Perfect Love in a Binary Code

Today is 10-10-10

A girl

&

A boy

creme brulee trio: L-R pomegranate, vanilla, peach

It's our anniversary.



We've been married for 9 years.


Known each other for 10.

As you know, if you read this blog, 10 in Chinese is perfection.



Since we both grew up in the bay area and worked in tech... it always cracks us up that our anniversary has a bunch of 1s and 0s.


We went to Taste Restaurant on Friday night. We talked about how it doesn't seem that long, yet recalling life before we had our daughters seems a millennia ago.

silky butternut squash soup

aromatic mushroom cigars

Phantom's dish: fillet mignon...with truffle whipped mashed potatoes

QS' dish: seared day boat scallops with tomatoes and Peruvian potatoes

Banana cheese cake

On Saturday we went to the Temple. We had to get all our celebrating in over the weekend as we'll be attending Church on our anniversary. We are martyrs... we know.

Dude...we were looking directly into the sun... and here my Asian eyes have literally disappeared from microscopic view.

These two daughters are the best gift in the world... and we had a blast making them! We do good work don't we...


Celebrate with us... give someone you love a perfect kiss and/or hug at 10:10pm tonight.

Cheers!

A Good Daddy is SEXY

HAPPY HAPPY 35th BIRTHDAY my... cutie wootie, cuddly wuddly, sexy wexy, hunny bunny... we love you!!!

Here are fifteen... yes 15 reasons why....(15? that's too many bits...)

He loves his family... and knows how to spend time and act silly with them.


His baby daughter loves to confide in him.

His oldest daughter knows he has all the answers.

His wife benefits from his patience, love and humor.

He is strong...and tender



He is faithful...and playful.

His daughters adore him...and run screaming joyfully - "DADDY!!!" when they hear the garage door open.

He creates sweet treats to present to his sweetheart... (mmmm)

He works out in the yard...and collects insects for his girls.

He provides constant entertainment for his girls.

He takes time to spend with his family, gazing up at the heavens...teaching them about the universe.

He creates gifts that he knows will make them happy

He scours temple gardens for a tiny frog...because he can't wait to show it to his girls

He treats his wife like a queen.

He loves good food...and after all this hard work...he deserves his favorite drink... lemonade.

We love you!!!

(even the toes?!)

How do you know it's Springtime?

Yep... that's how.

Cleaning the Pipes

QS: I need to have s-- tonight. I'm going to be loopy over the weekend. It has to be tonight. We also need to watch LOST...and I have to go to bed at a reasonable hour for tomorrow.

R: Ok, we'll watch LOST and then have s-- and then I'm going to watch the Sharks and you can go to bed.

QS: Perfect.

R: I'm going to have s-- tonight. I'm going to have s-- tonight. And if you're lucky, you will too.

He's my Valentine

I think K or M took this picture. How they see their Daddy.

Our marriage isn't perfect. We disagree on things. I don't cave to him, he doesn't cave to me. He doesn't think his word is law. If anything, he let's my word become law. We have blissful moments. We also have doldrums. He knows how to make me weak at the knees, and I can still turn him on. We both make each other laugh. There are things I do that are baffling to my hubby...and things he does that baffle me. He's my sounding board, and he tells me when I'm out of line. He's also willing to change to improve our family. I will say, my honey knows how to be a man.

Last Saturday I was busy working on our Relief Society newsletter. It was late, and I still had the kitchen to clean up. While I was working on the computer, he was in the kitchen cleaning it up. He even detailed the counters.

On Sunday when the girls were feeling sick still, and he woke up feeling hoarse, I went to Church and taught his Sunday School class. I came home to a spic and span bedroom. He'd spent the morning making it lovely again.

When he came home from work on Monday, he started vacuuming the stairs. He did it because he knows I have a hard time doing it. Why don't they make reasonable vacuums that can do stairs? Dyson should do this. We have a Dyson...but it's too bulky for stairs.

My hubby overlooks my shortcomings and the baggage I come with, from my childhood. He loves me just as I am...even though I am a high-maintenance woman. I feel grateful that he forgives easily, and is quick to apologize. That he is tender, sweet and patient with our daughters, and with me. They know that their father will apologize when he is wrong. They know that their father will always love them just as they are, and will not be harsh with them. I love how he'll turn on music in the family room, specifically to get us all dancing together.

