Our friends Jeanne and Iztok invited a few friends to join them at Courtright for 4th of July, and friends invited friends… when the day arrived, we apparently got an Occupy Movement going — okay, not quite, but we got 15+ who showed up taking up four campsites along with the hardcore …more…

Newly updated on May 1! (Please scroll down.)
It's been a few days since I arrived in China, but I just realized that I had not taken many photos. I'm posting below a few that I found in my phone. Not something you see everyday from else where in the world.
 
Breakfast buffet at the hotel in Beijing. …more…

 
Thanks Charlie for the balloon!

This video was from Friday, May 6, 2011. I haven't seen Roxie since that day. I like to think that the mole was Mother's Day present from Roxie.
To Roxie,
Baby, I know you are an outdoor kitty and you are born to explore. Or, maybe because you are such a cute cuddler that someone else has claimed …more…

I know I haven't been posting for quite a while. We haven't been getting out much — Erik's shoulder is injured and he was advised to stay away from climbing and mountain biking; plus, I have been quite absorbed in our research and preparation for our kitchen and living room remodeling. …more…

Four years later, finally. I've wanted to post the photos for a long time because the photos brought back fond memories. And Erik looked so handsome in the tux!

I'll be honest. "Go with the flow." That was not a profound discovery through four years of marriage. It just summed up how this 3-day Labor Day weekend went for us… There were lots of plan changes, which I call "go with the flow". Here are just a few to illustrate the case:
Plan #1: Drive up …more…

For a while, it did not look like we would ever get away for this two week long vacation. Our last time taking such a vacation was two years ago when we visited Whistler, British Columbia in Canada. The fond memories lasted us for a long time — Erik was telling anyone who cares, or does not …more…

Little One's Report: Daddy did not come home this weekend…
听妈咪说爹地这个周末去和老朋友攀岩，所以这两个晚上是我们女人的世界，我们真高兴呀。我们其实很喜欢和爹地妈咪一起温馨，可是经常我和他们一起跳上床后 …more…

The socket and bit set on the right is for the Park Took Torque Wrench I recently purchased.
Now, I'd better go take my bike apart and give a thorough wipe down.
(Look, what Erik Got me for birthday last year!)
P.S. I just realized that this probably looked more like a Father's Day present than a …more…

愿更多的人能够加入关爱小动物的队伍里来。愿天下狗狗猫猫有吃有喝有人爱。愿天下有情人/猫/狗终成眷属。
ç¬¨å˜´æ‹™èˆŒï¼Œç›´æ …more…

My post to Mud 'n Crud forum:
I just had an epiphany: A picture is worth a thousand words. So forget about a longer report. Here are the pictures. But first, thanks F4 for hosting the delicious hotpot dinner and the one of a kind birthday gift! …more…

After a full year of being home bound, we decided to take a road trip to Tucson, AZ for the holidays. We'll be gone for a week. Can we all survive? I am already missing them even though we have not left yet! Feeling anxious about the separation, I wrote following post (in Chinese) to the pet forum. …more…

Gone was this one:
Came this one:
The Cash For Clunkers (C4C) program was pushed out by the government on July 27th. The intention of the program was to remove some gas guzzlers off the road (thus the clunkers are destroyed instead of being reused) and replace them with the new gas efficient cars. …more…

A month ago, Erik built this for my birthday:

This time, he was gone for three weeks paying a visit to WA. I wanted to do something to surprise him. My eyes set on the vegetable garden. It grew very well when we moved in, but it had some plants that I would not use in my cooking, such as jalapeno, …more…

In two months, we'll probably be on our way up to Whistler again, and this time, I want to be better prepared. I must have thought to myself out loud because Erik started building these structures in our backyard and put them together on my birthday. …more…

They were just sleeping neck in neck. Don't you let your imagination run wild. 脖脖相扣而已，不要瞎想。

