Fathers' Day

I know this is a little late but better late than never right? This post is dedicated to you my love! 
(such a handsome dude huh? he is always posing)
We spent Father's Day weekend with my husbands' buddies in Findlay, Ohio. These are buddies from way back when...like when they were younger and some of em' had hair! ; ) It was a very fun weekend and I am glad that we went. My husband deserved to be there with his friends, enjoying their company. He works so hard all the time so he deserves to have fun with his buddies too. Even though they didn't do much. All we did was eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, sleep, swam (they had a huge pool), eat, swam some more, chit chat...oh and did i mention eat? ; )
We ate so much it was ridiculous. I must have gain a few pounds or something. I can see in my husbands' eyes that he was enjoying the time spent there, just sitting around and talking. Some times they talked of nonsense but i think they still enjoyed it. I'm so glad he was able to visit his good friend. I know he missed him. And i'm also grateful that we were able to go even just for the weekend. 

Happy Fathers' Day baby! We love you! Thank you for everything that you've done, you will do and have tried doing for us. We are so grateful for such a thoughtful and caring daddy (hubby) such as you! Muah!!!! love ya! 
 
Naree made this for him for Father's day in school.
 
We got the 3 amigos a cake for Father's day. They were pretty surprised! Got cha!!!!

 
Doesn't that look yummy?!? Chocolate Fudge cake, 3 candles but only 2 blew the candles. The other one didn't join in. Guess he was a party pooper. That's why he didn't get a photo.

Another view of the yummy cake! Vanilla and chocolate swirl. 

 I love this man! He is the best! We love you and we are so grateful to have you in our lives!

Festival

Some time last month our town had a festival. I thought people call it carnival; definitely not a fair because it's small. Anyways apparently it's called a festival. Whatever it's called. We went. I really don't like to go since everything and i mean everything is expensive but the kids really enjoy it. So yes i do take them, i'm not that mean. The day before Nilun and Jasmine went with their friends so it was only fair that i take Naree. So the next day, Naree, me and Lien went. Naree met up with her friends there. Looked like they had a lot of fun! After her friends had to leave, she wanted me to ride with her....ride everything!!!! Ummm yeah maybe when i was younger i would be all for it. But i'm 30 now and i am a chicken now. Seriously. But i gut it up and rode with her. 
First we rode the Ferris Wheel. And let me tell you it nearly took my heart out. I used to love riding the Ferris Wheel; it was my favorite ride when i was (hence the word WAS) younger. But it was like I was a Ferris Wheel virgin! Seriously i felt like my heart was going to literally jump out of my body. Especially when it went down. To top it off we were stopped right at the top. And yes i screamed...not like a horror movie kind of scream. But like a "i love this but it's totally creepy kinda of scream". Know what i mean? 
I had a tight grip on that handle for sure! Between me and you, I think Naree was really enjoying my terror! 
She also made me ride the school bus, which was ok. Kiddie ride!!! No problem. Except for all the little screaming voices in my ear. Wow!! Those kids had lungs of steel or something. A lot of screaming. And yes, in case you are wondering, I was the ONLY adult riding. Uh huh!!!

Here are some pictures for your entertainment. Too bad there was no one there to take a picture of my "horror" face while riding the Ferris Wheel. Lien was around...somewhere! 

Naree made me go get in line to ride this with her. I was so tripping! I was praying that she will find some other friends roaming around the festival that would be willing to ride this with her. Low and behold!!!! She found some friends to ride this. Ummm if you would have seen this ride you would understand my chickening out. It went up and down and went fast and than faster. Not my kind of ride. So glad she found some more friends to ride with her. Because they rode this 3 or 5 more times. Kids!!!! 

 How's that for fun? At the end of the night, we got rained on. A perfect end to an adventurous day?

Amigas and fajitas!

