Sweeps!!!!!!

Its officially, OFFICIAL! And therefore, time to share one crazy story....

Two weeks ago, as I was on a flight home from a brief visit to Vancouver (incidentally, the same day that I posted this list), Mark answered a call on our home phone from United Airlines. Initially, he was rather disturbed to see the name on our caller ID. Why would the airline that I was traveling on be calling our home? My poor husband's mind went to the worst possible place.

Thankfully, they asked to speak to me, which quickly reassured him that I was OK. But the nature of the call remained a mystery for most of the evening because the caller insisted that she needed to talk to me.

When I got home, Mark told me the story that I've just shared with you, and asked why I thought they might be calling.

"I don't know," I said. "Maybe I won something. Like a free plane trip for all my loyal travel. Or that Beijing sweepstakes I registered for last year." We both laughed at my speculations. Yeah, RIGHT!

Crazy thing is that when the phone rang later that night, the woman on the other link informed me that this was EXACTLY what I had won! She congratulated me as the potential Grand Prize winner for the Sights and Sound of Beijing Sweepstakes.

"What does that mean?" I asked, my mouth open in a silently scream as I jumping up and down, and danced around the room while trying to make as little noise as possible.

"Round trip tickets for two in United Business^® to Beijing, five nights of deluxe accommodations at a four-star hotel, two tickets to the Beijing Opera, and transfers to and from the Beijing Airport courtesy of United Vacations," I was told.

SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?! my mind screamed. Could this even be true? Let me tell you, I will NEVER doubt a sweepstakes again.

Our suspicions were lifted when we received FedEx paperwork with details the very next day. We also learned that potential winner would be turned into official winner after returning notarized affidavits of eligibility.

Which brings me to today and the congratulatory e-mail from United's elite rewards program administrator.

Can you even believe it? We WON a trip to BEIJING, CHINA!

When we'll actually go is still to be determined, but I'll be sure to keep you posted! (And no, we can't pick dates surrounding the Olympics.)

And wouldn't you know it? Mark's Dad is visiting Beijing right now with a tour group. We can't wait to here his thoughts on the best places to visit.

How's THAT for a story:)

Quality Friday: Green Thumb

A bit of earth,
She wants a little bit of earth,
She'll plant some seeds.
The seeds will grow,
The flowers bloom,
Their beauty just the thing she needs.

- lyrics from "The Secret Garden"

Some day, when I grow up, I want to have a garden. A house, on a pretty street, with a yard, a swing set, and a garden.

There is something very appealing about the thought of having fresh vegetables at arm's reach. Imagine being able to simply step out your back door to pick out the perfect bell pepper, tomato and fresh herbs for your meal, and not having to wonder how they've been grown. Wouldn't that would be wonderful?

Truthfully, though, I have no idea if my thumb is green or black - I've never grown a thing in my life.

So why not try it out, I thought?

Our balcony is currently home to our stainless steel grill, two white chairs with beige seats, and a little white glass-topped table. With spring in full gear around here, this weekend Mark and I decided to swing by the gardening section at Target and to try to infuse a little bit of color into our lives.

After much deliberation, searching through the selection of flowers for the few that might survive in the shade, almost giving up because I had no idea what I was doing, and then running out of soil half-way through transplanting them, I was finally able to successfully (I hope) plant my first flowers ever! Here's what's blooming on our patio:

Think I can manage to keep them alive? I sure hope so!

***Any suggestions would be more than appreciated!***

Oh, the places I've been

Well, folks - its officially the 366 Day of the First Year of my (Not So) New Job! As hard as it is to believe how quickly the time has passed, I find myself struck once again by the numerous ways our lives have changed in just 12 months.

Inspired by this avid traveler, my list of cities visited in the past year shows the extent to which traveling is now a standard in my life:

March '07

New Orleans, LA

April '07

Charleston, SC

Seattle, WA

Clearwater, FL

May '07

Vancouver, BC

San Francisco, CA

Los Angeles vicinity, CA

June '07

Oakland, CA

Lake Geneva, WI

July '07

Our Big Move to Vallejo, CA

Van Nuys, CA

Chicago, IL

August '07

Toronto, ON

Chicago, IL

September '07

Spokane, WA

Chicago, IL

Calgary, AB

October '07

Vancouver, BC

Chicago, IL

Portland, OR

Miami, FL

November '07

Los Angeles, CA

Seattle, WA

December '07

Cypress, CA

Chicago, IL (times 2)

January '08

Cypress, CA

Chicago, IL

Van Nuys, CA

Marrakech, Morocco (and 20 hrs in London, UK)

February '08

San Diego, CA

Vancouver, BC

La Mirada, CA

Seattle, WA

March '08

Vancouver, BC

WHEW! I can only imagine what Year Two will bring.

