Our Lil’ Asian Nugget is a Girl!

Last week, we found out whether Baby T would get more pink or boy clothes.

Is it an Aragorn or an Eowyn?

A Martin Jr. or a Martina?

A Dick or a Jane?

A dude or a chick?

A Sonny or a Cher?

A little Lego-builder or a Barbie-dresser?

My mom and two sisters were convinced Baby T was a girl…

And they were right!

We got to see lots of photos of lil’ Baby T…she certainly put on a show! She moved throughout the entire ultrasound–the tech was laughing and said that she rarely sees a baby move this much. MT says that she has my “hyper” personality. We shall see! The tech also noted that since our little one is so active, I better enjoy my sleep while I can, because she might be keeping me up at night…so I’ll continue enforcing my 9:30-10ish bedtime for as long as possible, thankyouverymuch.

We’re so glad that you’re doing well in there and appear to be healthy, little girl! We can’t wait to meet you!

Starting the Week off Right

If only all Monday mornings…and all my mornings, for that matter, began more consistently with this:

God’s words. Earl Grey tea. Starting the day out with this instead of extra zzzzzzzzs.

And, a look out of our front door reveals a lovely morning fog–it makes me feel so European! It’s magical and unexpected and fleeting. Fog isn’t so common in St. Louis, so its appearance always feels like a special event.

Happy Monday!

Good morning Baltimore!

It was only a matter of time before I worked a musical reference into a blog post title, right? But don’t worry…this post has nothing to do with Hairspray…or really with Baltimore, except that I flew into the BWI airport.

Earlier this month, I had a three-day weekend due to having MLK Day off from work. MT was scheduled to go on an eight-day trip to Asia, and would be gone for most of the weekend.

And, I hadn’t seen my dear friend, Naomi, since our wedding…not to mention her awesome husband, Harrison, and their lil’ guy who I hadn’t met yet, Ezra.

So, MT and I decided it would be a great weekend for me to get away and visit the little family in Germantown, MD. That’s about half-way between Washington DC and Baltimore. Unfortunately, MT’s trip got postponed a short time before I was to fly away…so instead of me spending a weekend at home alone, he was the one who got some time to himself

I flew into BWI on Friday night and Harrison picked me right up! He even brought me a delicious apple to munch on during the long commute to their apartment–which also inspired a discussion about our mutual apple snobbery (just say no to red delicious and golden delicious! you’ll thank us later!)

The weekend included lots of cuddling with Ezra, delicious Madison-inspired food cooked by Naomi, visits to some notable spots in our nation’s capital, some good Asian eats at local restaurants, and lots of talking about babies, pregnancy, The Hunger Games, cloth diapering, our favorite blog, books, George Washington, and more!

Gourmet breakfast on Saturday morning–homemade smoothie and chocolate chip pumpkin bread!

We ventured into Washington, D.C. on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s visit included the National Portrait Gallery, lunch at Teaism, and a quick visit to the American History Museum.

Naomi, Harrison and Ezra on Pennsylvania Ave. (Ezra’s bundled up on the stroller, of course).

Naomi and me in the same spot:

One of the highlights for me at the American History Museum was the First Ladies’ Gowns, including Michelle Obama’s gown from the 2009 inaugural ball:

On Sunday, we visited the National Cathedral in Georgetown, which was amazingly huge and beautiful, and then walked around downtown Georgetown a bit, popping into some shops…Naomi and I also searched for the Georgetown West Elm store in the cold while Harrison (and Ezra, such a trooper!) waited in line for half an hour outside of Georgetown Cupcake.

It was worth the wait, right guys??

Naomi tried the salted caramel, which was awesome. I can’t remember Harrison’s flavor…I chose the carrot cake, which is always a safe bet…but Naomi’s was way better

Of course, one of the major highlights of the weekend was getting to meet this guy:

Thanks for a great weekend dear friends!

Utah Roadtrip: Part 4

Remember what the heck I’m talking about by catching up on Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of this Utah journey!

Well, after spending two beautiful days in Zion National Park, we broke camp at our rugged, isolated campsite (complete with hot tub and wi-fi) and headed early in the morning towards Bryce Canyon National Park. On our entire trip, people had warned us to expect frigid temperatures at Bryce, since it’s higher in elevation than the other parks.

