No House...Yet...

Well, the agent on the other end is being...not so nice... =( This has made me very sad because I really liked that house too. We're not going to give up just yet, but we've decided to look at other houses for the time being. So far, nothing has really caught our eye, but we'll keep looking. There's gotta be a house out there (besides the first one) that we see ourselves living our life with Chobi. ^_^ She really needs a place to run around. =( Poor puppy.

Night and Day Concert

The community group both Nick and I are a part of just had our first concert of the year this past weekend on Nov. 2. The theme of the concert was Night and Day: Twenty-Four Hours of a Summer Day. It went very well and we had a good size audience. ^_^ The videos in concert order as well as the program notes for each piece can be seen in my video section of the blog.   Enjoy!!

Our Lil' Lobster!!

New Section - Videos

For those who visit my blog now and then, thanks for stopping by. ^_^
I Just wanted to let you know that there is a new link on the left side under "Wanna see more of me?" titled videos. This will lead you to a "new blog" of videos I've taken. Most of these videos have already been posted on Facebook or the Handbell Community sight, but for those who are in neither of those communities, they are now available to you for your viewing. =D Enjoy!

My Videos

Hanna

Remnants of Hanna gave us steady rain all day so water was everywhere. We weren't close to flooding, but the level of the lake still came up pretty high. The road across the lake had to be closed down because of flooding from the lake, but we were fine on our side. Nick and I took a walk and snapped pics of some of the areas that did flood as well as shots of the lake and dam.

13th International Handbell Symposium 2008

Every couple years an international symposium for handbells is held. Two years ago, it was held in Australia, and this year it was in Orlando, Florida, USA! Nick and I were so excited to be at this event. He'taught a bass bells class and I heard that it was a full class. YAY! ^_^

The event went very well! We caught up with friends we hadn't seen in a while. There were only 4 us from the church group playing in the mass ringing, but we did great! ^_^ We didn't do too bad for only rehearsing the music once as prep for the event. =P

Auto Train

Nick and I took the auto train down to Florida from Virginia. It was the first time either of us has done this and we enjoyed it very much. Our car was loaded onto one of the train cars while we stayed in a coach car. It was very comfortable and roomy, totally unlike an airplane. ^_^ You can actually recline the seats without having to worry about the person behind you. There is also a foot rest at the seat so you can sort of almost lie down. There is plenty of room for any small bags you bring aboard, but you leave your big luggage in your car. For extra money, you can have your own private sleeping area with beds, and according to the brochure, some have a private toilet with shower.

The only issue I had was where we were seated. Despite being in an adult only car, it was still pretty noisy. We sat close to the end of the car where the doors open and close. Those doors are very sound proof...when they're closed. Our train section was next to the lounge car which was next to the dining car. People and kids kept going in and out of the lounge area and when it came to dinner time, that door was practically open all the time. It's hard to sleep when that door is open because the train is so loud. =( Nick and I are thinking of getting sleeping room next time. =D

The whole train ride was about 14 hours, basically non-stop if nothing unexpected happens. This is totally a good idea if you still want to have your car for a vacation, especially with gas prices these days. And you don't get the tired feeling from driving for long periods of time. I recommend this way of travel for anyone who has the opportunity to do so.

Here is a video of getting your car back after the train ride is over.

Summer Ring '08

Summer Ring was a blast! (it always is ^_^) The guest clinician this year was Deborah Carr and along with her came her husband Ed Rollins. Ed and Nick go way back even before he went to Concordia, so it was good times with fun and laughter.

