2018 - Recap

I always enjoy writing a re-cap of the year that was. It takes me through the travails of the days gone and helps set realistic goals for what I want to do this year. But I slacked. I took a really long break from writing. Not that I did not have much to write or the time but lacked energy or the enthusiasm to do so. I know this is more of a whiteboard for me and my thoughts and memories that hopefully my daughter will find entertaining enough to read about in the future. So keeping with the tradition, though a month late, here is a quick recap :)

January: December 2017 ended with G and taking a look at ourselves. We did not look healthy or fit. We did not like our reflection, this is not what we wanted to become, old and unfit. Growing old is not a choice but being fit is. I hope I come back to this statement in the future if I get back to being unfit again. So, we took it upon ourselves to start living a healthier life. We had to make some adjustments, not a lot of dieting though. We still ate the same but added a workout routine. We started to bike.

Biking - Start of the Year

February: I got one of those calls that you dread about - mom is sick - please come. I rushed to NC the very next morning (thanks to my friend RR who got me a seat on a flight) and spent a few days.  Mom seemed to be recovering, so I got home.

March: A night in a camp that we had evacuate because of rain. Celebrated Holi with friends. A hike in the hills of south Dallas. Another trip to meet family in NC again, this time mom was doing much better.

It was also the month I turned 40. My daughter, niece and nephew were the first ones to welcome my 40's. They surprised me with cake, decorations and lots of fun. Then of course, G threw a huge party for me along with my friends and it was a super fun night!

Turning 40 is not so bad...nothing really changes drastically overnight. The only difference is that I have slowed down. I like to go to bed by 10 on Friday nights. My wild nights now end by 11 and if they last past that, I am extremely tired. I am enjoying it though, I feel well rested and energetic that I can run 5 miles and bike 10 miles all in one day.

Happy Birthday to Me!

April: There was more biking. The distances were growing and the time spent on trails were longer and we were thoroughly enjoying it. It was a relatively quite month in terms of activity. We were winding down towards end of school year.

More Biking...weather getting better - shorter sleeves

May: S had her annual Dance recital show. It was exciting for us also, the dress rehearsals and the practices. School ended and S was the happiest. She had the whole summer planned out. Another trip to NC for mother. She was sick again and this time we had to make some really tough decisions. I had to rush to NC from my fun work trip in Nashville. I was so sad to have been having a great time.

June: G and S left on their EU trip. They spent a couple of days in London before heading to Paris. S spent the whole of June and part of July on her own with her uncle's family. I spent a couple of fun weekends with friends. I went with R to Legacy West and had a great evening and then had a girls night out with M and A - an evening to remember. I also went to Sallu show with friends and relaxed and chilled the rest of my alone time.

July: G was back and we had 2 weeks to ourselves. What did we do? We biked. We did 30 miles...in our crappy cheap bikes. It felt like we could run faster on some days.

Then I left to Paris to pick S up. We went up to Italy for P's wedding and spent three days with my brother and his family walking around Pompeii and Rome. It was so relaxing.

G joined us in Iceland where we spent 5 days hiking up all the waterfalls in the south of the island. One beautiful trip with great stories and memories. The photos show how much coffee I drank and bits and pieces from all our trips

I got so sick after this ride. It was 115 deg's on this day and we did 25 miles

Coffee in a Cafe in Paris

Coffee in Italy

Coffee in Paris

Crepe in a Creperie in Paris

Kid like joy enjoying nature in Iceland

G and S trying to fill water from a waterfall - Iceland

August: We were back in the States and ready for new school year. It was still hot in Texas so we biked some more. S tied Rakhi to A again this year...that is 3 years in a row. They are growing up together so well now that it is cute.

More Biking - different trails, different days

September: A trip to Houston - lots of gluttony, boating, walking, playing tennis. More biking and relaxing as the cold starts to come in.

Getting colder - it rained right after we took this pic - fun experience

October: It was S's 11th. We had a great time celebrating her but unfortunately I had to rush to my family once again and could not celebrate G turning a year older. It was a stressful week for me. I did get to meet with S in NY when I went there for work. His twins were the best thing that happened to me in a while. We had a great time. I actually got to eat in a real Korean restaurant in NYC. It was amazing. I enjoyed the company and the food and it was exactly like I had imagined it would be....Daebak!

Samwon in NYC - the best Korean Bap! They even had the right kind of silver!