Quality Friday: Back on Track

Its always a challenge for me to get back into the groove of exercise after letting it fall to the wayside. The most difficult part for me is mustering up the motivation to start over again.

As I've said before, I have a tendency to be an all-or-nothing type of girl when it comes to exercise. As much as I've tried, I still haven't learned how to make it a consistent part of my life. I either work out like crazy, going to the gym for hours a day or I sit on the couch for months thinking about starting again. Kind of like I've done this winter.

Over the last few weeks, my business trips have taken me to lovely hotels with nice fitness centers - and I've made a point of using them every morning of my stay. They certainly got the ball rolling, but it wasn't until this past weekend that I finally felt like I was back.

On Sunday, the 70 degree sunshine coaxed me into my very first run outside since October. The weather was perfect, I discovered a new waterfront route, and as hard as the four miles [also the longest distance I've run in 5 months] were for me physically, I felt AMAZING. It wasn't until that moment that I realized how much I've missed running.

As a goal-driven person, I've found that the thing that makes the most sense in my quest for consistency is to sign up for an event. Races are concrete endpoint to work towards, which helps to motivate me. With these inklings floating about in my head, in early February at my company's National Sales Meeting, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet, listen to, and be inspired by Sarah Reinertsen - an amazing athlete and the first woman with a leg amputation to complete an Ironman.

Sarah shared the story of her first attempted to finish the Kona Ironman World Championship in 2004, and how she was disqualified when she failed to meet the qualifying time for the bike leg by 15 minutes. Her dream was incomplete that year - a story that resonated deeply with me as I reflected on my own first marathon experience.

"To Audrey - The marathon is waiting for you. Run strong!"

Even with her inspiration, until this week, I hadn't even CONSIDERED another marathon for 2008. And then all of a sudden, my run on Sunday had me thinking about doing one again soon. And thinking, and thinking.

Wouldn't you know it? Yesterday, I found myself signing up for the random drawing for the San Francisco Nike Women's Marathon. [I know, even as I type this my heart is racing. Am I really doing this again?!?!] On April 1, I'll find out whether my name was selected. AHHHHHH!

For now, though, its kind of nice not knowing. I can spend the next few weeks continuing to work on consistency and getting back on track.

Doin' the Tourist Thing

Its funny how much you can take a city for granted when you've lived there your whole life.

For example, I've only been to the top of the Sears Tower once, when out-of-town guests were visiting. My first visit to Millennium Park was purely by chance, and a full year after it opened. And I don't think Mark and I ever made it to the Taste of Chicago after we got married. The list of things that Chicago has to offer is endless, yet some of them I never took advantage of in the twenty-eight years I lived there.

Like Chicago, San Francisco has enough to do to keep you busy for days on end. One of the best things about having visitors to show around is that it draws us back into the city and gives us an excuse to be intentional about enjoying its amazing sights. Not surprisingly, every SINGLE time we drive over the bridge and into the heart of SF, we ask ourselves Why, again, didn't we choose to live Right Here?

Thanks to it being President's Day, on the Monday of my parent's visit, Mark was able to join us for our City tour. We drove through Union Square, down winding Lombard Street, and around Telegraph Hill, where we stopped to enjoy a trip to the top of Coit Tower. The weather was ABSOLUTELY perfect, and the views spectacular.

Some of greatest view of San Francisco are from the top of its steepest hills. After winding down Lombard Street, we hiked to the top and enjoyed this view. We could see the unobstructed Coit Tower in the distance, and decided that it was the perfect day to go for a closer look.

Magnificent against the clouded sky.

One of the most interesting things you'll find at the top of the tower (other than the 360 degree view of the city and bay) are coins from all over the world in the window wells.

Alcatraz.

The remainder of our afternoon and early evening was spent in Chinatown, were we ate and did quite a lot of shopping. Mom and Dad were able to buy most of the souvenirs they would bring back with them, and the best part of the afternoon was happening upon a tiny tea shop, were we enjoyed tea tasting and walked away with the most delicious jasmine tea you can imagine.

At the gates to Chinatown.

Dim Sum (and then some) at Kan's. We may or may not have mistakenly ordered chicken feet, which Mark bravely tasted, and then recommended that none of the rest of us do so. Other than that, it was delicious!

Tea tasting at Blest Tea. Phoenix Eye - a white Jasmine - was our all-time favorite.

