humanity coming together in all its diversity. It's fun to root for countries just because I've met someone from there in my time of being in Chicago, like Ecuador, or a country I've been to since the last Olympics, like the Dominican Republic. Diversity is God's design, so it's awesome to see so much diversity in one place. Yea Olympics!

Abe's Thoughts on the first year of marriage

Hi all,

This is Abe here. I figured that I would post my thoughts on our first year of marriage since Allison just did. In short, WOW--what a ride. Marriage is unlike anything that I have ever experienced. You really learn how selfish you can be. Actually, marriage and your faith go hand in head. Scripture calls us to die to self and to look out for others' interest first--building a marriage is no different. You have to look for your wife's interests first, and put them above your own. I'll be the first one to admit that I have failed in this area at times. It is truly humbling to realize that someone loves you just for who you are, even though you have disappointed that person from time to time--but God sets the perfect example for us on how to love others (see John 3:16).

I look back at how much we've accomplished in our first year marriage, and all I can say is--WOW--totally a God thing. From a personal standpoint, we've made it through our first year of marriage and have adjusted rather nicely to each other and to marriage. I'll be the first one to admit that it hasn't always been smooth sailing, but we've been able to work through our challenges. From a professional standpoint, Allison found a nice Public Relations job and has been able to travel with her job (albeit begrudgingly at times). I have been promoted twice in the past year and have been able to do pretty well in my MBA classes--I'm about at the halfway point of my program. I am truly humbled by how much God has blessed us. It has all been a God thing, and I would give all the glory to God-without Him there is no way we could have accomplished so much in a year.

In any case, we will be on our way to Hawaii in about a week or so, so stay tuned for updates! I doubt that we will blog from there, but stay tuned for lots of pictures and stories from the trip.

Have a good one everyone!

Thoughts on One Year

Allison here...Today marks our first wedding anniversary. It seems really odd that we've been married a year already. We're still adjusting to each other and our life in Chicago. Heck, we're still trying to use up the saran wrap we each had in our separate households.

But I'd be lying if I said that life has been all wine and roses, although I did receive some beautiful roses today. But that's not real marriage. Real marriage is when you are being a brat and the other person is being a brat and yet you work through things. You love each other. You are committed. And you receive being loved and cared for by someone who's there no matter what. Someone who forgives you. Who loves you for all your good and bad. No hiding who we really are, huh?

Anyway, I know that some of those who are reading this blog are single and I want to show them that while marriage is awesome, it's hard. Marriage is a living organism, and thankfully, my husband and I know that we have to protect our marriage and come together in agreement in everything.

We've had such great times to celebrate. We've traveled so much in the past year. We're getting ready to welcome in our new sister-in-law into the family. And, praise God that our family has been healthy.

It's fun to see how God has worked in our lives (and in your lives, too) in the past year. God has crazy plans for all of our lives. I would have never thought this is what my life would be like, but it's better than I ever could have imagined.

Abe's Birthday

Hi everyone...sorry I (Allison) have been so lax at blogging. After working on a computer all day it's tough for me to want to jump on the computer to blog. But I thought I would share some pictures from Abe's birthday celebrations.

We went to Abe's favorite restaurant, Ben Pao, with his parents. It's an upscale Chinese restaurant in downtown Chicago. Abe was so happy because they gave him a free dessert for his birthday.

Abe had lots of presents. (I had so much fun thinking of cool stuff to get him.) I also tracked down a black forest cherry cake the day of his birthday, since that's his favorite type of cake. (Apparently, that's not a common cake to have on hand at grocery stores in Chicago.) It was so fun surprising him since, well, he had a lot of fun surprising me with our wedding proposal so long ago.

One of my favorite presents I got him was this shirt. Abe loves ramen. It's insane. He probably eats ramen at least 3 times a week. I saw this shirt several months ago and had to be patient. I wanted to show it to him, but then again I wanted to surprise him with it at his birthday. It's funny, too, because one of Abe's favorite shows is "Everybody Loves Raymond." Get the joke?



This weekend is my brother and future sister-in-law's bachelor party/bridal shower/please don't call it a bachelorette party. Then we celebrate our wedding anniversary a week later. I've been thinking of a good blog post reflecting back on our first year of marriage, so stay tuned!

Josh Hamilton--Superstar player and an inspiration to us all

Hi all,

Abe blogging here. As you probably know by now, I am a huge Cubs/baseball fan in general. In any case, I was watching Josh Hamilton put on a show in the Home Run Derby tonight--he hit a HR Derby record 28 home runs--in the first round!. This guy is a machine! Even though he ultimately lost the HR Derby, he put on a great show tonight! There is more to this story,however. Josh has a very inspirational story. I won't say too much here because I don't want to screw up telling his story, but he has a great story to tell about how his faith has saved him from his own personal demons.

Here is the link to his testimony-it is a truly amazing story

Have a good one ya'll!