I love that my hunny looks for things that will help make my day better. I need to do a better job of remembering this in my daily comings and goings. He's a good example to me. I love my hunny bunny, secksy wexy, sweetie wootie. I confess that since having children I've felt less... alluring, bare. I've always been a bit self-conscious about my small bust, now they're bigger ...but less perky... and I wonder if I'll ever get rid of that flap above the c-section scar...so I do feel bad that I don't attack him with wild abandon when we were first married. I need to get over my own issues and actually believe him when he says I'm beautiful. And that my dear friends... makes me one lucky woman. (Yes, those were names I called him when we were dating... time to dust those names off and start using them again...maybe some flirty teddys too...maybe)

We love you!

Love,
Your girls

He took a bunch of pics of me with my new do... this was his favorite candid shot.

An American Burger

Last night my hunny and I finally watched Iron Man. That scene where all he wants is an American Burger... made us pause the movie around 9:30pm and... my hunny went out and grabbed some burgers, fries and a shake for us. Aren't I lucky?

I love that he so readily, willingly did that - and that we both get cravings for food.

And... for those of you that can access it. My oldest had a Thanksgiving show this week...it's up on the family blog.

HAPPY THURSDAY!

Come on Pretty Mama

ooo...I wanna take you to...bermuda Bahama...

Flying to Nassau

So two weeks ago we were in the Bahamas. My hubby's work paid for the hotel and flight. We felt lucky to go this time, as this is the last year for Club. He also lucked out because nearly his whole team made it to Club too... it was fun hanging with all of them. Very rarely do you luck out - and get to work with people you like. This is one of those rare occasions. This is one of our blessings.

Rolling to Atlantis from the Nassau Airport

Really excited... can't you tell? Yes, I was chilly. I love humid, warm weather.

In The Reef lobby they had these awesome chairs I wanted to bring home with me.

We left the girls with our friends, who have two little ones of their own. To see what they did while we were gone - check out the family blog.

Maybe it was the season...but the resort was not crowded at all. It was fantastic.

This was the first time we left the girls longer than a weekend. And we'd only ever left them once for a weekend. So this, this was momentous. We used Webex to conference call with the girls. It worked well. (Buy Cisco Webex)

View from the corner of our... balcony? (in Hawaii it's called a Lanai)

Lily pond at The Cove (this area is the chi chi one...)

We stayed at The Reef at the Atlantis resort. The Reef is unique with it's in room kitchens. I loved the half-size dishwasher.

Our room at The Reef - they're equipped with kitchens... which is nice.

The giant Atlantis throne by their casino

The resort is grand. It's beautiful. We spent our time running around in the water slides, pools and beach. It was nice to only need a swimsuit. The resort boasts some great restaurants. The resort is also a place where everything is jacked up three times. I think it would be a fun place to go if your kids are older - and over the height limit. And... the resort charges for everything. They tell you not to even touch the mini-bar because sensors will charge you a kidney for everything. You know how most places you can use the fitness centers as a part of a hotel's amenity? Not here - it's 15 a day... but you get a bottle of water with it. All of us that were on this trip - wanted to use the fitness center... but were deterred by the scam artist prices. We no longer wondered why these beautiful fitness centers sat empty.

Seriously... I don't think I'll ever understand why guys choose to wear bikini bottoms. ;-)

The dock at The Marina... one of the yachts was named "Outta Touch". Um... yeah.

Oh yeah... Rum is big here. I tried a rum cake... rum bread pudding, ice cream - meh...

We heard that the giant suite, forming a bridge at the Royal towers is owned by Michael Jackson. You can rent the room for 25 grand a night - minimum four night stay. They say that everyone from Michael Jordon, Tiger Woods ...owns homes there. Trump owns a large percentage of the island too. We also passed the cemetery and hospital when all the hoopla around that Anna Nicole Smith character.



If you're into shopping - you can get all that chi chi, label stuff without paying taxes in the Bahamas. So if you're into that - I hear you can save a bundle.


We loved the lazy river ride with it's rapids. We also enjoyed the power tower. It's fun sitting in a tube and not having to do anything to ride up and down the water slides. I also liked all the aquariums.




