sewing machine

My birthday was in March but somehow I neglected to write about it... oops! We celebrated at the same time as Easter since it was just days apart. It was so fun having family and friends around. My family and friends are so generous with their love and gifts! Many things made me SMILE... dinner out, gift cards which bought me clothes, shoes, books, and my first flower pot for our porch, a BYU sweatshirt, hand-knitted pot holders, hand scrubs/lotions, cash which provided cool rubber stamps for scrapbooking, a cool CSI scene cake, and the most used....
my sewing machine! I asked Kelley for one when I got the whim and he got one for me. The coolest thing is that it is RED!! We picked it up at Symantec (where he had it shipped to surprise me) and I held it in my lap on the way home looking at the cool features.
The point of this was that I was all into the thought of sewing for whatever reason. I bought fabric and a simple pattern to make work out / lounging pants (we will see what they will be used for - ha!). Red fabric and off I went! I cut them out and did the inner and outer seam. I then tried them on and realized they were ridiculously LARGE on me. I was positive I measured correctly (and my mom even double checked, probably thinking I didn't know how to measure :). Fortunately they're just pants so I sewed the outer seam much farther in on each leg. Still no luck. Although I took a looong break from sewing then (why? not sure... maybe lazy...?) , the story doesn't end, thank goodness!
I FINISHED my pants yesterday - YAY!! I cut off the sides and did a bigger "seam allowance" (HA!). I finished off the directions with the elastic and ribbon. Hemmed up the bottom and realized.... I CAN'T sew a straight line! Either I get too excited and sew super fast or I have no hand-eye coordination. Votes for either? But they're done and huge in the waist but I rationalize that they can expand with me so they'll last forever.... or not. I'm excited and they're pretty comfy. I was on a roll and even fixed Kelley's pj pants and my pj pants. I'm a regular little seamstress! (my mom wishes!!)

Couch-to-5K running plan

I've gotten a couple questions about the running plan. Here is the link:

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

It's a good schedule and very do-able. Good luck!

BEACH TRIP!!

I loved my wife's 5k run but I had to tell about our fun trip to the beach that we had a couple of weeks ago. We decided to grab our kite and we hopped into the car and headed off. It was soooooooo windy and we lots of trouble getting the kite in the air (well, I had trouble, Joo Lin was able to get the kite off into the air without any issues) but when we finally did it was a blast.



Afterwards we went to Mo's and had some tasty clam chowder! We love that place. Not sure what my hands were doing but don't worry they are not gang symbols.

slow and steady finishes the race!

I did it! Saturday morning I was so nervous I woke up WITHOUT AN ALARM CLOCK at 6:50 AM. Can I just say ridiculous?? That was WAY too early. I couldn't sleep so I walked around the apartment and read a book. I have no idea why I was so antsy and nervous but my behavior was completely silly as I was trying to get ready. Kelley finally said he was going to drive me because he didn't trust me to get there on my own (he was planning on coming when the race started, not the early registration time). Off we went!

It's all for a good cause!

I was so full of nervous energy it was ridiculous... just bouncing around! Good thing I didn't run out of juice when the running was supposed to happen!Stretching... and thinking "Really? Can I do this?"

Kiss for luck!

Group photo when we're fresh and ready to go! Joo Lin, Amy, Rebecca, Ron (L-R)

Don't mind my form... I'm the girl in the back... both pictures... but dang my hair looks cute :)
Go Amy Go!Finished!!
Amy & I were successful and met our goal! We rock!

Results for the 5K (3.1 mi):
Joo Lin - 30:28
Amy - 30:51

So, this was a great experience and it feels super good to meet a goal! My goal was to jog the entire thing without walking or stopping. Amy and I did the Couch-to-5K Running Plan and it works really well. Please don't get confused that I love running, far from it... I do it to keep in shape and meet my goal of running a 5K one day. Sure, I'll run more of them but nope, never a marathon :) I think I'll max out at 5 miles...

Shout out to my mom for coming down to Corvallis to support me! Then we all went to breakfast at Elmer's. Yum!

5k Run

I am so excited for tomorrow (Saturday). My wife has been training for a 5k run and all of her hard work will come together tomorrow as she participates in this years CARDV 5K run. For people that don't understand the metric system, that is 3.1 miles. I am so proud of her and I know that she will do great! Plus, I can't wait for her to get her tshirt, I think she is more excited about getting a shirt than she is about running.

Happy Easter

This is obviously long overdue... Kelley assigned it to me and I slacked... so here it is!

Easter was fabulous! We invited our families down to our place to host our first holiday. Although we were a bit nervous, I think it turned out splendid thanks to Kelley. He attempted to do dinner all by himself but gave in when it came to the deviled eggs - silly him! Fortunately we were able to get the clubhouse so we had plenty of room for all. The spread was delicious... loads of ham, au gratin potatoes, funeral potatoes, homemade rolls, green bean casserole, asparagus, stuffing, veggie tray, deviled eggs, and sparkling cider... yum!

Here is Kelley hard at work slicing up the yummy ham so we can get started eating!

What a lovely table we had... complete with a pink hyacinth and golden bunny rabbits for the centerpiece, compliments of my dad.

My mom added to the festivities with her traditional easter egg bread - braided bread with actual colored eggs baked in. Delish!









After some good feasting we sat around and enjoyed one another's company. Guests: Dale, Ruth, Sherril, David & Ashley, Mindee, Tanner & Michelle & their kids Wyatt and Maya.

We missed Evan & Dana & their kids Trevin, Amanda & Ella, Kendy & Ken, and Klorissa & AJ! Next time!










Mindee and Wyatt became coloring buddies while the rest of us cleaned up. Mindee provided the colors for Wyatt to do his masterpiece... which is...? I never saw the finished product :)












Look how adorable little Maya is! She had the cutest little easter dress, but of course got down to the basics for the feasting :) I love babies!











So, it was a wonderful day! I have to give thanks to everyone who came and helped. We love all of you and appreciate all you do for us! We have fabulous family and friends!

This is also a day especially to remember Jesus Christ - his sacrifice for us and his life for us. Without Him we wouldn't have eternal friends and family. Happy Easter!!

The Myth behind Four Twenty (420)

I was trying to do some research about 420 (the stoner holiday) but I could never find the real reason behind it. I found lots of evidence on how to celebrate this day but I wanted to find out the truth behind this day because my mother was born on April 20th (420) and I wanted to make sure that she wasn't the real reason behind this day. Lets just say that I didn't find any evidence that tied her into this holiday.

Joo Lin and I were able to visit her on her birthday. It was a fun trip and we got to eat at my mother's favorite restaurant. I don't really like her favorite restaurant though so it was a lot of sacrifice on my part. Her birthday was a bit sad though, her daughter Klorissa (my sister) was not able to attend because she lives in another state now. Besides that it was a fun time. Happy Birthday MOM!! We love you!

Here is a link to the photos for our little adventure.

My favorite photo is this one: