YAY for SEGWAY!!!!

Dan, Nick and I went on a Segway tour today! It was the first time for all of us and it was totally awesome!!! I was really nervous when I first got on, but I quickly got used to moving around, then it was all fun from then on! WOOT! The maximum speed on a Segway is about 12 1/2 mph, but it feels like you go a bit faster. ^_^

Our Segway instructor/tour guide was Brandon from Billy's Rentals. We took a small tour of parts of the island and made various stops along the way. One stop was a campground of some sorts where they had animals for show, mostly being birds, reptiles and lemurs. It was total fun during the whole tour. Now, I really want a Segway for myself. =P

Fun in Florida!!!!

Well, Nick and I are out on Sanibel Island, Florida with our friend Dan relaxing and enjoying the wonderful weather over here. It's about 76 degrees F with no clouds in the sky and the view of the never-ending ocean right outside our window. Wow, it's totally nice to get away from the cold (and getting colder) weather in Virginia. Dan's also sooo happy to be here because apparently, So. Cal. is rather cold, damp and rainy as well. Dan flew over to VA and from there he and I drove down to FL. Nick still had a couple of classes to finish up, so he flew down a couple of days later.

So far, the activities have been: eating, sleeping, walking on the beach, napping, looking for shells, relaxing on the lanai, playing the Nintendo Wii, reading a book, watching a movie, and making puppy chow! (Jealous? =P) Tomorrow we segway! I'm so excited. I've never ridden a segway before. ^_^

Woot for warmer weather!!!!!!

Florida Fun 2007

Thanksgiving in Minnesota!

This is a WAY overdue blog update about Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, by the way, and hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season so far.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. At the last minute, Nick and I decided to spend Thanksgiving in Minnesota with Greg and the family, when we found out that the oldest Hanson brother and his wife had planned on spending it there anyway.

Nick and I were able to meet the newest member to the Hanson family, Peter Mott Hanson, so of Greg and Maria Hanson, and younger brother to Elizabeth Rose Hanson.

Thanksgiving in Minnesota 2007

I actually went to MN about a week before to help out Maria with the kids while Greg was a way interviewing. ^_^ Maria had just given birth to Peter and she needed a little help taking care of her newborn and her 2-year-old daughter, so she asked me to come for a visit. ^_^ I basically looked after Lizzy the whole time. Boy, I watched a lot of Wiggles and Dora the Explorer. =P

Happy Halloween

More Visitors!

Well, it was a very enjoyable weekend because Nick's parents, Ken and Rosemary, came over from Iowa for a visit. ^_^ They arrived Saturday morning and left Thursday. We did some sightseeing around the Capitol and monuments/memorials, some shopping and a lot of eating. *yummy* There was talk of going to a Redskins game, but it didn't quite fit in the schedule. The Redskins won, though. ^_^

Nick's Parents visit!

Warriors Orochi

Yep, I'm still a total sucker for these games... =P

School Year Back Up and Running!

This post comes not from me, but from Nick this time. He had posted this on another blog but I thought I would share it with the rest of the world. ^_^

Well, summer went by way too fast! But, helping out, teaching, or attending various handbell workshops and events can easily cause that! Classes have started back up at The Potomac School. The schedule remains the same for me as last year, except for two differences. Previously, the school had it set up that the high school handbell ensemble would only meet during the Spring semester. This was changed rather quickly to an all-year course starting this time around. It has started off quite well, and I'm proud of those students involved. The other major change is that I now have all of my 7th and 8th graders in one class, four days a week (29 students at once). Because of lack of equipment and space, these grades used to be split into two separate groups. This year we were small enough to bring them all together. I'm quite excited for this, that's for sure. Otherwise, everything else is the same. I meet with my new 5th graders twice a week (18 students) and my 6th graders twice a week (19 students). All-in-all, I can say this: I love my job!

Bay View Week of Handells '07

Nick and I just got back from a wonderful and totally fun week of playing handbells and hanging out with friends in Michigan. We rang under the wonderful direction of Carl Wiltse and Donald E. Allured himself. This year was the 30th annual for this event.

Pictures!