The frustrating thing is that everyone tells you how great the beach and water is in the Bahamas - maybe it was the time of year - but often the flags telling us if we could go in the water or not were often red... or red/yellow. And then when we did go snorkeling the water was murky and there wasn't a whole lot of fish to see. We were also solicited to go on a snorkel cruise...

This seal performed before the dolphins at Dolphin Cay. We saw him twice being transported around the resort. I wanted to say "Hey seal. How you doin'? You like upstaging dolphins? Say hi to your mother for me."

I did enjoy a massage at the Mandara spa. I made sure to take advantage of the cold/hot plunge pools, saunas...and helped myself to their fruit and tea. I even took an apple and a bottled water back to my hunny. I felt like Robin Hood. (I am Asian like that)

Seriously empty...almost like being secluded...nice

It was actually funny to get caught in one of the rain storms. The rain starts to sprinkle and within seconds it turns into a downpour. We ended up drenched, as if we'd just gotten out of a pool. The weather was cloudy on most days - there were a few days where the sun came out... we didn't even use sun screen.

My honey snorkeling

One of our favorite experiences at Atlantis... the Deep Water Dolphin Adventure at Dolphin Cay. Our dolphin was named Makai. I would love to hug a dolphin every day.

I didn't understand why the instructor was mocking my hubby kissing the dolphin, until I saw this picture. hehehe

So in addition to playing with the dolphins, we were able to take these propeller things, a snorkel mask and swim in the water with the dolphins. No matter how skilled a swimmer you are (which I am not), these dolphins are just majestic.







We were in groups of 7. My hunny said that when each of us had a turn to kiss the dolphin - our dolphin flapped his tail only when it was my turn. And then it turns out that during the dolphin push - our dolphin pushed my left foot and pushed everyone's right foot. I knew it...Makai the dolphin loves me too . ;-) Yipee!!!



We found the best places to eat for lunch/breakfast was at Starbucks at The Reef. It has to be the most luxe Starbucks I've ever been in. Remind me to get some pumpkin spice in hot chocolate again. We also purchased some basics at their Sundries store for the week - bagels, ham, cheese, snacks and drinks. My hubby lost 8lbs on the trip. I didn't gain anything until the last few days. ;-)

Halloween at Atlantis - I didn't know that they were into poodle skirts in the Bahamas.

We did indulge in some of the food. We went to Mesa Grill - one of three that Bobby Flay owns. We'd already been to the Mesa Grill in Vegas. The one in the Bahamas at The Cove at Atlantis is head and shoulders above the Vegas one. I guess we just need to get to New York to try the other Mesa Grill.



We also went to their Mosaic Buffet (three times). It's the high-end buffet at the resort. It's about 66.00 a person... and compared to everything else on the island - it's a great deal.






We also went into the Marina Village to try Bimini Road. The company had a reception at Fathoms at the Atlantis resort and in Nassau at a Chicago style restaurant.

Plantain chips at Bimini Road

Another Asian trait... these masks were laying all over the tables at the reception... so they make great souvenirs for the girls...free.

The service at the resort was, interesting. Most of the men who worked there were really helpful and easy to get along with. The rest, and most of the women seemed put off whenever we'd ask for directions, or for a towel at the towel shack. It also seemed the resort was over-staffed. There would be 3-4 people hanging out doing a job of one person.

Some of my hunny's sales team and wives

At the Nassau airport, on our return flight - we felt scammed. After taking a taxi to the airport we saw two guys fight it out to get a cart to our taxi for the luggage. When we said we didn't need one the taxi driver told us we had to - so we had to tip that guy. Then after ticketing, there was another guy who took us to security... it was crazy. I couldn't wait to land on American soil...and not be scammed for tips.




All-in-all... it was nice to be just us. It was lovely spending most of our time in bathing suits... so it was a little jarring coming home to a cold rainstorm. We both experienced withdrawal from our girls. Both of us agreed that we prefer Hawaii over the Bahamas. Although if a trip is all (including food) on someone else's dime... I'll go anywhere... almost.

I wanted to take this table home too.

Good bye Reef lobby

So happy to be home... cuddling with our little cuties...

We did purchase two bags from a beach vendor for the girls... our souvenirs from the Bahamas. We figured our souvenirs ...the experience, and pictures...lot's of pictures.