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!