Analysis of the Rich Harden trade

In a deal today with the Oakland A's, the Cubs received pitchers Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin for pitcher Sean Gallagher, outfielders Matt Murton, Eric Patterson and minor leaguer Josh Donaldson.

I'm here to provide expert analysis of this trade. On paper, this looks like a good trade for the Cubs, as they get two good pitchers in exchange for two outfielders who were good but not great players. The Cubs get two good pitchers in Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin. Harden is 5-1 this year with a 2.34 ERA and a WHIP (Walks and Hits per 9 innings) of 1.14. Gaudin is 5-3 this year with a 3.59 ERA and a WHIP of 1.28. Both have respective WHIP numbers. They also get Rich Harden this year and the next year, whereas CC and the music factory (i.e., CC Sabathia) is essentially a rent-a-pitcher who becomes a free agent after this season. The only negative that I can see with this trade is that Rich Harden has landed on the disabled list 6 times in the past 6 years, so he seems pretty injury prone. Still, all in all, a pretty good deal for the Cubs.

I thought that the Cubs were the favorites in the division even after the Brewers trade for Sabathia, and now....well...I won't even go there, seeing that it's been 100 hundred years since....well, everyone knows (I don't want to jinx the Cubs).

I give the Cubs an A on this trade. Great trade for Cubs! Now let's see if the Cardinals can go out and get someone in a trade....

We have a new church building and summer in Chicago!

Greetings all! This is Abe blogging. I must admit, life has gotten pretty busy for Allison and I, so our apologies for not blogging more frequently! In any case, let's see....what have we done so far since Memorial Day:

(1) Been to Madison, Wisconsin to Bratfest--contributed to the world's record for most brats eaten one festival.

(2) Been to NYC, saw a game at Yankees Stadium in its' final year.

(3) For me, getting used to my new position that has more responsibility at work.

(4) Saw two awesome movies already (which I HIGHLY recommend): "Get Smart" and "Wall-E."

(5) Watched the Hot Dog Eating contest yesterday on ESPN. Saw an eat-off because there was a tie (grossest "sporting event" I have ever witnessed in my entire life).

(6) Played "Rock Band" on the X-Box for the first time last night (still have the Weezer song "Say It Ain't So" stuck in my head).

(7) Witnessed about 50 different fireworks displays going on all at once last night from our friends' Paul and Kristen's 26th floor pad!

(8) Moved into a new church building--Yes, at long last we are at are new church building! For those of you who don't know, we attend Park Community Church in Chicago. The church was started in 1987 by some folks from Moody and has been a traveling church for the past 21 years or so. Well, we found a good location to build about 2 years ago or so, but due to construction delays, increased costs in building, etc., we moved into our new building about a year late--still, it's a testament to God that we have new building. It will be a huge adjustment for everyone as the area that the church is in is a gentrified neighborhood--a lot of people are not used to this. We have half million dollar condos next to the church and housing projects less than a mile down. Still, this will give us great ministry opps once we get used to it. Check out the new building at parkcommunitychurch.org.

Today, we are going to eat at the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building! Our parents called yesterday and decided that they wanted to take us to brunch there today. It's a perfect day for it due to the gorgeous, sunny weather that we are having.

Well, have a good one y'all!

The Pigeon Warrior

Hi everyone...sorry we haven't blogged for a while. For the first time since we met, Abe and I are actually experiencing a relatively low-key summer. So, we haven't had any cool things to write about or pictures to share. We've just been hanging around Chicago relaxing and enjoying the summer.

However, we have had some funny experiences to write about. First off, I'll explain the title of the post -- the pigeons love our window air conditioner. We realized yesterday that two of them are hanging out there. (We think it's mating season?) Needless to say, my husband, who has had run-ins with pigeons and squirrels over the years (hopefully, he'll post about the great squirrel escapade sometime!) is on edge always ready to kick the pigeons off their beloved perch. I've nicknamed Abe the pigeon warrior.

Another funny moment happened when we took our beloved Ernie (Abe's old Corolla) to get his oil changed last weekend. Ernie is, of course, a guy since he's named after Cubs great Ernie Banks. However, our Russian mechanic (always full of funny quotes) said, "The old lady's running well." Our poor car was violated -- called a woman! I know, we're weird.

Other than those experiences, we have seen some great movies (We loved WALL-E). And, I have to say that right now as I write this, Abe has turned the TV to the Hot Dog Eating Contest. What an interesting summer as newlyweds.

New York, New York

Abe and I spent an extended weekend in New York City as part of a get-together with Abe's sister, brother-in-law and their friends. This was my (Allison)'s second time in New York City, and once again I realized that New York City is like Chicago on crack. Going to NYC always makes me so much more appreciative for Chicago's smaller scale.