Summer Ring '08

Belated Birthday Party and California Fun

My cousins and I celebrated my birthday the day after my birthday eating sushi! Yes, it's Maki Maki once again. Nick and I love that place because the food there is really good! My cousins were so nice enough to let the waiters know it was my birthday too. =P

Where else do you go when you're in Orange County? Disneyland! Nick and I really miss our passes to that place. =( We especially miss it on really nice days when we want to go out and do something...but we're in Virginia and Disneyland is on the other side of the country. BUT it was good times in Disneyland with friends. I rock at Buzzlightyear's AsrtoBlasters. ^_^

California Fun Pics '08

Birthdays Come and Go

Thanks to my wonderful and awesome husband, Nick, I had a great 30th Birthday! He totally surprised me when he took me to Korean BBQ for dinner. I wasn't expecting a small party of people at the restaurant, but that's what happened! =D It wasn't a huge group of people, but just enough to make it a very special birthday celebration. I didn't have a camera at the event because I didn't know it was going to happen; I just though we were going to dinner. ^_^ But if I did, I would have totally brought a camera with me.
Note: I was wondering why Nick occasionally asked for my phone every once in a while...he was looking up phone numbers for certain people.


Thanks to everyone! My 30th birthday was wonderful!!!!

Second Stop For the Trip = Bizarre!

Ok...So we check in this hotel that allows dogs. We get to the room, see the door is open a bit and hear the TV on. There was a man who was in the room watching TV! Apparently, room service didn't close the door all the way and this guy was waiting for his brother to open the room across the hallway, so he waited in ours. O.o He was very apologetic about it and found that his brother was already in the room waiting for him! Yes, this event was all very strange...

We checked the room and everything was in order, but in all the confusion, the guy forgot his phone on the bed. We promptly went next door and gave it too him ^_^

Hopefully we get into CA tomorrow.

CA Here We Come!

Nick and I have started our drive to CA. Today's events include lunch with Tim Waugh, Chobi going crazy in the car, lots of rain, and lots of fireworks displays. We managed to make it to Arkansas so I think we're doing pretty well with our drive so far. ^_^ Sorry no pics. =(

That is all. ^_^

Our Stay In Las Vegas

We stayed at the Planet Hollywood Casino/Resort. The hotel that used to be there was Aladdin, for those who remember. The room was nice and spacious, but you can tell that all they did was update the Aladdin rooms: the carpet was very Aladdin-like, the room numbers had a genie lamp icon, and the faucets were genie lamps as well. But the bathtub was huge! I tried it out the first night because it was a long flying day. We had a nice view of the pool area as well. Oh, and every room has movie items. We had the night vision goggles George Clooney wore in the movie Peacemaker.

We also had a movie poster of Clear and Present Danger with a pic of Harrison Ford and a black and white picture of Dustin Hoffman and Renee Russo from Outbreak in the bathroom.


Nick and I got to walk around Vegas a bit. We only walked to the hotels nearby: Caesar's Palace, Bellagio, Paris and Bally's. We didn't get a chance to look at the Wynn Hotel, though. =( I really wanted to check it out because I've heard that it's a really nice place. Oh well, maybe next time...

BPHSN Reunion 2008

BPHSN stands for Bohol Provincial Hospital School of Nursing. This is where both my parents went to school for Nursing in the Philippines. They were from the class of 1973, the Hellenes. The reunion took place in Las Vegas, NV this year and it was a lot of fun. My mom was happy to see classmates she hadn't see in a while as well as her sister from Canada. She invited her down because my aunt had never been in Vegas before. Not all the classmates could make it, but it was good to see the ones who did. ^_^ The moms still screamed and yelled their greetings of hello and welcome to everyone. (Cousins, you know what I mean. =P)

BPHSN 2008

There was a get together of just their class and there was plenty of food as well as a boxing match on Pay Per View: Manny Pacquiao vs. David Diaz lightweight championship fight. Pacquiao won with a TKO in the 9th round. ^_^

Here is a video of the class of 1973 singing their class song, One Little Candle.

BPHSN Kids!

So, the reunion was not only for the students of the school, but also for the kids of the students of the school: The Hellenes Cousins!! Well, that's not what we officially call ourselves, but we should. =P We may not be blood related (well, some of us are), but most of us grew up together so we always tell our friends that we're cousins because that's what we are! I've missed my cousins since moving out to Virginia. =( I've missed all the family parties, random outings to the amusement parks and going out to sushi and Dave & Busters.

