October fest

Though I've never been a big fan of halloween always trying to scrounge up some hand-me-down costumes and putting something together generally that morning before school just to show up and see all my friends in their home made costumes--I have always liked to see how clever other people can be. I did wear orange this year in spirit of the season though. But it worked, because luckily halloween is an American holliday so no one at work showed up in a better costume than me this year ;) But I do bet Ryan probably had the greatest one at his office!!

I didn't get nearly as much candy as the kids since my only stop was their houses to say hi--but they were all very generous in sharing! I got a little glimpse of all the kids minus Alex because he was at a party. Even though they had been out trick-or-treating and were worn out by this point, they were still cute as ever!

Return to Sender

So my friend Monica and I at work decided to try an experiement one day when we reached the end of our book of stamps. We wanted to use that Giant replica of the stamp that they put on the front of the book of stamps, and we glued it to an envelope. We put my name and address as the recipient, and her's as the return address and mailed it from work to see what would happen. Then we each wrote a note to each other to put in it to see where it ended up. Well, a few days later, it arrived at Monica's address! They had ripped off the stamp and stamped their own "return for postage" in it's place. Little did they know...we fooled that mail system! They actaully mailed it for us with no postage!!


Well, it's not quite as clever as some of Jim's office ideas, but hey, it killed a couple of minutes in the day for us! ;)

Here we are before and after...

On another note, Also at work, sometimes the asians like to have what they call a tea party where they order their famous boboli tea. I'm not a big fan normaly, but since it is the season, they actaully have pumpkin spice and is very good! The little boboli's are big black pearls that taste just like tapioca. So we took ours out to the little pond on our lunch break and drank away! This is a rare but fun occasion as it also takes away from the monotany of work. Also notice those ducks. They are the most unscared ducks I have ever seen! They beg worse than dogs! Every time someone is outside trying to eat their lunch, these ducks come right up under them trying to get a little somthin! It's a little frightening sometimes! They follow us like everyday and we've never even fed them! Crazy ducks! Maybe it's cuz we tease them and throw accorns trying to get them away....

short and sweet

Okay, So I have no "good" excuse for never updating my blog--but I can say that it's a gamble to get the internet at my apartment. Borrowing neighbors wireless just isn't all that reliabe. So I can't write much for fear of my luck running out. But pictures are worth a thousand words anyway...so I'll just post some pictures of about the last 2 months events. But since I don't have that Happenin' of a life--you didn't miss out on too much during this lapse ;) And the only times I've thought of updating is when I've taken a bazzilion more pictures of Roxy as she is all I have. But I don't wanna look like the crazy dog lady who is so obsessed with her pet she forgets she has a life---so I'll spare ya on some of the many!

So in no particular order--because really, I can't recall. And remember, I AM on a time frame against the wireless here, so I dont' have time to think that far back!

This first one is of Roxy's favorite place to sit when we're anywhere in the kitchen / living room area. I'm not sure if it is because it is the most cool spot, being as though it's not carpet, and I'm a little cheap and don't run my air conditioning much!! haha, but hey, I do like to be hot, so it works! She, on the other hand, probably doens't enjoy it as much and spends her time panting!




The next one is her favorite place to sleep at night....right next to my head on my extra pillows! But don't worry, if anyone comes to visit, I'll be sure to give 'em a good washing so you can have something to sleep on! And no, I'm not saying she's not already clean...but as an incentive to get some visitors. I have finally moved up off the air mattress now--6 months of that, and anything feels nice!



For Seth's bithday, we went to Gatti-town where we ate and played to out little hearts content! For some reason the kids really loved the bumper cars! hmm, maybe it's because they enjoyed me running into them so much! :)



Emily and I took Seth and Alex to see an SMU / TCU football game where Alex got to stand on the sidelines with all the other allen kids sporting there teams jersey's while the big guys warmed up. It was no BYU game...but it was fun none the less. I have forgotten how much I love watching actaully football in person!! Well, Besides the Nasty hard-as-a-rock but supposedly soft pretzel we had, and the sticky pop spillen floor, and a section full of hyper ADD Allen junior football kids banging there noise makers the entire time...it was quite enjoyable! I even managed to sneak in some redvines! And to top off the night---we got to take public transportation!! A first for me! Who woulda thought the Dart would bring in such a wide varity of people. But if you just hovered over the seat, and balanced yourself without touching the handrails, I think one can survive without getting some kind of sickness from the ride! But then again, I never think of those things until AFTER I had already touched something with my hands that was going into my mouth. OH well, we survived! And we saved money! I love getting deals--no parking payment for us!

So I've thought alot about going back to school, more for something to do than anything...but the place that enticed me most was SMU (Southern Methadist University) Maybe it's that whole "church school" thing ;) but also, because It's right in Dallas, and I could still live at home and commute. Well, that was my idea until I learned just how much private schools are!! Wow--I'll never be able to afford that! I got lucky at a BYU--I thought it was actaully cheaper to go to a church private school. Boy do I live in a bubble! But it's fun to think about being a campus kid again!
So here we are with the horse...or um, stallion, or...I forgot what they were!!

As always, we have our sunday dinners together as us 3 family's. Well, I guess you could call Roxy and me a family now. We used to have Geoffs brother and sister-in-law making actaully 3 families, but they have moved to switzerland, so we are down in numbers again. But anyway, these are from a sunday at Ryan and Shelley's where we went outside for some fresh air after and this was the result. The little boys playing football, the girls making up cheers and dances, little erin wanting to only wear panties, and Roxy trying to get Oscar to play with her.