At this point, we were verging on maxed out on photo opps and historic markers, but I was sure that Bryce would not disappoint, since so many people at home and random strangers on the trip had talked about how wonderful and unusual it was.

We decided to drive all the way to the end of the park’s main road and then slowly work our way back to the entrance, stopping at various sites along the way. By driving to the end of the road first, we also started with stops at the park’s highest elevation and then gradually worked our way back to a more moderate elevation.

This was the view at our stop at the end of the road.

On a clear day at Bryce, you can see for miles.

One of the stops as we worked our way back along the road included an arch.

These views of the “amphitheater” are part of what makes Bryce so famous!

After several stops, during which my main focus was taking more photos and MT’s main focus  was obsessively checking license plates to see if we could find the ever-elusive Delaware (thanks for the game, Stacey!),

we parked at the trailhead for the Navajo-Queen’s Garden Loop and ate lunch at a picnic table before heading out. We decided to descend into the lower part of the trail via the “Wall Street” section of the trail and ascend in the Queen’s Garden section, as recommended by several hikers and our guidebook-the ascent is more gradual in the Queen’s Garden area compared to Wall Street.

Here we go down through the “towers” of Wall Street…

The park’s newsletter claims that this is the world’s best three-mile hike, and I would say they’re definitely in contention. It’s a great hike–the scenery is varied, constantly changing. You definitely don’t get bored. We saw tons of hoodoos close up and also enjoyed vistas of the entire “canyon.” (It’s not a real canyon.) Obviously, the sky was absolutely gorgeous.

And with our visit to Bryce Canyon National Park complete, it was time to set our sights back towards home. We splurged and stayed at a Hampton Inn in Cedar City, Utah, that evening, which felt like a lap of luxury! We also ended up seeing Pirates of the Caribbean 4 in 3D–a random ending to our trip. The next day included about eight hours of driving–all the way to Silverthorne, Colo., where we arrived just as all the outlet malls were closing. Our final day was pretty non-noteworthy–we fortunately had the audiobook of “Undaunted Courage” to get us through the boring flatness that is Kansas (sorry any Kansas readers!). After about 14 hours of driving, our sweet little house in the Wood was waiting for us, right where we left it–and it was great to be home.

Aaron turns 1!

Our nephew, Aaron, turned 1 year old on Nov. 5. My sister, Grace, planned a cute monkey-themed party to celebrate. My arduous contribution was booking my friend, Mary, to make some of her fabulously cute cookies.

Aaron was his usual good-natured self, and we had fun watching him s-l-o-w-l-y open presents (he was more interested in the paper, generally).

This is his “I’m boring myself to death feeding myself chocolate cake” face. It cracks me up every time.

This is one of several of our unsuccessful attempts to get a decent photo with our godson on his first birthday. Oh well…

Happy Birthday Aaron!

Surprise Visit to Charleston

Before Labor Day weekend, with only one-and-a-half-day’s notice, my brother-in-law Sam and I hatched a plan: I would fly to Charleston, S.C. to surprise my sister Rachel (affectionately known as hermanita) with a three-day visit. Sam just started medical school about two weeks ago, so this is an adjustment period for both of them. And, I haven’t seen them since last Christmas, so some time together was long overdue.

We pulled it off–Rachel was incredibly surprised! Sam told her that they were going to the airport to pick up his friend, and then he said, “Hey, that looks like your sister standing there!” She screamed and cried and laughed–it was wonderful

While in Charleston, I . . .

Giggled with Rachel

Admired lots of beautiful houses

Drank my weight in sweet tea

Ordered and devoured the “Big Nasty Biscuit” at Hominy Grill

Admired cute bicis

Wandered along King Street, popping in and out of shops, like the Savannah Bee Company!

Randomly got to blow torch our own creme brulee at the Le Creuset store

Worshipped with Sam and Rachel at their cool church

Had a Southwest burger at Sesame Burgers

Beat Sam and Rachel at Scrabble (this is truly unprecedented!)