We spent one day at a Yankees game where we saw A-Rod entering the stadium. (He is so built!) There was a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth, so that was very exciting. We also had an interesting experience trying to avoid the birds that were circling the upper deck (we were three rows from the top). That day we also had dinner with our good friend, Pam, who's in NYC for the summer with Campus Crusade for Christ.



We also spent another day doing just sight-seeing in the city. Our favorite place was Central Park. I thought it would be like Lincoln Park in Chicago, which is an awesome urban park, but I was truly blown away by Central Park. We saw the settings for so many movies and TV shows like the Mall (grove of trees) and the lake where people rent boats. There were really good street musicians playing in the park, so I felt like we were in our own romantic movie!



We spent another day at the beach in Connecticut, where we were staying with our brother-in-law's dad. I had never been to Connecticut before (wahoo for visiting a new state!). It's essentially just forest with winding roads between the towns -- absolutely gorgeous. We had a lot of fun out on the beach and on a speedboat.



Unfortunately, we had quite an ordeal getting home. We had a connection through DC on the way back, but storms in Chicago caused our flight from DC to Chicago to be canceled. Thankfully, we were able to make our way back very late at night, but we were originally re-booked for the next day. It's never fun when you're considering whether you should sleep in the airport or get a hotel room. Abe made good use of the time studying, as you can see from the picture above.

So, we had a great time, but we're really thankful to be home. We got more of an overview of NYC, so we're excited to go back sometime later and visit more in-depth.

Catching Up

Hi everyone...sorry we've been so lax at blogging lately. We've had a lot going on, which I'll show in pictures.

First off, Abe's sister and her husband flew in to surprise his mom for mother's day. Unfortunately, my camera's batteries died and I was unable to snap the "surprise" moment. Doh!





Then, of course, it was my birthday! Thanks to all you who sent your birthday wishes. Of the many great presents I got this year, I got a special one from my husband -- my own Cubs jersey personalized with my name and the number 1. (He said he's talked to Koskue and he's given the OK to share his number.) The old me would croak if it new future me would have my own Cubs jersey. But that just shows the power of love...awwwww...



Since I last wrote, Abe and I have also spent a weekend in Madison, Wisconsin. For those of you Chicagoans, it's a great medium-sized town getaway. Our favorite experience was visiting their botanical gardens.


They have this Thai pagoda that's the only one of its existence located in gardens outside Thailand. It is gorgeous. We thought of our friends Mandy and Jordan who've done missions work in Thailand. The whole pagoda is covered with gold leaf.







And, what would a trip to Wisconsin be without bratwurst? Yes, we went to Brat Fest, the annual event in which Madisoners try to beat their own world record for brat consumption.

Abe and I contributed by downing brats (2 for Abe; 1 for me). We're proud to say this year was a record.

That's it for us. We're both enjoying warm(er) weather in Chicago. We took a nice walk along the lakeshore on Memorial Day. How beautiful!

Mr. Peanut and Harry Potter are in the Trash

Yea! Abe finally got new glasses! As you can see, Mr. Peanut (his pair of glasses that was missing, well, one glass) and his Harry Potter-ish glasses from his college days are now in the trash. It was a historic moment in the life of Abe. He's a pack rat of sorts, so I know that letting go of non-functioning (let alone non-fashionable) glasses was a lot for him. I love the new glasses. I think they make Abe look very handsome and distinguished.

To show you that I'm just as dorky as my husband (I swear he's the only one in America who's still has a "Vote for Pedro" t-shirt), I've posted a picture I took last Sunday night.

I got my haircut and loved it, so I wanted to make sure I knew how to recreate the look. At 11 p.m. Sunday night I got out the digital camera. I know it's nerdy, but hey, it helps!



I have also been dreaming a lot about Punta Cana, which is where Abe and I went for our honeymoon. We had a great time and our resort was perfect. My latest thoughts about Punta Cana were magnified when I found a CD in our car of music from there. Listening to it in the car helps me relax. And, ever since we went there I have loved pineapple. I loved eating so much fresh pineapple at every meal and, as you can see from the swim-up bar photo, I also loved the pina coladas. Now whenever I eat pineapple it takes me back to that place. We just saw a deal there in the paper, but we're planning a trip to the Canadian Rockies this year to attend Abe's cousin's wedding. That's OK -- I smile to myself whenever I open up pineapple yogurt in my lunch.

Yow Mo Gaw Choh A

I (Allison) just had to post about what I just saw. Abe and I were watching TV when an AT&T commercial came on about a guy in a Chinese restaurant who is about to offend his prized Chinese customer. At the end when the full-screen graphic is up you hear the Chinese customer in the background saying, "Yow mo gaw choh a," which means in Cantonese, "Are you freaking kidding me?" It's one of the phrases Abe and I say to each other all the time. In fact, I said it this morning when I noticed we were watching ESPN's coverage of round 6 million (ok, so I'm exaggerating) of the NFL draft -- Who cares at that point?

Anyway, for the first time I actually understood something on TV that was in Cantonese. Usually, Abe's my translator, but this time we both got the joke!

