special event

Yes it was a week ago, right before my last exam. Hubby is a member of group of people that don't care much about their birthday. He may not remember if I pretend not to know and his parents and my family do not call him to wish happy birthday. Unlike me whose series of birthday include several day pre and post the D day, he always ask me not to make it complicated. He never wish for any present either. Just like his mom, he is content with what he has. If he really needs something he will put on his wish list think thousand times before he decides to buy. Sometimes I get impatient with his slow decision making. But by that, we could manage our financial that took us at where we are right now.

Couple years ago, I wanted to buy him winter jacket since his jacket was not in a good shape. He got that jacket from home, a country that has hot and hotter season, two year after he moved to the US. His jacket wasn't thick enough for cold winter. Yet he said that he could survive hard winter in his four year in Goshen, Indiana. He finally agreed to get new jacket years after that, since my dad gave him envelope with note: To buy jacket. Haha... On one birthday, I wanted to buy him long sleeves t-shirt, since he didn't have "good enough" t-shirt for winter. If his parent, mine, of I (if I don't go with him) don't buy him clothes, he won't voluntarily buy for himself. At that time, he said that he couldn't understand why I gave something I wanted him to have, and not what he needed. What he needed at that time was a jump drive. Hm...I thought jump drive can't be considered as a present! isn't it like giving a bunch of empty CDs?

Now, I think I understand him better for his birthday. Eating at a fancy restaurant would excite me more than him. Present is nice if he gets what he needs (such as from his Amazon wishlist), but don't worry about present because he doesn't expect any present. Wrapping for his present is not preferable. The wrapper will get thrown away, the ribbon will not get reused, and it's not environmentally friendly. So yeah, like what my friend, Adik says, "he is a practical guy" Isn't he weird? For me...not anymore!

For his birthday, I cooked kikil (beef tendon) soup since he had requested it for years, birthday noodle, chicken dumpling, and birthday cake (please see my foodblog). We had a great simple celebration before I went back staring at my GIS books.

Thanks God for hubby's birthday.

Last quarter of the year is always sooo... exciting since that's when all festivities happen. Mine was started yesterday. We were invited to an annual hayride party courtesy of our church friend, the Snaders, a very heartwarming family that has farm in a very rural area. The trip to their house takes about one and half hour, meaning that's how long they need to drive to go to the church.

Every fall, people at church are looking forward to this special event. Sylvia, the wife is a creative woman, and also a great cook. Since they had fixed the date, I'd imagined Sylvia's trail mix that we would bring to the hayride, chili soup and apple cider that would warm us after being freezing on the hayride. She has been doing this since long before I moved to the U.S., and Sylvia's cook become a tradition that attracts people to this party in addition to the hayride itself.

Their log house located in the middle of woods. Behind the house is a pond that my friend Graham like to go fish to. The front and one side of the house is Sylvia's garden, where kids can play, swing, and tree climb. On that side also, the Snaders thrown corn that they store in a big barrel for deers that come frequently when there are no one frighten their presence.

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Most people in this country celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas as a big family fellowship in addition of the real meaning of those holidays. Yet for my family, Christmas is more church oriented than family gathering. I don't recall we ever had party on Christmas since most of my family were busy at church. The biggest family gathering in my family is Chinese new year (CNY).

Grandma would put on her new or best clothing, mom will change her bed sheet, everybody will be so excited for the day. When I was little, my sisters, cousins and I excitedly waited for the hung pao, the red envelope. It was such a blast. There were years when I was little that my dad discouraged us to celebrate CNY because we are Christians. I didn't blame him since Chinese culture seemed inseparable from the religion. All of the CNY festive must have reminisced him of offering altar and olds rituals from our ancestors. I am glad that later came better understanding that preserving Chinese family culture can be done in Christian ways.

This year I was going to invite my friends like what I did before, but I thought my busyness in school didn't allow me to do so. I am glad I decided not to invite anyone. Yesterday, I realized that there are three projects due on Monday. I hope I will still have some time to do a little bake and cook for hubby and I. We'll see if I still have extra time and energy. Yet for my good friends, I'd already planned to bake a cake. They always include us on their special days so we won't feel left behind on their and this country's big days. Now my turn to share my culture to them.

Thousand miles from here, my families are having gathering on these three days. Today they have party for my cousin's birthday, tomorrow is my second niece's 1st birthday, and Monday is CNY. I am happy for them. I hope they can feel the same way as I do. The feeling, the atmosphere, the warmth that emerge when the families get together is priceless.
Gong xi...gong xi...

Waking up this morning, I hastily jumped out of bed and looked outside from my bedroom window. Yes! The ground was covered with snow. This time weather forecast was exactly right. I took a bath and couldn't wait to find out if the school would have a day off. "I am going to have Inauguration day off", I said to myself. On the university's website, there's a catchy flashed announcement, "WEATHER NOTIFICATION! University is open on regular hour!". *gulp

My friends and I watched the inauguration in our studio while doing our class work. Five years ago, it was hard for me to believe that we could watch live broadcast from internet. At that time, I even still had difficulty to communicate with hubby, unless he called me (and sometimes the sound quality annoyed us). Now, wow! Life is much easier. In that case at least.

"This is big in American history, I can't believe it happens", said my friend as we watched together. I put my laptop in the middle of our desks, so we could watch together. We were both impatient to see the president; and hoped to hear his speech before we run to the next class. "What is happening now?", asked my other friend that sat adjacent to the wall. She asked the same question frequently, couldn't wait to see the soon to be the Commander in Chief. One by one group of people that have made a history in this country came out from the building, followed by applause from the audience. "He is coming!" I announced to everybody. Four of us sat hurriedly in front of the monitor. "I will cry", my friend Beth said. I made her take some of my Kleenex before her tears hopped down to my drawing.

Today people were so excited about a person whom they elected is officially become the leader of their country. Even at my university, which lays in "the red state", provided two public spots to watch the inauguration. It is absolutely a huge step for this country. Becoming a president in a country that has too many critical problems that are inherited from the previous leaders needs much effort. I hope people do not have too high expectation to the new president, and keep praying and asking that God gives him wisdom.
Bye bye Bush!
Congratulations Mr. Obama! God bless you.

Tidak pernah ada hadiah seindah Yesus.
Dalam dunia yang penuh konflik,
Yesus datang sebagai Raja Damai.
Dalam dunia yang dikuasai gelap,
Yesus datang sebagai Terang.
Saat hidup penuh kebimbangan,
Yesus adalah Penasehat Ajaib kita.
Ketika kita lemah tak berdaya,
Yesus adalah Allah kita yang Kuasa.

Bersyukurlah!!!
karena dalam Yesus, kita telah menerima sesuatu yang kita perlu
untuk menjalani tahun-tahun mendatang.

Syukur kepada Allah, atas hadiah terindah!

Merry Christmas
(message from my friend Alethiana)