A few weeks ago a good friend of mine came back to town for her sisters' graduation so a group of us decided to go out for some girls' night. We were looking forward to it for about a whole 2 weeks so i was super excited to finally get to go out with my girlfriends since it's been a while since we all got together, what with our busy lives and all! 
We decided to go for some Chinese but plans kinda got a little screwed (we won't talk about it here- it'd ruined the fun! ) So the plan went to Mexican, which is a definite good idea in the end. It's been a long, long, long while since i've had Mexican. I had the Spicy Seafood fajitas and oh wow, it was so yummy!!! I loved it! And now I have a craving for it.
The night was definitely a memorable one. We had tons of fun laughing, joking and just enjoying each others' company. We were missing one, which is kinda sad, but oh well, right? We can't please everyone. 
It's so nice to get to hang out with your girlfriends every once in a while. I sure hope we get more of those days. 

We had the best Mexican food ever! Sorry forgot what the name of it was. It's in Mayfield off of Mayfield Rd. It was so nice to get to talk and just enjoy ourselves. With our busy lives sometimes we forget to call our friends and say hello. I hope we will never forget to have these days. We don't have to have a whole conversation. A call to just say hi is good enough for me.

Tina is such a sweet and thoughtful friend. She surprised us with this cake. Most of our birthdays all pretty much fall close to each other and we didn't get to celebrate it together this year so i guess she took advantage of the situation. How thoughtful of you Tina! 

As you can see this cake is for 3.. But the middle one didn't show up. Like i said (we will not mention the story) She was missed but it still turned out to be an awesome night! 

 

Tina had the waiter bring out the sombreros for me and Margie. It was sweet of her but kinda embarrassing for us. Don't we look good? ; ) Thanks Tina!!!

 

 Margie and I blowing out our cake! How fun!  

 The 4 of us at Tinas' house getting ready to have our cake! 

We went back to Tinas' house after dinner for some cake and a little girly girl chit chat!

 

 Cutting our cake!

 ooops sorry i didn't turn this picture

Tina being silly! 

Tina, Margie and I stayed up at her place until 4 am just talking and catching up. WOW!!! It was a great night all in all even with all the drama. But we pretty much put the drama in the back burner while we had fun. Why would we let little petty things bother us? Especially if it wasn't really anything big to begin with. So small. I'm glad we left it behind. We had such an awesome time. It's so nice to get to talk to my girlfriends. We talked about everything and anything. Why not? We don't get to do this at all so it was nice to do it. 

I'm so glad i have these girls as friends. They've made my life a little easier here in Cleveland without my best friends back home. Although i love and miss my best friend dearly, at least i have these great girls who have stolen my heart too! They are a part of me now.......My familia!  ( did i spell that right? I thought it would be a good add on to our Mexican food adventure!) 

I wrote this a year ago and i think it serves well with this story. This says it all:

 It's sad to say but we take so many things for granted. We might say the wrong things to which we never mean to say. But it's ok, it's part of being human. We do have to say "I'm sorry", admit we are wrong sometimes and forgive and forget. Life is too short to let things get in the way. We should cherish the people who are dear to us no matter how tough things are. If we can't rely on each other then who can we?
I'd like my friends to know that each and every one of you mean a lot to me. I might not show it much or say it much but you are important. I would not intentionally try to hurt any one of you and if i do please know it was never meant to be.
We have our moments and we work through them. Please remember to listen to what each and every one of you say to each other and also think of it. The things you hear might not be what you interpret it to be. We learn and grow with each other and respect each other. We might not see eye to eye but that's what makes us unique and that's why we love each other. We should try to never take things so seriously and if we do, we should always be able to laugh about it later. Leave little pesky problems behind and build a better friendship. Life is just short for us to turn our backs on each other. Lets not blame each other. It's not "she was wrong" or "I'm right." It's "lets work this out". No one is wrong or right and we have to believe that. We can't give credit to ourselves all the time, we sometimes have to admit fault. Tomorrow is another day and it should always be a "better day".

Don't hold arguments in and hold grudges, that only tears us down and apart. Instead remember what made us friends in the first place.

 

Happy 12th!