Easy Ways to be Green

Do any of you have creative ways to save the planet? Abe and I have incorporated some ways to be more responsible including:

--Using large IKEA bags to haul our groceries in.
--Reusing any plastic bags we accumulate as lunchbags (which can be used until they fall apart) or as bathroom trash bags.
--Substituting ground beef in recipes with ground turkey (it's healthier and takes less grain and water from our Earth.)
--Carpooling to work (granted we live far from our jobs, but that will change someday.)
--Driving cars with great gas mileage. (Wahoo!)
--Wearing our clothes until they have seen better days. After that, donating them.

I'm also exploring a few options and would love your thoughts:
--Using cloth napkins. (Does anyone do this? I would love to reuse fabric for this. Any ideas?)
--Making bags out of old t-shirts

I also found a Web site I plan on using. Supercook comes up with recipes based off the ingredients you have. This saves food from going to waste and money!

The Musings of An Oriental Man

Greetings all! This is Abe blogging. I figured that I would blog tonight since it's been awhile since I've blogged. I'm also nursing a cough right now, so it's easier for me to write out my thoughts as opposed to talking right now (my vocal chords and throat will thank me too).

Well, as I was thinking about all the things that have been happening over the past month or so, I was reminded today that God has been playing a huge role in all of it (duh). I think that living in Chicago makes it very easy and normal for people to run at a fast and frenetic pace--the problem is, when you get to where you want to be, you're so burned out that you can't really enjoy it. I see this attitude in the workplace all the time. I hear of people saying that it was worth it to work those long hours because they are more successful in their careers. When I hear this, I usually think to myself, "that's great--but at what cost?" I don't want to sound preachy, but my priorities will ALWAYS be as follows (in this order): (1) My relationship with God, (2) My wife Allison, (3) My family and friends, (4)my career. This is very key because it's very easy to make one of these priorities an idol. For example, it's a very good idea to place Allison as a very high priority in my life, but it's not good if I place her above God--she essentially becomes an idol. We all have them, from money, to work, to material things. Don't get me wrong--none of these things are bad in itself, but taken to excess they are.

I think that people just want to move through life way too fast sometimes. For most of us it's graduate from college, get married, buy a house, have kids, do well in our careers, etc.--we are never quite satisfied. But God is calling us to trust Him and Him only—He will fulfill all of our needs.

Being sick has been a very humbling experience for me. I have had to consciously slow down the pace of life and have not been able to sit close to Allison. It has forced me to take better care of myself both physically and spiritually. It has forced me to stop running so fast. Between work, school, and a newlywed, well, I have a lot on my plate.

In any case, I thought that I'd share with everyone some of my thoughts right now--I don't expect everyone to agree with everything I say, but I hope that this blog post makes you think.

I'm going to sign off now because I think that I'm ready to hack up a furball (*cough*) (*cough*)

Caedmon's Call in Chicago!

Last night's Caedmon's Call concert was awesome. It brought back memories of the last time I (Allison) saw them -- I believe it was my sophomore year of college. While they played some of their new songs, they did play some old ones that I (somehow) remembered the lyrics to even though I haven't heard those songs in nearly 10 years. The show was in a university chapel, so it was really intimate. Abe had a blast, too, since the lead singer's dad is the pastor of the church Abe went to when he lived in Houston. Caedmon's Call is one of Abe's favorite bands, if not his absolute favorite.

The shring lok tong (Hot and Sour Soup) turned out well. It was definitely hot -- it cleared out Abe's sinuses and I had to eat some ice cream afterwards to calm my burning mouth. It was an awesome feeling to know I recreated a very traditional Chinese dish on my own! E-mail me if you'd like the recipe.

I also forgot to mention another weird note from yesterday. Robbie Gould, kicker for the Chicago Bears, sang the 7th inning stretch, which is hilarious since the last Cubs game I attended (April 2007) was when he sang the 7th inning stretch. It's a good thing we like him!

There's No Place Like Wrigley...

Abe and I just got back from watching the Cubs/Pirates at Wrigley. Yea, Abe was well enough to go!!!

Going to Wrigley is always an adventure, so I figured I would blog about some of today's notable experiences:

1. Our ride on the El. The El is always an adventure, and today was no exception. On our train was a goth couple who started singing Genesis' "Land of Confusion." We were trying to determine their illegal substance of choice.

2. Our pitcher today was Jason Marquis, also known as "Sparkles." He earned the nickname from my friend Jane's mom who works at a jewelry store and noted that the marquis cut of a stone has the most sparkle. I texted Jano the following:

Allison: @Wrigley watching sparkles. Oh no. He's pitching.
Jano: @Busch with the good team. Jano.

Needless to say, the Cubs won 13-1, while the Cardinals, I believe lost. Anyway, I love Jano that we understand each other's goofiness for baseball.