Bayview Week of Handells 07

Repertoire:

• Gather Us In - arr. Philip L. Roberts
• Thorncrown Chapel Portrait - Sondra K. Tucker
• Exodus Dance - Derek Hakes
• Contemplation on Ubi Caritas - Catherine McMichael
• Introduction & Allegro - Donald E. Allured
• Barcarolle - Margaret R. Tucker
• Colonel Bogey March - arr. Martha Lynn Thompson
• Lift High the Cross - arr. Cathy and David B. Mocklebust
• Celebration - Fred Gramann
• The Journey - arr. Arnold B. Sherman
• Psalm Nine - Carl Wiltse
• Epilogue - Donald E. Allured

My Little Garden

As I put in my last post, a couple of my plants died while we were away; a marigold and a moonflower. The moonflower wasn't a complete loss because I still had a couple more. The marigold, though...it was my only marigold plant. =( Well, with a couple of new pots available, I decided to move plants around and start planting others into the ground. Here is the result:

Yep, this is my little patch of dirt on which to grow a little garden. It's not much, but it's something. ^_^ I have vincas, moonflowers, snapdragons, a small rosebush thing (that was there before we came), a plant I don't know (which was also there before we came), and I've seeded some California poppies. Oh, and I almost forgot, I planted 3 lemon seeds and they've sprouted!
Here's the view of our whole back porch:

So, I hope my plants survive. ^_^

Just for Jimmy!! ^_^

Well, I was told by a certain someone that I haven't updated my blog "FOREVER" and I must admit that it has been quite some time, but not "FOREVER". ^_^

Ok, first thing's first: Nick and I are back home in VA. We arrived in our cozy little home on Aug 2nd. It was a good drive, long but good. We drove to VA this time not visiting anyone. Sorry, no pics this time around. I didn't really take many pics while I was out in CA because I just didn't really think of taking my camera along when we went out with friends and stuff. The only pics I took were of the last day of the Summer Ring Handbell Workshop at Concordia. All of us went out to Souplantion for dinner that evening.

Summer Ring 2007

August 3rd was Nick's 27th birthday! We went out and saw Harry Potter that day. I thought the movie was good despite the editing and stuff, but I did not like the ending credits. The font and the appearance of the credits along with the music made it seem like we just watched a western movie or something. Then there was a weird guitar riff thing they added into the western-like music... Definitely not the best soundtrack for this kind of movie.

Since then, we've been hanging out at home relaxing and getting ready for our trip out to Bayview, MI for more handbells! It should be a lot of fun. I just hope I manage to play well. ^_^

Oh, a couple of my plants did die while we were in CA, so I've been nursing the others back to health. This week, I'm probably going to move some plants around since I have a couple of pots free. ^_^

Nick didn't take many pictures while he was in Dallas, TX since he was manning his booth most of the time. Someone did take a picture of him, though.

Food, food, food...

We've been in CA for about a week and all I can say is FOOD! We've eaten so much this past week with friends and family making sure we eat as many places as we can that are on our food list. It's pretty much the same food list I had when I came to CA in November, but our new list is a little longer.

Sorry no pics for this entry. I've been forgetting to take the camera with me when we go out and stuff. =( Nick is going to take the camera with him when he goes to Dallas, so hopefully, I'll put some pics up when he gets back. I have taken pictures of Chobi, though. She's so cute! =P

Last day of travels!

Well, here's a bit of a blog about our last day of travels. It involved a lot of driving through Utah, a bit of Arizona, Nevada and California. I took a lot of pictures of Utah because there really wasn't anything else to do in the car. ^_^ I have a separate album for the Utah pics, if anyone wants to take a look. Along the drive in Utah, we saw several smoke stacks from the fires that were started by lighting strikes and stuff. I took pictures of two.

Utah

We did met up with our friend, Terry for lunch in Utah.



Traffic from Las Vegas to CA wasn't bad at all and we managed to make it to our destination Saturday night around 7:30pm. We dropped off the dog and our stuff at my mom's place and went to In & Out!!! OMG! I miss their burgers soooo much! it was totally yummy in my tummy!

Just to let you know, Chobi is totally happy to be out with the car.


Our car is probably very happy to be done with the trip as well. We seemed to have picked up a lot hitchhikers along they way...

We've arrived!!

YAY!! We made it out here safe and sound. Our last day of the trip was the longest, but we were able to arrive in Anaheim at about 7:30pm. We also managed to meet a friend for lunch, so that was pretty cool too. ^_^ I'm sorry I'm not able to upload any pics right now. I'm going to try to upload pics and talk a bit about our last day of driving sometime this week. Stay tuned!!