Last month was my sons' 12th birthday! Awww my little man isn't such a little man anymore. I swear kids grow up too soon! I want them to stay little for a long while. ; )

We asked him what he wanted to do, but told him that we couldn't do too much because things are not the same (money wise) like last year. So he, being the big "adult" boy that he is becoming, said he'll just have friends over and have pizza so we wouldn't spend too much.
I am so proud of him. He'll grow up to be a very understanding man. I know he will.
Anyways he had his usual group of friends over and they had a blast. Played games, Wii, Gameboy etc. They pretty much tore up the house!...no not literally but almost!  What would you expect from a bunch of 11 and 12 year olds?
All the boys slept over too. Yeah pretty full house. But they enjoyed themselves. I'm glad that they did. I'm glad my son is growing up to be a sometimes responsible man and one day be a very great adult.

We love you Nilun! 

 

 Nilun wanted cookie cake. He was never the one to be like everyone else with the normal birthday cake. But that's ok with me. It's his day! And it was cheaper too.

 Aww look at my big boy! He's growing up nicely. Such a cute and handsome young man. Now ladies, hold your drools, he's not ready to date yet. But when he does - get in line. Just kidding. Happy 12th birthday baby!

New toy

Can you tell I'm loving my new toy right now?

I can seriously do this for a living...if only i could!

I should have stuck to my plan and went to school for photography way back before Naree was born. Now i'm regretting it...figures! Anyone want to give me money to go back to school? ; )

Steaks and Prince Of Persia

My dear husband asked me out to dinner and a movie today (last night i guess depending on how you see it). How sweet is that? We haven't had date night in...well i can't even remember! 
It was so nice to spend some time with him. We've almost forgotten how it is to do that. 

Naree decided to sleep over at her aunts' apartment and then Nilun wanted to sleep over at his friends' house. Since the kids were gone i guess he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity! What a great idea! 
We went to the 9:30 slot but girl at the counter said something about the film being scratched and lines all over so we had to take the 10:35 slot. So off to dinner we go which worked out great since all the restaurant would have been closed if we had watch at 9:30. 
We went to Texas Road House.......yummy steak! We had only 30 minutes to eat up but we did it in due time. Perfect timing too because we got to the theater right at 10:30! 

Prince Of Persia was a great movie. To me it was great from start to finish. The effects were amazing and the action was awesome too! I love these kinds of movies! I won't give out the movie (that wouldn't be fun now would it?) But i definitely recommend it to everyone! Jake looks good! And I think i should add Gemma to my fave actress list! She did good. Being beautiful helps also! 

Being out with my husband made me feel like i was in high school. Like a teenager going on her first date! (giggles)

Thanks sweetie for such a wonderful night out with you! Lets have more of these nights huh? ; )

TGI Fridays, Walmart and a Silver One

I took my mom and the kids out to eat today at TGI Fridays after we dropped lunch off for Lien and dad. It was so nice to sit down and relax and enjoy time with my mom and the kids. I usually don't get to spend much time with mom since she works a lot. But her job is slow right now so her shifts are kinda crazy. She doesn't work every day anymore so i took the opportunity to be with her more. It's hard though, because mom doesn't like to go out to eat at restaurants and stuff like that. She always say "I could save more money and just make something at home to eat". I know she's right but some times she deserves to be catered to and not have to worry about cooking it or cleaning after. 
We had a great time eating and chatting. Even though our bill was way off from what i expected but to me it's priceless because i got to spend time with my favorite people in my life!  

After lunch we decided to go to Walmart and get Just Dance. It's a game for the Wii and i saw it on commercial and thought it was awesome and I've been wanting to get it for a while now but didn't.

On our way to Walmart I saw a Silver Volkswagen and punched my mom on the arm "Silver one". Mom took a look at me and was like "what the heck are you doing?". So i told her "saw a silver Volkswagen". 
The kids were laughing so loud! Then they explained to her and she finally got it. She's seen the commercial also but just didn't think of it. 
I got a few more times and she was always surprised! We had so much fun getting my mom! 
While i was driving, i was talking to my mom about something and BAM!!!!..........."Black one!""
Mom got me!!! The kids laughed so loud and then mom laughed and i started laughing. We were having so much fun. I couldn't believe it! Mom was playing with us! I didn't even know that my mom played that! 
After she punched me she said "I get you back!" 
The kids were like "You go grandma!"
She got me a few more times. 
I seriously thought i could get my mom since she didn't play these things...boy was i wrong. Mom totally surprised me! 