3. Since the Cubs have signed Japanese player Koskue Fukudome, Wrigley has entered a whole new level of weirdness. Today there were three guys in Fukodome jerseys behind home plate acting all ninja like whenever he came up to bat.

4. I got to see Ronnie Woo Woo for the first time. Ronnie is a homeless guy who always yells the Cubs' lineup with "woo woo" after each name. For example, "Lee Woo Woo, DeRosa Woo Woo, Fukudome Woo Woo, etc." He's a Chicago legend, or as Abe calls him, the Cubs' unofficial mascot (the Cubs let him into each game and provide him with his own jersey). The Cardinals have a guy in a bird suit (Fredbird), while the Cubs have a homeless dude. It can't get crazier than that.

Anyway, we had a great time, actually the best seats either one of us have ever had. Now it's time to rest, cook hot and sour soup (shring lok tong in Cantonese...thanks Amanda for the recipe), and then it's off to Caedmon's Call. What a fun day!

In Sickness and in Health...

Allison here...Abe is sick once again, which means one of us has been sick since March 24. That was the Tuesday after Easter. In the grand scheme of things, we've only dealt with minor illnesses like the flu and an infected finger. But still, it means one of us is always out of it while the other is always trying as hard as possible not to contract whatever the sick one has. I'm also realizing the problems of living in a one bedroom apartment. I can't wait to (Lord-willing) get a house next year where we can split up sleeping arrangments if one of us is sick.

Meanwhile, we had fun last weekend with my brother, Bart, and his fiance, Liv. We had tickets to the White Sox/Tigers game (since they're from Detroit), but it was 40 degrees outside with rain/snow/sleet/wind. In light of my recent illness, we decided not to go...although I haven't heard from Abe if he's up for tomorrow's tickets to the Cubs vs. Pirates since he's sick (let alone our tickets for tomorrow night's Caedmon's Call concert). The combination of bad weather and illness does not bode well for enjoying April baseball in Chicago. Please pray for health!

So, instead of watching the White Sox/Tigers play, Bart, Liv, Abe and I went to the Chicago Historical Museum, which is one of my favorites in Chicago. We also tried Ethiopian food. The food was pretty good -- just word to the wise, you can't use utensils. Like you are only given a napkin -- no fork, spoon or knife. And all the food is brought on one plate, so you take a piece of this spongy bread and use it to grab some meat and veggies which you then stuff in your mouth. Thankfully, Liv and I both brought hand sanitizer, so we were prepared to share one big plate (this was the one day Abe and I both felt healthy). Abe and I would definitely go again, we just have to go with people like Bart and Liv who we're comfortable enough to enjoy a very close and personal dinner like that.

Denver in a Day

Allison here...I went to Denver for work last week and got to have dinner with my friend Amanda, and her new husband, Mark. Amanda and I met in 2000 on Campus Crusade for Christ's summer project in Hungary. We quickly learned that we traveled well together. I remember one day in Prague asking Amanda what she wanted to do that day. She named off about 7 or so sites she wanted to see which were, amazingly enough, exactly the sites I wanted to visit. And even though we were only in Hungary together for two months, we've managed to keep our friendship going even though we went to different universities. Amanda is one of those friends for me who I can call up anytime and we can pick up where we left off. Needless to say, we had a ton of fun at dinner. Mark and Amanda took me to a Jamaican restaurant. We all tried the jerk seasoning for the first time, which was really good. Unfortunately, Abe wasn't able to join me on this trip. And, since I was only in town for about 28 hours, I wasn't able to visit any of our other friends and family in the Denver area.

So some of you have asked me if I knew I was going to travel a lot for my job. While I have been to New York, San Antonio, Los Angeles and Denver in less than six months, that was pretty unexpected. Part of that is because I was given responsibility for a large project at work. And, I don't expect to travel anywhere else for work until November.

What's funny, too, are the difference in responses. My Chicago friends are used to road warriors who leave Sunday for work and come back Friday night only to do it all over again. So, they don't really say much about my travels. However, to my downstater friends and family, this seems like a lot of travel. I guess having to make a connecting flight negates the effectiveness of business travel some of the time.

Wacky Wednesday

Wacky Wednesday (a school event where eveyone dresses up crazy) was the topic on KLOVE's morning show today and, little did I (Allison) know, that I would experience my own Wacky Wednesday today.

No, I didn't go to work with 12 ponytails or with mismatched clothes. I actually managed to flip the orientation of my work desktop upside down. So, basically, my computer's settings were flipped so that it showed everything -- my wallpaper, icons, even the start button--upside down. Our IT guy didn't know how to fix it, so he cleared my whole profile on the network and started over. 1.5 hours later, I was finally able to start work. All because of a keystroke I made that I didn't know how to fix. That's wacky.

Through this process, it came out that someone else in IT actually had heard of the problem before and knew how to fix it. So, if any of you want to know how to prank someone on April Fool's Day 2009, just let me know...:)

Uh...so can I check my fantasy baseball team?