那天天很热，可是我们一点都不觉得。

哟，被妈妈看见了，肯定要拿我们到坛子上去笑话。

ç®—äº†ç®—äº†ï¼Œåˆè§‰ä¹Ÿä¸è®©çŒ«å®¶ç¡ä¸ªå®‰ç¨ …more…

I posted this on a pet forum in response to a question whether a cat needs a companion.
以前讲过我收留小家伙的经过。她曾经是街对过邻居的猫之一，后来因为没有及时计划生育的原因，一度和将近十只猫共处。开始看他们同出同进，和谐的很。后来 …more…

Like this muddy…

It's Erik's birthday again. I think the last time it happened was a year ago, but I'm not sure. Ever since two years ago I surprised him with a trip to Hawaii (he did not even know we were flying until I dug out the suit cases buried under camping gear when we arrived at the …more…

We've had Mango for almost two weeks. She is a beautiful red tabby. She was born on May 15, 2008, so, still a kitty. As a matter of fact, she was born to Little One. It didn't look that way when we first got her into our house, because Little One, who had been our resident cat for a month, hissed at her. …more…

å°å®¶ä¼™å‘€ï¼Œä½ æ¥å®¶å·²ç»ä¸€ä¸ªåŠæ˜ŸæœŸäº†ã€‚æˆ‘ä»¬çš„ç”Ÿæ´»å°±åœ¨è¿™ä¸€ä¸ªåŠæ˜ŸæœŸäº†å‘ç”Ÿäº†å¾ˆå¤§çš„å˜åŒ–ã€‚å¤šäº†ä¸€ä»½ç‰µæŒ‚ï¼Œå¤šäº†ä¸€ç‚¹ç‚¹çƒ¦æ¼ï¼Œä½ …more…

Yesterday, I sent Erik a text message in the morning who left for work before I did:
     Me: Little One was playing with one of her toy mice when I left.
     Erik: Holy Cow! Is she all right?
Yep, that pretty sums up our Little One. …more…

I'm sleep deprived. That is because Little One meowed all night last night, first time we did not confine her to her own room, our bathroom. There is nothing wrong with her. She just wanted someone to play with her. When we went to bathroom in the middle of the night, she would run up to us and start …more…

Her name is Little One, that's the calling she responded to when she first time came into our house sniffing around last weekend. She was our neighbors' cat and grew up with her sister, both about one year old now. I've posted their story before, in Chinese. …more…

It would be my father's 70th birthday. A month ago, plans were made that we would all meet in Shanghai, where my sister and her family are based. My father grew up in a village just outside of Shanghai (now all part of the big city) before he went to Beijing for college, so he treasures every chance …more…

Erik's friend pretty much summed it up. It was his birthday yesterday. We went to Gochi, a Japanese restaurant in Cupertino, with our friends Erik and Jenny. We all loved the food there. My favorite were bbq eel on thin crust pizza, braised pork in cripy rice clay pot, and all the desserts. …more…

(Text Messaging Inbox)
Message 22: Happy Halloween!
Message 23: Er uh, Valentine's.
From? Oh, who else!
We did not go out to a nice dinner. We did not buy each other expensive presents. Instead, we went to the climbing gym tonight. He and I do not always climb in the same gym. …more…

Yesterday I was in my chiropractor's office for my knee problem. We started talking about pronation. In my case, I have low arches in my feet, which has caused some problems in my moving around. Anyway, two points he made I thought were quite interesting:

Parents should keep babies out of shoes as …more…

I wrote this trip report in the air plane back. Partly, this is to document our activities and my observations; and partly, I hope this TR serves as some kind of beta for others who are interested in visiting China. I will include links and resources wherever I can. …more…

Simple. Strong. Sturdy. Not pretentious. Low maintenance. Everytime I look at the ring on my finger, it reminds me of the man who presented the ring to me. And it brings a smile to my face.I admit, it was not love at first sight. To me, an engagement ring has always been nothing but an anouncement …more…