From Timmy to Jimmy.

We went from visiting one friend on one day to visiting another friend on the next day. Our lucky friend is Jimmy Howe of Colorado! He took us for a quick tour around his town. ^_^ We got to see the Red Rocks Amphitheatre. It was a totally cool place!! After that and before I could pass out, we went to eat a Noodles & Company.



Chobi was able to relax in Jimmy's room during our excursion. We checked to see if she left any mementos in his room, but we didn't find any...we hope. =/

And because we got gas a Sinclair gas station, we took pics with the famous dinosaur! These pics go out to Carl and Susan!!! ^_^


Tomorrow, we're hoping to make to Anaheim in the evening... Yep, it's going to be a very long day of driving for the three of us. =/

*For captions, just click the pictures. There are more pictures of our trip that I haven't included in my blogs, so each picture will take you to the album with all the pictures I've taken during our trip.

Across IA and into NE

Today, we pretty much drove across Iowa into Nebraska and stopped of at Lincoln to visit our friend, Timothy. He gave us a quick tour around some parts of the University of Nebraska campus and showed us his very tiny room. We even got to meet his roommate, Zack. He was very nice. ^_^ The three of us ate at a pizza/pasta buffet place called Valentino's. We made a quick stop at WalMart then off to Culver's for frozen custard! It was sooo nice to eat that stuff today because it was rather warm.

There are captions for all of the pics, but you have to click on them to see them. ^_^


Gotta love gasoline stops! What else is there to do while waiting for the car to get filled? Take a picture!!!


And at a gasoline station near the motel we stayed in for the night:

There's a Dippin' Dots trailer attached to the RV!!!! How cool is that??!!! Now, those guys know how to travel! I'm jealous.

Happy 4th Everyone!!

What a wonderful day for the 4th. Ok...so it was rather warm in Washington, IA, but it was still nice enough to spend some time sitting out on the porch. Our niece, Lizzy, got to cool off a bit by playing in the sprinklers until it was time to get lunch ready.


Chobi also enjoyed lying around outside in the shade. She played with Lizzy for a while with the sprinkler, but I think Chobi was more interested in finding Shirley, the cat.


Since we were in IA, we couldn't help but notice the corn! High as an elephant's eye, I suppose. The tassels weren't on these stalks, so I guess they might grow a bit taller...


We spent the evening with Nick's oldest brother, Eric, and his wife, Shannon in Cedar Rapids. I don't think I've ever seen so many firework displays at once. There were about 5+ public displays for the 4th. You know what, though, I'm still not into fireworks...

Our niece and the dog.

We're in Edina, MN visiting Nick's brother, Greg and his wife, Maria and their daughter, Elizabeth. Chobi didn't have much luck trying to make friends with their cat, Coco, but Lizzy sure loves her. In fact, Lizzy was trying to teach Chobi how to use the cell phone. ^_^

Sat/Sun of our trip

We're already two days into our trip and I've taken a few pictures. Saturday night we made it to Lafayette, IN. Chobi was a very good dog along the way, she was just very bored. She did start barking at another car, but we weren't sure why. We think it was because the car had kayaks on the roof. *shrugs*


Sunday, we drove to Madison, WI to visit our friend, Jared. He gave us a tour of his work place. Apparently, they allow pets and visitors after hours and on weekends. The company he works for is called Epic and it deals with medical software. Wow, he works at a really cool place. Different sections of their buildings have certain themes. One was a NYC theme with the look of a subway car in one of the hallways. Another was more of a European look. Currently under construction is an Indiana Jones-type theme. When it's finished, one of the hallways is supposed to have a projection of boulder to make it look like it's chasing you. There were other themes, but I don't remember. Anyway, I took a pic of his office.

He, then, took us out to eat with 3 of his other friends. Then Nick, Jared and I went back to Jared's place and played Bocci and a game he calls "Testes" toss. I'm sure there's a proper name to this game, but it involves throwing golf balls each attached to both ends of a rope and throwing it trying to wrap it around one of the 3-tiered racks...or something like that... Afterwards, he took us to Culver's for some custard. Mmmm...yummy... ^_^



Tomorrow, we head out to Edina, MN to see Nick's brother, Greg and his wife, Maria and our little niece, Elizabeth.