So this is what I (Allison) will be hearing from now until fall. The start of the baseball season means the start of (once again) fantasy baseball at Abe's work. Bless their hearts that they still want him in their league since he's won two years in a row. (My husband's a bit competitive.)

Opening day is a wonderful day. It really signifies the start of spring. Once again, Abe and I will be having a summer of baseball. We already have tickets to two Cubs games, one White Sox game and one Yankees game (at Yankee Stadium)! Abe and I have been kind of lethargic lately (emphasized by the large amount of snow this winter and Abe's recent bout with the flu), so we can't wait until baseball. Going to games is fun for both of us.

On another subject, my wonderful husband gave me an amazing present for no apparent reason. He gave me a spa package at one of Chicago's famous spas. Thanks, honey!

My favorite childhood moment

Hi all! This is Abe blogging. I figured that it's been awhile since I've blogged, so I will do so today. So I was working out at the gym the other night and got thinking about what my favorite childhood moment would be. It quickly became obvious what that moment was. Here's the story.

As many of you know, I am a big baseball fan. Did you know, however, that I was quite the little league baseball player in my day? I remember this like it was just yesterday. I was a little league baseball player at Welles Park in Chicago--it was a hot summer day, and I stepped into the batter's box against one of the toughest pitchers in the league--his name was Mike. We were in a tight pennant race with his team, and the count was full at 3 balls and 2 strikes. The next pitch that I got just spun up to the plate--a hanging curve ball. Heh heh. A hanging curve ball is essentially a curve ball that is supposed to dip sharply when it gets to the plate but it doesn't. It's a mistake pitch, so when it gets to you, it just "hangs" up there at a lower speed--a perfect pitch to kill. In any case, I got a hanging curve ball and my eyes lit up. I proceeded to produce arguably the best swing that I have ever had. *Ping*! I hit the ball so hard with my aluminum bat that it went way over the rightfielder's head (I'm a lefty). I was so shocked that I hit the ball so hard that I literally stopped at every base. Well, I finally crossed home plate--I had just hit a HOME RUN! My teammates and my coaches were waiting for me by the time I got to home plate. My teammates were all screaming and cheering for me. My coach nearly had a heart attack and told me, "The next time you hit a home run DO NOT STOP AT EVERY BASE!" He then gave me a big hug. The funny thing is that the next batter Timmy also hit a home run--that knocked Mike out of the game. We ended up winning that game 8-3.

It was the best moment of my childhood. It was also the first, last, and only home run that I have ever hit in little league and high school. We ended up winning the championship that year. But there's more to this story...

The team that I played that day? The Cardinals. My wife's favorite baseball team? the Cardinals. God truly has a weird sense of humor since I am a die-hard Cubs fan these days.

What's your favorite childhood moment?

Elliedub

It's me, Allison, here. Today was a stinky day for me, but one of the highlights was receiving a t-shirt I bought from www.elliedub.com. The site sells really cool t-shirts as a fundraiser for the adoption of Eliana, a Guatemalan girl, by Chris and Lindsey Wheeler.

I found out about Elliedub through a friend of mine from college. Not only did receiving my order today make me smile, but so did reading more of Chris and Lindsey's blog. They've been through so much hardship with this adoption. Yet, they persevere through Christ. My trials of today are so minimal compared to what they go through, yet my tendency is to give up, to get mad and act out (One of my frustrations from today was driving home in massive snow...yeah, I know it's Easter weekend...I got so frustrated I started yelling obscenities at drivers and then I called my husband and he bore the brunt of my wrath. Nice, huh?)

Life will stink. It will. The key is keeping my eyes focused on God...to claim His strength...and rely on Him. I came home and started reading Chris and Lindsey's blog, which encouraged me. Life will not be easy. In fact, it's a battle. But God is mighty and he gives us strength to fight.

Nayok Gai Lan

Tonight, I (Allison) was quite daring -- I tried making Abe's favorite dish for the first time. He loves beef and broccoli (nayok gai lan in Cantonese). I've tried cooking Chinese before, but nothing quite like this. I would give my first attempt a B. First off, the recipe came from the label of the soy sauce we have, so I'm not sure how authentic it was. Second, I overcooked the beef. And, the rice cooker overcooked the rice again, so I'm going to have to see how I can fix that.

Regardless, Abe enjoyed the nayok gai lan (he called it "ho sik uh" which means "very good" in Cantonese). And, he ate it like he always eats food. I know he will eat anything, but I want him to crave my version of his favorite food. Hopefully, I'll get better each time I cook it.

Mr. Peanut

Some of you know that Abe's glasses have been falling apart lately. Of course, they're pretty old -- He wears contacts during the day, so there's really not a need to get new glasses regularly. But Abe's frugalness is being tested. First, the piece over one of the ears fell off. Then, one of the lenses fell out. I (Allison) have been bugging Abe to get new glasses, but since he uses them so rarely, it hasn't been that big of a deal to Abe.