November: BIL came down with his family. S went back with him to Houston and we got to spend Thanksgiving with them. It was pretty much relaxing and cold. Visited a brewery and had a full pint of beer for the first time. I took three hours to down it but it is still not my favorite. Though I see the advantage of drinking beer over other things...not looking forward to a beer belly so beer is still unpopular with me. And of course the most memorable Diwali party that we will remember for a life time! Oh! and the cold trip to Iowa for work.

December: Was a travel month. Visited Chicago, KC, NC, and Santo Domingo. Each of them memorable in their own way.

Chicago: I missed my family as I was in downtown without them. I enjoyed my walk to Millennium Park. I enjoyed hanging out with work friends and it was a fun trip.

KC: A day trip. Tiring but still got a lot accomplished.

NC: Family trip. S went to Savannah with my brother's family and I got 4 full days alone with my parents. It was the best part of the entire year. I was a little kid but the roles were reversed where I was taking care of them.

SD: The best freaking trip. We had the best AirBnb house - the house itself was basic but we hired a cook - Maribel. She was godsent. She cooked the best food, hooked us up with rental car, sent us to private beaches and was just an awesome human being. The trip itself was great, made some great memories, learnt a lot of new things, ate some real authentic DR food and spent a lot of time relaxing.

Seeing myself in the reflection - a lonely walk

Santo Domingo - Very fun history walk

December 31st night: We were driving from Houston to Dallas and made it home just a few minutes past mid-night. I hope this year is filled with a lot more travel. There is a whole lot of world left to see.

Countries Visited this year:

France

Italy

Iceland

Santo Domingo

Cities visited this year:

Kansas City, MO

Des Moines, IA

Greenville, NC

New York, NY

Chicago, IL

Austin, TX

Houston, TX

Nashville, TN

Biked more than 1000 miles, walked more than that. It was a great year where collectively G and I lost a whole another mini human in terms of weight. We hope to keep it down and never go back to where we were before.

I hope I will get to blog more this year if not, I will at the very least keep the yearly recap going. 

Traveling ART

The Year That Was!!! 2014

2014, I could not have asked for a better year. When we started out, we were on the rocks a bit. Not really, but health wise, I carried with me a horrible cold after the flu just before 2014 started. It started in a hotel room with friends chatting and almost forgetting the onset of a New Year. In general, the health pattern carried out throughout 2014. I have never had so many colds or fevers in one year like I did in 2014. I worked through a lot of them, slept three a couple but the general immunity seems to be down. This year also coincided with my weight gain. I tried to keep it down, work out, bike, run but everything barely took off for more than a few days. I had so many exams to take, people to entertain that "I" took the back seat in my life.

January: We ended our 4500+ mile drive through the country, driving through mountains and beside the ocean, through the dessert and staying high above the ground in Vegas to eating at Batali's. It was a good month.

February: Was uneventful. We relaxed a bit, visited family in Houston. Spent time recuperating.

March: Brother moved to Dallas and spent three months with me. We had a blast. We relaxed, ate, spoke a lot, and caught up with each other's life after a long time.
We also spent the spring break weekend at a spooky BnB in Seguin, TX.

April: I went with Babs to her school Field Trip. It was super fun to spend time with her and her school mates. We also did Holi in our front yard with friends. It was also the month when Babs started to ride the bike on her own.

May: We spent the time getting ready for summer. I had exams to study for imminent in June and spent more time on that than with my brother or family. It was stressful but we sailed through.

June: Saw us planning our trip to EU. We were mentally ready for a vacation. We rarely take time off from work, which always explains the extra PTO that stack up for me as well as G. We make it to work through rain or shine, especially since I cannot work from home, I have to be physically connected to server most of the time to be able to do what I do. Therefore the trip was something all three of us looked forward to. Off we went to EU for a 15 day break. We went from Paris to Barcelone to Nice to Rome to Pisa to Annecy and spent more time in Paris meeting my BFF and enjoying relaxing.

July: We came back from Paris and did not want to be here. We loved being back on our beds in our home but we missed the break, the relaxation, the fun and family.

August: Our friends spent the month with us. It was so good to have the house full. The kids played and fought but the adults relaxed with some good drinks and food every night after the drama kid dramas went to bed. Babs started another year in school and life got back to a routine. We enjoyed seeing and hearing Mika Singh live in concert in Dallas with friends. It was amazing.

September: Our friends left and we had the house for ourselves for a bit. We had no idea what to do. We missed them a lot. Babs school and classes took over us. We went to SLAM show in Houston with friends and had the best time of our lives.

October: My parents came and spent three weeks with us. It was fun. Babs turned seven and G turned a year older. We did trick or treating and also Diwali. We could feel the year winding down.

