merry christmas!

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas full of joy and laughter.

Note: the picture above was taken on Christmas eve from Half Moon Bay. Wow!

Fantabulous Friday Video Update

Hello world!

It's Terah, here again, after another long hiatus from the blogging world. For this post I've decided to delight your visual and audio senses with some unusual and/or funny videos that I've taken lately.

The first two are come from my phone so the camera may not be of the highest caliber. I was on my early morning flight going from Chicago to SF -- and to give you context -- freezing rain had been falling all night and the temperature outside was still well below freezing. So, we're sitting there ready to take off when all of sudden I hear this loud splashing sound all around the plane. It was kind of disconcerting and very weird. Well, I look out the window and see this box held up on a long arm shooting liquid green stuff all over the wings of the plane. Yes, I figured it was some type of industrial strength de-icer -- but it was really weird. Take a look for yourself:



So, I thought it was over after this first go-around. BUT after a few moments I take a look out the window and I did a double-take. You know those fierce looking robot shooting things on two legs in Return of the Jedi? Well, I totally thought one of those was attacking the plane next to me. There was this new fancy de-icer machine that totally looked like that thing from Star Wars. Freaky.



And, now, for the funniest and personal favorite video for the day... Sparkle singing! OK, you're probably first wondering who is this Sparkle? Sparkle is one of 2 dogs in the household (the other one is called Buddy). Well... Sparkle apparently likes to sing whenever there is someone playing the piano. Yeah, I didn't really believe it when I heard it either. But then I saw it in person. Sparkle is actually trying to sing... it's not barking. Anyways, take a look for yourself. Hi-larious.

In the land of fruit and honey

We're now both done with finals and have officially started our christmas break. woohoo! It's been a great week recuperating in california.

We went to a crazy church quilt auction where all these women, including my mom, were bidding on quilts and then sending their husbands to stand guard (literally) by the quilts they had bid for. Quite an experience. My mother came home victorious...



There are three girls in my family, none of whom are particularly interested in video games. And yet we have owned pretty much every major gaming system out there... the first nintendo, N64, Xbox, all from my dad in the name of giving them to "us"..... that is if you consider "us" as in for HIM. So without fail, as an early christmas present, my dad has once again gotten the Wii for my sisters. But we're loving it!

As those of you who have visited my home know, you don't have to stick around for long before bowls of fruit start magically appearing in front of you. One of my favorite fruits when I come home is the Pummello. Ever heard of it? Terah calls it the mutant grapefruit - it's the size of a small cantaloupe and much sweeter than a grapefruit...

My mother is also a notorious health nut. Here's the kind of crazy drinks she makes for us. This one is red from the beet juice (yes, beet juice). Believe it or not, it's actually better than the hated carrot juice we used to drink growing up...

We also went to a neighborhood christmas party where our very elderly neighbor informed us that the stones on the house my parents moved into last year are from the streets of San Francisco. how cool is that?

Lastly, much to Terah's delight, we finally made our way to In-N-Out Burger. Here's Terah and my sister enjoying their first red meat of the week. Terah ordered his animal style, just like a true californian...

Long overdue...

... UPDATE!!!!

I have been MIA for the past few weeks trying to wrap-up the end of exams and such. Not to mention all the craziness that is MBA recruiting. I haven't had much extra time except to sleep and eat. But, I'm finally done with my first quarter of business school and getting ready for another action-packed one starting in January. Until then, I get to relax just a bit!

What's in it for you? You can get to see some major updates. First, Michelle and I went up to Boston to visit my family during the Thanksgiving break. We had a lot of fun going to a Chinese buffet place on Thanksgiving day and gorged ourselves on lots of tasty food. The best part was that the restaurant was built to look like an old Chinese palace (or something like that). Take a look at some pictures for yourself.

(you like the awesome poses everyone gave me on this one?)

Then, the day after, we invited a bunch of my old high school friends over for dinner. I got a chance to see people I haven't talked to in years. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

Oh yeah... the marshmallows on top of the sweet potatoes caught on fire in the oven... here's the aftermath :-)


And just for your viewing pleasure, a self-portrait/photo


And LAST, but certainly not Least our goooood friend Arida came to visit us in Chicago! Although the stay was short, she didn't escape without a photo.



We'll be heading off to California for our winter break. More updates to come. See you next time!

tis the season to be thankful

Happy Thanksgiving! Terah has been designated to blog about our break in good 'ol Boston, but seeing as he has 4 finals next week... and he's been averaging some late nights with all these company shin-digs that I can't keep track of...it might be slow in coming.

In the meantime, I was thinking about how much we have to celebrate this season. Terah and I often talk about how all this effort is not for loss, because we can see how everything we're learning and working for fits into place. We happen to be people that believe God has offered us a life beyond just achieving success and comfort for ourselves, and we deeply wish to use our lives to bless and encourage those around us. It's hard to constantly fix our eyes on the prize, especially when you have these ridiculous finals looming over your head, but we always come back to the same place of thankfulness, and amazement of how great of an honor it is for us to be here in Chicago and going after our dreams.

Our cup runneth over...

new found love

I have recently discovered the awesomeness of Trader Joe's. We used to go there randomly to get chocolate-covered soy nuts or dried fruit. But now when I don't have time to make things from scratch, Trader Joe's saves the day.

Seriously, I can not begin to tell you how much fun I have there. Call it my weekly shopping spree. The thursday evening event I look forward to. And relative to going out to eat - it's still a better bang for you buck. Sweet! Some of my favorites new staples-

It's as if I cooked my own spinach, but not really...



I just pop these into the toaster oven, and they're ready to go! No syrup needed....