So, Saturday I came into the living room and saw Abe watching TV with his glasses on -- even though they only fit over one of his ears and contained only one lens. I called him Mr. Peanut. He was confused, until I brought my can of peanuts over to him.

Africa!

Allison here writing about my sister-in-law and brother-in-law who are spending the next month in Africa. Barb (Abe's sister) is working at a hospital in Uganda, while Frank (her husband) isn't sure what he will be doing in that country. So, please pray for their safety, the health and protection of their families while they are so far away, and that God would use them in a mighty way. You can read about their trip at: fhomess.blogspot.com.

Meanwhile, Abe and I are enjoying being back at home. Traveling is fun, but it's always nice to come home. While it's still very cold and snowy here, the sun is out more, so that has helped us be patient for spring.

I think I'm also adjusting even more to Chicago life. Today I had lunch and coffee with some new friends of mine -- lots of fun!

Sunny California!

Hello, everyone! Abe and I (Allison) are finally back from sunny California. I had to go to LA for business, so Abe flew out and we tagged on some extra days to enjoy a break from the frozen tundra of Chicago.

First, I stayed in Santa Monica, which was convenient for my work obligations. Actually, we had a day between work events (by design), so the group of us went to Universal Studios, where we saw actress Brittany Murphy on the backlot.



On Saturday, Abe and I met his aunt, uncle and their teenage sons at Chinatown for Dim Sum and shopping. We saw traditional lion dances for Chinese New Year, so that was cool.



We spent the last couple of days in the Newport Beach-Laguna Beach-Huntington Beach area. Below is a picture of sunset on Laguna Beach.



Our favorite place, though, was Huntington Beach, were we spent Tuesday at the pier watching surfers and dolphins. It was awesome.


This was my first time to LA, and I really enjoyed it. Yes, traffic stinks and home prices are through the roof, but those are things we have to deal with in Chicago, to some extent. Abe and I really enjoyed our rental car's sunroof and satellite radio. :)

So, now we're back...bundled in sweatshirts and thawing out from another commute home in the cold. Please come soon, spring!

Also, I wanted to say kudos to my smart husband (in Cantonese, my ho lack lo.) He got an "A" in his most recent MBA class. Good job, honey! :)

Ernie is stuck

So Abe here....quick blog post. For many of you that live in the midwest, you already know how lousy this winter has been. Between the snow, freezing temperatures, potholes, etc., well....let's just say that this has been a bad winter from a weather standpoint. Today, however, illustrates just how bad it has been:

Allison--takes two hours to get home from work. Yes, that's right, two hours.

Abe-spends 45 minutes trying to get Ernie (my car) out of my parking space on the side street, but can't due to the ice underneath it. Ernie can get me from point A to B most of the time, but tonight he would have needed ice skates to get anywhere. We tried kitty litter and pushing the car--Ernie wasn't going anywhere. Furthermore, Ernie has developed a nice little crack on his windshield now that probably needs to be fixed. Ugh.

All I can say is--I can't wait until Friday when I can meet my lovely wife in LA--last I checked, the highs were in the lower to mid 70s. Aaaaahhhhhhhhh.....California Dreamin'........

If I see another tortilla...

Allison here...I got back from a long business trip to Texas last night. While I do enjoy Tex-Mex and Mexican food, I definitely hit my full during this trip. My co-workers and I weren't sure if we were going to make it home due to bad fog in Chicago, but we finally made it in. Thank God! I missed my husband so much!

I didn't really get to do any sightseeing, since it was all business. I know Abe and my family were all so jealous since I was in a much warmer place, but I was stuck inside most of the day anyway. But I did enjoy the moments I got to spend outside.

One of my favorite activities to do when bored on an airplane is to read the sky mall catalogue. For those of you not familiar with this, it features the most quirky and totally unnecessary products created for all mankind. Who buys this kind of stuff? I, of course, had to look for my favorite sky mall product of all time, most recently featured in the mid-90s: a dummy you can put in your car (or home window) so people think you're not alone and they don't rob or carjack you. The dummy looks totally ridiculous!

Chinese New Year Spectacular

Allison here...As you can see by the post below, life with Abe is always an adventure. Saturday we took his parents to the Chinese New Year Spectacular, a show filled with dancing and singing performed by a national touring group. It was a good time, although the show was very political -- as in anti-Communism.

Anyway, we had some funny moments. Like when his parents wondered how much shorter they would be if someone cut their heads off. (Using his dad's pocket calendar, we figured out his mom would be about 5 inches shorter.) Don't ask me why they decided to figure this out during intermission.

But one of the funniest moments for me came when I saw what Abe put on his evaluation. It asked why you bought tickets and had several possible check-in-the-box answers like:
--I like this theatre.
--I saw this group before.