I'm so glad i got to spend time with my mom today. While i was younger we didn't get to do things like this. She was too busy working so we didn't get to spend much time together. 
I'm glad that we can do it now. Especially with the kiddos. 
I didn't know just playing this Volkswagen game thing would bring so much joy to us! I mean it was a great fun time. Mom was laughing so hard with us it was awesome. Goes to show we don't have to spend too much money to enjoy time together. Although i spent a lot today (i know i'll be paying for today next month but it's ok....one day at a time) but it was priceless seeing my childrens' face and hearing their laughter along with my moms'.
Nothing beats that sound! ; )

This is....

 This is ME!

I love everything about ME

I love how i try my best in being a mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend

I love how i try to take it one day at a time

I love how i always care about my family and friends

I love that i always care enough

I love the way i smile 

I love the way my teeth is so imperfect

I love my total blindness

I love to look in your eyes

I love the sounds of waterfalls

I love to gaze at things for no apparent reason

I love the sight of you

I love thunderstorms even though I'm afraid of the sound

I love the rain drops 

I love to wipe your tears

Will you wipe mine?

I love how the sun sets just so perfectly

I love to sleep in and maybe cuddle with you (if you'll let me)

I love the way i am

because I am ME

I am who i am 

I am a daughter

a wife

a mother

a sister

a friend

I am a person who fears God

A person who loves the word "LOVE"

A person who cries easily

A person who cares deeply

A person who hurts 

A person who wants the world for you

A person who thinks of you daily

A person who never want to hurt you

A person who wants to please you

I am ME

I am the one who will be there for you

Who will share a shoulder with you

Who will laugh with you

or cry with you

I am the person who will be your friend

I am Me

I love to make you smile

I love to make you happy

I promise i won't hurt you

I'll try my best

I promise i'll protect you

the best to my ability

I promise i'll try to be there for you

I promise

I'll always be ME!

Who will you be? 

I am ME!

I am who I am

I am a person

I am a shadow

A prayer

A whisper

A laughter

A heart ache

and happiness

I am who I am

I am my own self

Will you love me for that? 

Will you love me for 

Who I am! 

This is Me

This is the woman that I am

Vannarath

This past weekend I had the privilege to attend a traditional Basi (poog kan?) for grandma Vannarath. The kids call her Gigi! Her family came from Boston and her oldest and only daughter came fro VA. It was a lovely affair filled with laughter, smiles, cheers and love. I couldn't have asked for a better person to start my "photography" with. 
I've always wanted to be a photographer when i was younger. Ok so i wanted to be a lot of things but whatever it was i always had photography on my mind. I love to take photos. It doesn't matter what it is, i just love to take pictures. I love nature, random moments, family etc...the list goes on. I've talked to my husband about it and he said "well since i've know you, you've always loved taking photos and you've always talked about it...so why not go to school..just do it". I guess it's easier said than done. Where would i get the money to go back to school? I'm still paying my student loan right now. 
But i do wish some day i could go back and just finally do it...PHOTOGRAPHY!  It would be a dream. But for now i'll just learn on my own. Scary but i know i can do it. So if any one wants to offer some tips go right ahead...always welcomed! 

So my first attempt at this would be this ceremony. I think it's perfect. Now mind you, i'm not a professional or anything. I'm still working on it. But i think i do pretty well. 

I love this family. They were the first family that welcomed me to Cleveland asides from my in-laws. They've been such great friends. They've been through ups and downs but then again we all do. 

Hope you all enjoy these pictures! I know i sure did! Please leave me a comment and let me know how you like these pictures. 

       

Candle atop the center piece

 

I got caught! ; )

 

  I love these old time pictures! I think they look gorgeous. Don't you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 So what do you think?