Visited Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

Saw Professor Rachel’s office at her fancy-schmancy university job

Ate the best french fries of my life

Gave thanks to God for being able to spend three awesome days and nights with my beautiful hermanita, Rachel and my BIL Sam!

(Thanks for helping with the surprise, Sam )

Anyone else ever visited Charleston?

Utah Roadtrip: Part 3

First, if you haven’t already, catch up on Part 1 and Part 2 of this Utah journey!

After visiting family in Denver, exploring Arches National Park, rafting down the Colorado River, and enjoying the beauty of Canyonlands National Park, we pressed on westward towards Capitol Reef National Park. (Special note: we had a yummy meal on the way there at El Salvadoreño in Green River, UT.) We spent the night at a place that was borderline sketchy–just outside of Capitol Reef–so that we could get an early start.

Capitol Reef was a little different from the other parks–it has more historical sights, which I find interesting. This first stop along highway 24 was the Behunin Cabin.

Can you imagine living in this house with 13 children??

We hiked along the Grand Wash Trail for about two hours. MT and I played a game of going through the alphabet (alternating between the two of us) and telling each other about people in our lives–past and present–who the other person didn’t know. The trail was not the most scenic that we saw on the trip, but it was fun to walk along something different, with sides of the canyon ways towering above us on either side.

Continuing west along 24 further into the park, we parked at the visitor’s center and got out our bikes for the first time on the trip! We started biking up the scenic drive, which at the beginning, takes you through another historical area of the park–the pioneer town of Fruita. The Mormon settlers who established their homesteads here planted orchards, which thrived, and some orchards are still going strong to this day! If you visit Capitol Reef during the right time of year, you can even pick fruit from the orchards–for free!

We only made it about two miles down (actually, it was going “up”) the scenic drive and then I sort of gave up…not my finest hour. My seat was too low because it had gotten loose, so it was really uncomfortable…and there was road construction…and I’m a wimp. ‘Nuff said. MT was a good sport and we turned around and went back to the visitor’s center, where we prompted started chatting with an older couple who had biked something like 25 miles that morning along the highway–boy did I feel like a schmuk! So that was about it for Capitol Reef…we headed out west again, driving through the Dixie National Forest on the way to our campground outside of Zion National Park. There were many beautiful lookout points along highway 12.

After driving for most of the afternoon, and stopping for groceries at a local place, we arrived at Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort, where we had a campsite reserved for three nights. We had a semi-successful go at making kabobs on the grill and went to sleep early.

The next morning…Zion National Park!

There are no private vehicles allowed on the road in the canyon section of Zion, which makes for a very pleasant park-going experience. Everyone has to ride the shuttle, or bike. We road the shuttle all the way up to the end of the canyon road, to the Riverside Walk, and then slowly biked our way back down the canyon from stop to stop, parking our bikes and hiking when we wanted to.

The Virgin River flows through Zion Canyon–it was beautiful.

Weeping rocks…

Calm retreats with canyon walls on either side…

Amazing views of the red canyon rocks wherever you looked…

We hiked the “Emerald Pools” Trails…including a little detour because of my misguidance. MT is very patient with me

 

This is the Upper Emerald Pool.

After our day of biking and hiking, we had an early dinner at Spotted Dog Cafe, just outside the park entrance in Springdale. We headed back to our campsite and fell into a biking-induced sleep pretty early.

We had one aim for day two in Zion: hike the Angels Landing Trail. Yes, this was after I learned that MT was afraid of heights, and yes, I still subjected him to it. When all was said and done, however, we both agreed that it was one of our favorite parts of the trip.

This was our view on the way up:

After hiking the switchbacks, which seemed like they were neverending, we arrived at the point where you see how the trail continues along a much narrower strip of rocks, jutting out into the canyon, with incredibly steep dropoffs on either side. This is the section where the poles begin, with chains draped in between, for hikers to hang on to as they progress towards the landing.

“Look–we’re going to hike up that??!”

We made it! Very rewarding. I could have stayed up there forever. MT was hanging on for dear life.

It was hard to get a photo with no one else in the background–the landing is not very big at the top, and a lot of other hikers were relishing the moment.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” (Psalm 19:1)

So long, Zion National Park. It’s been real!

One more installment of the Utah Roadtrip recaps, and then we’re done…