No, my husband didn't choose any of those. He selected the "Other" box and wrote in the following: I'm Chinese.

I love it. My husband makes me laugh an average of 100 times a day. In fact, he just put something in the sink that fell and he said, "Doh!" like Homer. I love it.

Anyway, last night we headed to Abe's family's favorite Chinatown restaurant -- His dad has connections. I love how people look at me since I, obviously, stand out. I love our cultural differences, and I love the fact that Chicago's diversity allows me to experience Chinese culture through adventures with Abe and his family.

The Boneheaded Move of the Year

Hello everyone! This is Abe, and I thought that I'd share the boneheaded move of the year that I've made so far (granted the year is less than a month old--work with me people :)). I'm sharing this story to show that yes, even a reasonably intelligent person such as myself can make the dumbest moves. This is also to further illustrate that I'm not perfect (imagine that?).

So I was working 8:30-5 on Wednesday because I was able to work from our downtown Chicago office (I share a cube at the downtown office with a colleague of mine). Well, work wasn't too crazy that day, so I was able to leave right around 5. I typically take the Metra train (public transportation) to and from work when I work from that location. The downtown station is about a 13-14 minute walk from my office, depending on whether I am speed walking or taking a leisurely stroll. There is a 5:15 and a 5:21 train that leaves from the train station that will get me back to Evanston--both are about 22 minute rides. I was planning on taking the 5:21 train.

Well, I leave my office at about 5:02 or so and am speed walking to the train station because it is colder than snot outside (wind chills approaching 15 below zero). There is a big digital clock right when I get to the station that says 5:13, so I figured, "What the heck? Let's go for the 5:15 train!" So now I'm really busting my butt trying to make this dang train--I look on the big board to see what track that it is--Track 6! Yay! So I bust a move and get to the train just as the doors were closing--the doors literally closed as I got in, I had to pull up my book bag because it was stuck in the door. Thinking that I am genius, I relax for a minute. One minute later an announcement comes on the intercom: "Welcome to train number XXX to Arlington Park." At this point, I'm thinking, "Whoops--I got the wrong train. That's ok, I'll just get off at the first stop--my normal train and this train share that stop." A few minutes later as we are approaching this stop--the train isn't slowing down. I think to myself, "Uh-oh. This isn't good." About a minute later, the train whizzes right by the stop and right by the train that I was supposed to take. By now I'm panicking, so I ask another passenger what the first stop is on this train. It turns out that this train runs express to Arlington Park--where the racetrack is--not close to Evanston at all, and will get there at 5:49. I got on the 5:16 express train to Arlington Park, not on the 5:15 train to Evanston. Now realizing my huge mistake, I had to figure out how to get back to Evanston. Fortunately Arlington Park is not far from where Allison works. Now feeling completely embarrassed, I proceed to call my wife at about 5:30 or so.

Allison: "Hello?"
Abe:"Hey, it's me."
Allison: "Hey! What's up?"
Abe:"Uh, I just made the boneheaded move of the year...."
Alison:"Oh. What did you do?"

From there I explain the situation and she agrees to pick me up. By now several passengers realize what happened and start laughing with me. I explain the situation to the ticket agent that swings by—he laughs too, still has to charge me for the joyride though. They were pretty nice, telling me that everyone makes mistakes. So I get to Arlington Park at about 5:47, and try to figure out what to do while I'm waiting for her. There is a McDonald's across the street, but in order to get there, I would have to either (a) climb a fence about 5 feet high, or (b) walk all the way around this stupid fence that stretches a half a mile long. By this time I'm outside and freezing again. I think to myself, "Ok, I've had enough adventure for one day; I'm going to walk around this stupid fence." So I walk around the fence and get to McDonald's, order a McFlurry, and proceed to call my mother-in-law to share my boneheaded moment. I don't think that I've ever heard Donna laugh so hard in my life. By this time it was about 6 and Allison shows up with a grin on her face.

The morale of the story: Sometimes you just need to slow down in life, otherwise you'll end up at the racetrack when you really want to be in Evanston....

Our Future Sister-in-Law!

Bart popped the question Friday night and now he and Liv are engaged! We're so excited to have her in our family. Although, my (Allison) mom had already decided to adopt her regardless. The picture above was taken shortly after he proposed, so you can see the giddy smiles both of them have.

Abe and I have really enjoyed getting to know Liv since they started dating in March 2007. Liv is an incredibly smart businesswoman who is always doing something -- serving at a rescue mission, organizing a benefit auction, cooking for friends and family, or trying out a new sushi restaurant. Liv loves life, and she and Bart have so much fun together.

We also love Liv because of her love for the Lord. Bart and Liv met through friends at church.

We're so excited to not only attend their wedding this fall, but to participate as a bridesmaid and groomsman. We can't wait to officially welcome Liv into the family and to meet all of the people Liv holds dear, like her precious niece and nephew who we've heard so much about. We love you, Liv!