In Vegas, we hung around a lot at Fat Tuesdays and the cafe at the Planet Hollywood Casino/Resort. We also watched Get Smart. Lots of fun!

BPHSN - Cousins

Another Man's Trash...

Sunday evening, Nick and I took Chobi out on her usual before-bedtime walk. Monday is one of the trash pick-up days so there were trash piles along our condo neighborhood. Lo and behold, we spotted a big object in one of the trash piles: a shelving unit in almost perfect condition! The only things "wrong" were pencil markings on the side (easily removed) and a screw missing, joining the top board piece to one of the middle sections (which it didn't really need). We decided to claim it as our own. It took us a little over an hour to get the thing back in our condo because it was big, heavy and bulky. After many unsuccessful attempts at trying to load it in the car in one piece, it had to be taken apart to fit. =/ We think it's from Ikea because it looks like one of those Ikea bookshelf things.

Because we have such a small place, we had to do some rearranging to find a place to put the shelves. It took us a couple of days, but we managed to put them where they were needed the most, in the office.

This isn't the first time we've claimed other people's trash as our own. The standing lamp in our living room, we actually found around the first week we moved into our condo. We also found an item we never would have thought to be thrown away: a VHS tape of the original Star Wars movie! The tape was in really good condition and still works in our VHS player. It was most awesome to find. ^_^

Nick, The Godfather

Over the weekend, Nick and I travelled to Iowa for our nephew's, Peter Mott Hanson, baptism. Nick is one of Peter's godfathers. We were there only for the weekend, but it was nice to spend time with the family. We wished we could have stayed until Monday, but Nick had to be back to teach. We missed the BBQ at Eric and Shannon's house Sunday evening. =( At the airport, we did find a hot dog stand and had hot dogs for dinner, but it wasn't the same. =P

I've also included a link to Peter's mommy's blog, Maria. Her blog has all sorts of pics of her children, Elizabeth and Peter, so please have a look. ^_^
Maria Hanson's Blog

Peter's Baptism

Handbell Festival in Hampton '08

Over the weekend, Nick and I drove down to Hampton, VA for a handbell festival. Nick was the Festival Chair for the event and that kept him very busy during the whole thing. Jason Wells was the guest conductor and it was great seeing him in action. The weather was nice and warm, but it did manage to rain on Saturday.

Hampton Festival 08

Mini Golf

Yeah, I’m not so great at this game…I came in last place. I want a rematch! ^_^ Oh, and it sucks when one of the courses eats your ball and you have to go get a new one. >.<

Mini Golf!

SUSHI!

I love sushi! What I love more than sushi is eating sushi with friends who love to eat sushi as well! YAY! I did manage to hang out with some friends for sushi happy hour at Maki Maki at The Irvine Spectrum. Wow! That is an awesome place to hang out with friends and eat sushi. Mmmm…yummy.

Maki Maki Sushi!

Painting the Town…Well, Just My Mom’s House

This visit to CA was full of excitement, thrills and…paint. Yep, I was a painter this trip and I have my sweatpants and bottom of my shoes to prove it. My mom decided to have a couple of the rooms painted since the water-damaged carpet was being replaced with tile this month. (In November, her house flooded because water from the washer backed up into the house) I had a lot of wonderful help along the way. Friends are great, especially when you can call them to do some work for you. =P Thanks to Sarah, Dan and Timothy, I was able to get the job done before I went back to VA. I don’t exactly have before and after pics of the rooms, but I have pics of my friends helping out with various parts of the painting process.

Fixing up the house

Chobi's New Bed!

We decided to get Chobi a new bed for Christmas. Her bean bag was getting a bit too flat for her. It looks kinda looks like a mini couch for dogs, doesn't it?