Quality Friday: Just a Few Miles Down the Road

I grew up in an extended-family household. My Dad's parents, my Nanay and Tatay, immigrated from the Philippines when I was 4 months old to move into our home in Chicago. Dad was the first of his family to come to the United States, and his parents were the next to follow. Over the years, many of his 10 brothers and sisters lived with us for periods of time as they settled into their new lives here in America.

In my late teens, my grandparents took a trip "back home" to the Philippines to visit sell the family house there. On their trip back to the United States, they stopped in Los Angeles to visit my Dad's brother Conrad and his family, and my Dad's sister Aurora before returning to Chicago. During that visit, my grandfather had a major medical emergency that prevented them from ever completing the trip back. Nanay and Tatay bought a home nearby, and their son (and family) and daughter moved in to help care for it and them. A few years ago my Dad's youngest sister, Alice, and her daughters were also petitioned to come, immigrated and moved into the family home.

Trips to Los Angeles were fairly common for our family, and my Dad visited whenever he got the chance, especially as his parents got older. Since both Nanay and then Tatay died a few years ago, Dad really hasn't visited much, the last time being almost 2 years ago.



As my parents were planning their trip to visit us, we talked about somehow trying to get together with the family. We discussed the possibility of driving the 6+ hours down Hwy 5, or perhaps taking the more scenic route and making a sightseeing trip out of it. In the end, their five day trip seemed far too short to make it worthwhile.

But then a few weeks ago, my Dad learned that his sister, Alice, was very sick. After almost 2 months of severe abdominal pain and unexplained bruises, she went to get a second opinion. Masses were found in her ovaries the size of small grapefruits. They are malignant and fixed - not the best combination of diagnoses.

Without hesitation, Dad, Mom and I decided to make the trip down to see her on the last 2 days of their visit.

It was a great road trip, to be honest (although 13ish hours of driving in 2 days is a bit on the high end) - I can't think of the last time that I've had the chance to spend time with my parents all by myself. Something to do with being the oldest child, I imagine:) We got to chat, catch up, and had a whole lot of fun reminiscing about old family vacations - some of which I had completely forgotten!

And as short as the trip was, it was wonderful to see my aunts and cousins. We celebrated Tita Aurora's (or Tita Bebe, as I call her) 61st birthday. I got to spend time with my cousins Josephine and Katarina for only the second time in my life. And most importantly, we all got to hug and comfort and enjoy quality moments with my Dad's baby sister.

Josephine, Tita Bebe, Katarina, Humberto, Tita Alice, Mom and Dad

Tita Alice has lost a lot of weight, and hasn't been able to eat much of anything due to the pain - and she was tiny to being with. Her surgery to remove the masses is scheduled for March 13th, which seems like such a long way from now.

Friends, please keep my aunt's health in your prayers.

This Quality Friday, I'm so thankful that we were able to be with her, to help comfort her fears, and share even a small piece of this burden that she's bearing.

Sibling Love

Celebrating Thirty Years!

"An anniversary is a time to celebrate the joys of today, the memories of yesterday, and the hopes of tomorrow."

This year, my parents chose to make a vacation out of their anniversary weekend (and the following week) - and came to visit Mark and I for the first time in California!

They arrived late last Saturday night [and I must mention here that as we pulled up to the airport to pick them up, Danny Glover was getting into the car in front of us! Mark got a chance to meet him, and said that he was amazingly gracious and kind], and spent a fantastic five-and-a-half days with us, including their Thirtieth Wedding Anniversary, on the Sunday after they arrived. Before Mark headed off to work that afternoon, we were able to take them out to lunch at one of our favorite local restaurants, and enjoyed the early afternoon wandering through the antique shops in downtown Napa.

I love that I was able to spend all day with them, taking them to some of my favorite spots in the North Bay. We took advantage of the perfect Sunday afternoon weather to enjoy the serenity and amazing beauty of Muir Woods.

Mom and Dad, as we stopped to take in the view before entering the woods. I love that you can see the moon behind them in the daylight!

With their baby girl.

Inside one of the redwoods!

We stayed until the park closed, and then headed to the Marin Headlands for what I find to be the best view of the Golden Gate bridge and the San Francisco skyline. After a full day [and we were all surprised when we realized that they had only been in town for less than 24 hours!], Mom and Dad even let me tag along on their anniversary dinner where we all enjoyed fine Indian dining and yet another fantastic view of the city we now call our own.

Mom and Dad - Happy 30th Anniversary! Thank you for letting me spend it with you, and for choosing to spend the week here with Mark and I! I hope it was a memorable way to usher in the next 30 years!

With love,
Your little girl,
Audrey