The adventure continues...

Westward Ho!!!!!!

I've been asked by the wife to provide you all with our trip plans as we begin our trek out west.  Those of you who live between DC and CA, we've already made plans to see you, though if we missed anyone, please give us a call or hunt us down!  Here's our trip:

Saturday, June 30 - DC to Indianapolis, IN (about 9 hours)

No connections in Indianapolis, but we'll wave hi for Susan and Carl

Sunday, July 1 - Indianapolis, IN to Madison, WI (about 6 hours)

Meeting up with Geebee's "sweetie" Jared.  Will be a fun evening kickin' back and eatin' Wisconsin beer brats (insert GB's smiley here). ^_^

Monday, July 2 - Madison, WI to Minneapolis, MN (about 5 hours)

Meeting up with my brother, his wife, and our niece/Geebee's Godchild.  Good times with good people.

Tuesday, July 3 - Minneapolis, MN to Washington, IA (about 5 hours)

Crashing at my 'rents place.  This will be a trip with my brother's family as we are all heading down for pre July 4 fun with more brats!!!

Wednesday, July 4 - Washington, IA to Cedar Rapids, IA (less than 1 hour)

Yay for short trips!!  This night we'll be staying with my other brother and his wife after seeing some July 4 fireworks somewhere.  Coincidentally, they're flying back from CA on this day...weird.

Thursday, July 5 - Cedar Rapids, IA to Lincoln, NE (about 5 hours)

Here we're meeting up with our friend Timothy while's he prepping for his upcoming grad work.  Not sure if we're staying in Lincoln this night or just stopping for dinner.  Either way, it will be fun!

Friday, July 6 - Lincoln, NE to Denver, CO (about 7 hours) then maybe on to Grand Junction, CO (about 3 hours)

Our good friend Jimmy is in Denver, so we definitely want to stop by and see him and grab a bite or something.  We then hope to push on to Grand Junction so that our last day isn't a killer.

Last Day (we hope!), Saturday, July 7 - Grand Junction, CO to Anaheim, CA (about 11 hours)

This one will be the kicker.  I've done Denver to Anaheim by myself, and that was quite a long trip.  By starting in Grand Junction with a dog in the car, who knows how long we'll take!  If we must stop somewhere, perhaps Vegas, but who knows?

That's the trip.  It will take just over a week so that we can see those we love, and we're looking forward to it.  Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!  See you all soon!

Like Man, Like Dog

I love my husband and dog. They are very much alike, aren't they? ^_^

I have posted new pictures of Chobi, for those interested in our dog. ^_^

Click for more pictures of Chobi

Yay for Visitors!!!

Well, my friend Ha and her father came over on the weekend to help pack up her brother's stuff in Georgetown U. We did spend all of Saturday in D.C., though, and I have some pictures to prove it. ^_^


We we are in front of the White House. We were able to get a lot closer this time than when my mom and aunt came for a visit.



Here are Ha, her father and her brother with the Washington Monument.

I'm very happy they came over for a visit. Ha is one of my best friends from high school and it's always good to see and hear from her. I just need to make sure I call her every once in a while to update her about my life...like, oh, when we move to a different state or something... She's the one who got me started on handbells, by the way.
I love you, Ha!!

Summer Plans!

Nick is finally done with his very first year in teaching handbells at The Potomac School!! He's had one heck of a busy year, but he got through it. He's got a little blog about it.
School Year Winding Down

My friend Ha and her dad are coming over for a visit this weekend. Her brother goes to Georgetown and he's all done, so it's time to pack his stuff up and leave. ^_^ I'll be happy to see her when she comes over. She was a bridesmaid at my wedding and I haven't seen her since then...at least, I don't think.

Nick and I are slowly making our plans when we come driving out to California in about 2 weeks. We're going to visit Nick's family along the way as well as some friends. ^_^ We're also taking Chobi with us so she gets to go on a very long car ride, but she'll have fun.

Here are our updated plans for summer:
-Play video games
-drive out to CA with planned stops along the way to visit family and friends
-I'm going to my cousin's 18th birthday party
-Nick will be going to Dallas for a week to sit a booth for National Music Publshing
-Both Nick and I will be attending Concordia University Summer Ring Workshop
-if anyone wants to do anything while we're in CA, please give us a call. ^_^

Depression can be a good thing sometimes...