So Erins a bit Sassy here...there was a cute one--but for modesty purposes we'll keep it a head shot. haha





But we got one with her clothed too...phew!

So I guess this post wasn't so short or sweet, but hey....it's a start!

It's a girl!

I got a new addition to my single life here in Texas--I call her Roxy! :) She is the cutest little puppy I ever did see! She's only 10 weeks old and is called a Yorktese or Morkie which is a mix between a Yorkshire Terrier and a Maltese. She will only get to be about 6 pounds at the most. Right now I don't think she even weighs two. I tried to show her size by putting her next to a stuffed lamb--but she is hard to keep still! She is so sweet though and doesn't leave my side--and is a hyper little thing! She just plays and chews on everything around. And when I took her with me to get my mail today--she just hoppedthrough the grass --since she's so small--and followed me the whole way! Since apartment life doesn't allow much yard it's a good thing she doesn't need much space and is happy just inside. Though my complex does have a little fenced in doggy area with big toys to jump through and even complimetary doggie bags....so we're set!

Golfin'

Dave and Bruce are here to visit this week. Since the girls went to the airport, and the boys went golfing--So I opted to join the boys thanks to Dave's persual. It was a nice night and was actually fun just to walk around and try to figure out what the big hype is about golf. Even with over 2 hours there though---I still can't figure it out! Though I did find it pretty entertaining when Brent went down into the watery ditch to fetch some loose balls that have been hit down there by others. They'd say we actaully made some money on that trip going away with so many free golf balls!

Goobye Grandma and Grandpa

Here was the last night of grandma and granpas visit. It was fun having them here all week, I even had an excuse to take off some work. And now it finally feels like someone lives in my apartment because my apartment now feels like a home with the touch of my moms hand. She did very good at helping me decorate. Pictures will have to come next time.

*** 4th of July ***

Shelley, Emily and I showed up on the 4th of July wearing the appropriate Red, White, And Blue. So between the 3 of us we had the patriotic-ness down. We had a BBQ, some swimming, and of course fireworks that night. We brough along some glowsticks to add to the fun as well. Also if you Notice the hot air baloons you can faintly see behind us where they were trying to promote there big "baloon fest" they do every year in Plano in about a month.

Rough Riders

My parents came out to visit--as I'm sure most of you have seen when reading Emily's or Shelley's blog--but we went to a rough riders baseball game at the Dr. Pepper stadium (where it would be a whole lot cooler in my oppion if they actaully gave out free Dr. Pepper!) But we got to sit on the grass plust free hats and hot dogs! They lost the game--but it was fun none the less. In Utah you have to plan ahead to take a sweatshirt if you go anywhere past dark--I Guess I'm sitll a little conditioned to that! So I grab one generally everytime I go out at night...Here was no exceptoin...and even though it barely droppped below 90 all night...I still put it on just to show Ryan that it wasn't a waste of space! Lucky Joseph even got to come hang out with the fam some--I'm sure he thought it was great fun! ;)

HaIrCuTs!

So Shelley and I went and got our haircut together. Here is our new "do" Well, mines not too new or different...i never change it up too much---But shelley chopped her's to a new short summer look!

Girls night!

Now that I have weekends off--I can finally have sleepovers!! So my nieces came over one friday for a girls night out. We went to the store--made some dinner of chili and rice--painted our fingernails--ate some treats--watched some girly movie, and spent the night as girls!

Concert in the park

Okay, since I rarely update--and I finally have an internet connection, I figured I'd just update a bunch at once. Dave gave me his old laptap with wireless so I tried "borrowing" some wireless internet from neighbors...but it only lasted for about 2 days, and now I have ran my luck I guess because it no longer works. But Luckily both siblings out here have it at there house so I can just take my computer over there!

Here is the last night of little Allen's concert in the Park that they do during the summer's. We just sit out on the hill and listen to a band play and the kids can run away and it's just some easy fun.

Round-The-World Logistics

On the flip side---I am still working for Ryans little sister company and here is just a glimpse of my friend Monica and I. We are among the only few non-Asians that work there.

Medical Center of Plano

So I officially worked a year at the hospital...and am finally done doing the whole two-job thing, and now I no longer work there! My weekends are finally free! It is so nice to have some time to relax now a days! They even made me a cake for my last day!

Benton Point

Well, I have now officially been in my own apartment forl almost 3 months and still LOVE it! It's pretty humble as I'm still poor and don't have much. It took about a month to get an air mattress to sleep on when the floor was just not getting any softer. And then a few weeks later to get a couch and coffee table. And now, besides having no real decorations that match, I have pretty much all I need there. It even came with a washer and dryer! I try to use it sparingly though---don't want to have too high of water or energy bill ;)

And for your enjoyment....some pictures of my place. Okay, it's actaully the model apartment. But it's much cuter than mine---and it gives you a good idea of what to expect--I don't have any good pictures of my empty place. But Just picture it with nothing on the wall and... no furniture.

However, there is a small glimpse of my place from when ryan and his family came over for some taco's I made. It is seldom used....but I do have a kitchen to cook in, so it was fun to have some company to cook for. Even all sitting on one couch and circling a coffee table while watching Matilda, I would do it every night. So anyone is welcome to come visit! :)

Vacation in the sun....

My friend Shay and I went on a little weekend get-a-way to Austin to join all the college kids fun! Haha, Okay not really. That is a BIG party town we decided---pretty much if you don't drink you don't fit in. But it was fun walking the streets at midnight and having it look like it was 4 in the afternoon. The next day we went San Antonio where we walked the river walk and went to the Cirque de' solel show. It had amazing acrabats and entertainment. We liked it so much we even wore I clown noses out of the AT&T center where it was held.