And my all-time favorite, recommended by my friend at school. You can stick these chicken slices in sandwiches, over salads, in spaghetti, the options are endless.... and they taste great! Terah even approves.

Mom, I'm ready!

Finals season is right around the corner, and boy, we are looking forward to finally having a nice long break this christmas! I won't lie, it's been a pretty intense few months - I don't think I've ever seen Terah work so hard before.

We don't do much these days besides the basics, but last weekend I took a little breather and got myself a new winter jacket from nordstrom rack. I wanted a super long jacket to block the crazy chicago winds.

Mom, I'm ready for winter!

Fall is in the air

When we moved, we braced ourselves for the torturing cold that would be worse than alaska (as everyone made it sound). But Chicago has had a beautiful fall season this year... sunny, crisp, and full of wonderful reds and oranges. Here's to fall!



My little sister and her pumpkin, compliments of the chern fam =).

Boston Sportsfan Heaven!

Well, you saw Michelle's post about the Red Sox. I'm not usually one to gloat (OK, not always), but today has been a very good Boston sports day. The Pats are now 7-0 and the Red Sox are onto the World Series. It's not just me. ESPN agrees too. Take a look at the front cover of ESPN.com.


Yes, those are the Sox. Yes, that's Tom Brady. WOW.

Michelle says I should admit that I'm gloating. Let's just say I'm not sad right now. Also, the Indians and Dolphins are worthy opponents and I don't wish anyone to feel the pain of losing.

Anyways, that's really all I wanted to blog about. I've never seen both teams on the cover before, so I was too excited not to share.

Later.

Red Sox do it again!

Neither midterms nor wife,

nor group projects and beautiful fall weather,

will separate Terah from his beloved red sox.



Terah has worn his red sox shirt every game for the past... 7 games.





And they're going to the world series!!!

Quarter century fun

Last weekend, to celebrate Michelle's bday, we spent the day...


...at school studying! I know, very exciting stuff.


But Terah did make omelettes for us in the morning.


And we managed to steal some time away to try out an awesome tapas place in Lincoln Park.









And finally, we celebrated with my new favorite fruit tart from Whole Foods!

the Yangster comes to town

As school has gotten into the full swing of things, we have seen all our free time go kapoof right in front of our very eyes. But last weekend we got to hang out ever so briefly with our good friend Dave. To fully understand the complexities and extraordinariness of this person called Dave, you must know a few things about him...



He has a not-so-secret penchant for all romantic chic flicks, he does not discriminate.

According to Facebook, he has over 700 friends.

During his college days, he starred in several plays. Of course, must you ask, they were all romantic plays where he was the leading love interest.

He was the co-best man at our wedding.

And so that no one forgets - he was tied to a tree with duct tape for his birthday one year and loved every moment of it.

Did you know?

Animals that lay eggs don't have belly buttons.
Snapple Fact #2.

A crocodile can not move its tongue.
Snapple Fact #132.

Not much going on in the Chan world this week... Michelle got sick again for the 2nd time in two weeks, and Terah finally started classes!

We love the aquarium

We're finally recovering from a nasty cold that took both of us out (Terah started it), and managed to make it to his semi-formal at the Shedd Aquarium. It was an incredible venue. Too bad we didn't get more pictures of the fishes - I didn't want to embarass Terah too much in front of his oh-so-smooth classmates... what? continuously pointing and exclaiming "this is SO COOL" is embarrassing?





Cocktail hour by the dolphin tank


They had a special feeding exhibit during the night - you can't tell here, but the diver was actually wearing a Chicago GSB t-shirt. talk about unnecessary!

Altitude Sickness, 29 Miles, and one Machu Picchu later...

So, I'm finally getting a chance to blog about my recent trip to Peru. No need to worry, I went a few days after the earthquake hit. It actually didn't affect the major cities of Lima and Cusco where I had been. As part of my pre-MBA preparation, we Chicago students got a chance to go on what is called a Random Walk -- which is just a fancy way of saying a bunch of 1st year and 2nd year students get to go to cool, exotic places together before school starts.

I chose to go on the RW to Peru, which, unlike most of the other nice, relaxing, beachside trips, was a grueling 29-mile, 4-day hike through the Andes, taking me up as high as 15,000 ft (where we camped overnight at the foothills of one of South America's highest mountains, and btw, it was 0 degrees F that night) down to 6,000ft where Machu Picchu was. The trip, though, was amazing. We hiked along one of the old Incan trails -- and those trails are tough! I had muscles aching where I didn't know I had any muscles. Unfortunately for me, I got altitude sickness the first day we landed in Cusco and had a rough first couple of days hiking, trying to adjust to the altitude. In the end, though, I can say that I hiked the entire trail and now you get to enjoy some of the pictures!

There's hundreds of different things I could tell about the trip, and it would take me too long of a post to write them down here. You'll just have to look at some of the pictures I have here. Machu Picchu was incredible and if you don't know anything about it... I've even provided a video you can watch from the series "Digging for the Truth" (yeah, I know, nerd side coming out).


The main square in Cusco

In front a church built on top of old Incan ruins (it's also in the show!!!)

Some cute Llamas

At a local market

Our group as we started our hike

Camp on Day 1

View of the mountains

More hiking

Hiking through rivers and waterfalls...

One of our other campsites (in warmer weather)

View from the hike

Machu Picchu is in the distance (on the left)

Plaque as you enter Machu Picchu

The view you see as you enter

Some more pictures of Machu Picchu




And, as promised, the video of "Digging for the Truth: Machu Picchu". Josh Bernstein is my hero.