Yeah, so Tropical Depression Barry, err...rather remnants of Berry have finally come our way. It's made the weather a lot cooler and less humid, so that's a good thing. ^_^

It is the beginning of hurricane season for the East Coast and that means more radar pics will probably be popping up on my blog. I'm not obsessed with the weather, mind you, but I'm sure some of you will be a bit concerned when weather reports will start spouting,"Hurricane *insert name here* is ravaging the entire East Coast!" or something like that. I'll make sure to post that Nick, Chobi and I are safe and doing well to put your minds at ease. ^_^

Edit: I've decided to add a weather element to my blog, so I probably wont be putting up radar pics.

Me and My Filipino(a)-ness

You know you're Filipino(a) when:

• You greet elders with the mano-poc


• You eat with your foot propped up on the chair


• You say fish like "peesh"


• You signify yes by raising your eyebrows


• You point with your lips


• You or your name has some Spanish to it


• You are related to everyone


• You have a piano that no one plays


• You eat with your hands


• You don't buy shoes at Shoe Mart


• You say "ouch me"


• You use an umbrella for shade


• You have a barrelman in your house


• You have a Friendster


• You or your parents own a karaoke machine


• You are Catholic


• You eat Spam, hotdogs, and fried chicken with rice


• You have never had an allowance


• You have never been grounded


• You drink soda out of a bag with a straw


• You love lechon


• You consider cockfighting as a sport


• You say video like bideyo


• You have a rosary hanging on your rear-view mirror


• You know at least one person named Baby or Bebot


• You take off your shoes even at a friends house


• You wash & re-use disposable utensil, plates, &/or cups


• You bring a ton of food when you go on family/friend outings


• You are usually late to events because you run on filipino time


• You have patis, toyo, suka, banana catsup, mang tomas or bagoong with most meals


• You add water when there's little ketchup/mang tomas left in the bottle


• If you live outside of Pinas you send food, clothes, etc. back home to the Philippines


• You kiss relatives on the cheek whenever arriving or leaving


• You feed all your visitors and send them away with baon


• You follow your parents' house rules even when you are over 18


• You have a supply of Spam, vienna sausage, or corned beef

or


• Yahoo is your messenger of choice over MSN or AIM


• Your favorite basketball move is the lay-up


• There is a Sto. Niño shrine in the living room


• The flyswatter is readily stanced in your kitchen


• Your parents are or want you to be a doctor


• It is not a real meal unless there is rice


• Your second piece of luggage is a balikbayan box


• There is a tabo in every bathroom


• American sandwiches are only snacks


• The dining room has a Last Supper painting


• Kung babae ka may Marie, Mary o Maria sa pangalan mo


• There is a giant wooden spoon and fork hanging on a wall


• Your rice cooker is the main device causing a high electricty bill


• As a child your parents rubbed Vick's up your nose if you were ever sick


• The delivery plastic is still on your furniture or covered in blankets

The Wonders of Technology and Quick Movie Reviews

It's really nice to have the type of technology we have this day and age. I was able to take a tour of our friends' (Aaron and Sarah) new apartment! Aaron carried his computer around the place. It was a real hoot because they were having a BBQ and I got to say Hi to another friend, Jennifer, AKA Koala. ^_^ I really wanted to show them the lake, but the camera couldn't reach the window at a good angle. Sarah has already seen the view since she helped us move our stuff, but I just thought it would have been neat to show Aaron and Jennifer.

Nick and I watched two movies over this Memorial Day weekend: Hot Fuzz and Shrek 3.
Hot Fuzz
If you enjoyed the movie, Shaun of the Dead, you'll totally enjoy this movie...at least, that's how I felt. That's all I have to say for this one.

Shrek 3
A good family movie. I honestly didn't find it as funny as the previous two, but I still enjoyed the story. I think it's one of those things where I can say that the jokes are getting a little old, and in this case, it's the type of jokes that are getting a little old. But there was a guy up front that couldn't stop laughing, and his laugh was pretty loud. The story is still worth the movie though.

Storm's a comin'

Enough said...

Ok, I'll say a bit more. It's VERY windy and rainy and our power has literally been flickering on and off. I have lighted 3 candles just in case.