November: We had two weeks before G's parents came. We spent time trying to get the house ready for the big family arrival. M and I ran the only 5K this year. We promised that we would run together a lot this year but that has not happened yet.

December: We started December with illness. All of us had something or the other going on but we were ready for the holidays on time for family to arrive. All of G's family is here and we officially celebrated Christmas together this year with tree, gifts, decorations and every thing set. The kids had a blast and do did the adults. We got Kinected (xbox) this year and also switched entirely to Samsung except the one Ipad that is still working. There is a lot of noise in the house with three kids running the show, there is food always to be found and drinks everywhere.

I pray and hope that everyone has a great 2015 and it is just as good as 2014 was to me.

Happy and Prosperous 2015.

PS: This is my 600th post! WooHoo!!

The Recap

This year I have been slow about everything. I will blame it on the drive, once again. I barely find time to do anything else. Even spend time with the family is now going on, on the basis of appointment system. In between all this chaos, I am trying to work in some work out and that is going nowhere either. But then, I will not complain, 2012 was full of surprises. I have changed jobs, learning a lot and my daughter turned 5 and life goes on...And here is a recap like I have been doing all the previous years:


January 2012: We started off partying and welcoming 2012 in San Francisco with family and close friends. A trip to the Golden Gate on the perfectly clear and sunny day was very welcome and ending it at a coffee shop watching the waves hit the rocks was perfect.

In an attempt to loose some weight, I went for an early morning boot-camp, and in the process of doing something I am normally not capable of I tore my LCL. I think my body warned me but I did not listen to it.

February: India beckoned and we went away for a month. There was a wedding filled with his family and then small trips to Goa, Pune, Bangalore, and Chennai completed the rest of the trip which went into March. I thought I was getting off the brace and almost stopped using it until I realized that I had not healed yet towards the end of the trip. Came back with a swollen knee...too much fun is also not good sometimes...I guess...

March: We got back in time to celebrate my birthday and then a family trip to Houston where we went to Brazos Bend State Park and spent time with the Aligators...Also March saw me switching over from Iphone to Samsung and buying my favorite toy an Ipad to replace the void of not owning an Apple product. Oh and BTW turned a year older.

April: Was in the middle of a heavy thunderstorm, sitting and waiting it out in the stair case while tornadoes went past us...and it was also the time when I got re-addicted to my Korean Dramas! Oh and there was also the trip to Austin with family living on the lake for three days and lazing away supremely.

May: The big change. Took a break from work. It was relaxing, therapeutic and could not have come at a better time...summer! Babs and I got to spend so much time together doing new things. I knew that this break was short lived and tried to pack as many things into it as possible.

June: One of the worst months in the year but a lesson learnt. Kids deal with adversities way better than adults...Babs broke her hand while doing a harmless jump from a harmless place in a harmless mall play area...I cried. I freaked out. She said she did not care and went on with life. I panicked. I created scene!

July: I do not remember anything fun. All I can think of is trying to keep Babs with a broken arm busy and making up things to do with a child with one hand in a cast.

August: I worked through July and August at this interior design firm. It was one of the best experiences I will carry with me.

September: A trip to the family before I started my new driving job...brothers and parents and all the kids under one roof. It was chaotic but so much fun like only family can be. And more Korean was being learnt in the household. I started my 100 mile a day drive this month!

October: Parents came! Babs birthday! Hubs birthday! It was all so fun and so busy. October sets off the busy time of the year with every weekend all the way to the end of the year being booked. We also squeezed in a Cowboys game among everything. A first time visit to the amazing Cowboy Stadium in Arlington.

November: We went to a Kansas State Home game. Thanks to our K-State friends. It was the best game experience ever! It even trumped the Cowboys game. Being with fellow K-staters, screaming and cheering for your team cannot be compared to sitting and sulking at the Cowboys game. Plus we won! what a night. Thanks M and V. November also marked the last time G's bro and family would drive up to visit us. They moved out of the country to a funner place but that only made all of us super sadder!

December: There were parties to go to. Gifts to buy and wrap. Games to be played. Plum cake to be consumed. Cakes and cookies of different size and shape to be made and eaten. New coffee shops (Korean of course) to be explored. The winter snow on Christmas Day was priceless. No wonder that it is the most wonderful time of the year.

And that brings us to now...a year during which I hope to blog more. Write more. Spend time with my friends more. And keep in touch with all family as much as I can. I have to stop complaining and start living!

Love and Enjoy
ART