Thanksgiving, the American Chinese Way

I just wanted to share a picture of all of the food (minus my pumpkin cheesecake pie) we had for Thanksgiving.  We had all of the normal "traditional" Thanksgiving foods plus what my family considers is necessary at family gatherings...

Yep, we had turkey (super juicy), stuffing (with venison sausage!), cranberry sauce (not from a can this year!), mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (with soup from a can), sweet potatoes, potato salad, tater tot casserole (in honor of Opie's BBQ and the craving Stasia's wedding created), stuffed mushrooms, deviled eggs, rolls, fruit salad, pumpkin cheesecake pie...

Then we also had sweet & sour chicken, pork loin, a noodle side dish whose name I only know in Chinese, and rice.  

Side note: My family believes rice should be eaten with practically every single meal.  Noodle dishes (like Italian) or pizza are pretty much the only exception.  Seriously, they eat cheese hamburgers without a bun and with a side of rice instead.  My plate and my cousin's wife's plate would be the ones without rice.  We allotted no room for a filler like rice! 

Gotta love Thanksgiving done my family's way!  It makes eating the leftovers a lot less boring, that's for sure!

Thankful

Growing up, Thanksgiving was never about sharing what we're thankful for.  It has always been about food, football, more food, and then more football.  It was enjoyed with the extended family but if you got in the way of food or football, you may as well have not been family.  Unconditional love did not cover getting in the way of food and football.  People fought over who got the dining room table seats that had the best view of the living room's TV.  I always lost...

I don't fault my family.  Daily, we ate home-cooked dinner together at the kitchen table (with no TV allowed) but conversation was never lively.  We just didn't (and still don't) discuss the little things of life, the details of our days.  Big events were discussed and as I got older, my dad and I can discuss current events and politics.  It's just the way we are and I can appreciate our peacefully silent yet still enjoyable meals.

This Thanksgiving, I would like to reflect on some of the things I am truly thankful for.  It's really good to take a step back and think positively rather than fret over all the little things.

I am thankful for my family who has always supported me no matter what, always forgives me after angry outbursts, has taught me the morals and values that shaped who I am today.  They may frustrate me but they love me and have done nothing but push me to be a better person.  

At Chichen Itza - Family Cruise 2010

I'm also thankful that my grandfather is temporarily living with my parents and has been here to celebrate my birthday and now Thanksgiving.  He's 97 and each day with him is a blessing.

At my cousin's birthday party - we love food!

I'm thankful for my wonderful boyfriend, Josh.  I'm so lucky to have found him.  He brightens my day and lifts my spirits.  He reminds me to be a little less serious and enjoy life.  He introduced me to the fun of costumes (as evidenced by the picture) and does want to talk about the details of my day.  His family welcomed me into their family with WIDE open arms.

At Texas Renaissance Festival - 1001 Dreams Themed Weekend

I'm thankful for my dog, Zoey.  She's a lover.  I wish I could spend 20 hours of the day lounging around on the bed/sleeping and then the other 4 hours of the day getting belly rubs, hugs and kisses, and treats.  She lives a good life - everyone spoils her and in return she rewards us with her unconditional love.  

At my parents' backyard - lab/spaniel mix (aka mutt)

And lastly, I'm thankful for my friends.  They pick me up when I'm down, they share the good (and bad) times with me, they make me smile and laugh, they're an extension of me that without I am not whole.

 At a UT football game with Amber

At Britt's wedding 

At Maggiano's - my birthday dinner

At Peaches' wedding

Friends who were not pictured, I am still thankful for you but we need to hang out more so I have pictures!

What are you thankful for?

Opera, Shopping, Netflix, Birthday Party = Great Weekend

I love the weekend.  They tend to be jam-packed and super busy but that suits my personality.  This weekend was full of activities but also balanced with a good amount of staying in bed watching TV time.  *BLISS*

Friday night started off with Brother's first trip to the new Winspear Opera House to see Don Giovanni.  It was FANTASTIC (even though we sat SO high we couldn't see the top of the talking statue during one of the scenes LOL.)  I definitely liked it better than last week's Anna Bolena (although that one was still good and the seats were front and center orchestra instead of in the rafters.)  The lead men singing in Italian was enough to dazzle anyone.  Add in amazing sets that constantly changed and included smoke and lights, comedy, drama, action, sword fights, and music by my favorite classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart... yep, I definitely was happy.

Saturday was a day of errands/shopping and even though I didn't much, just the act of shopping brings me joy.  Food for the house, Halloween items on major markdown, and Bed Bath & Beyond for all my friends' upcoming weddings.  For dinner, Josh picked up my favorite pizza (Papa Murphy's) and we watched UT football on the Xbox.  Let's not concentrate on how bad the Longhorns are this year but instead on how cool it is that ESPN now streams live on the Xbox.  We also watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Josh and his sister grew up watching this all the time and LOVED it.  I'm amazed they're not scarred HAHA.

Thanks to Daylight Savings time, today I got extra sleep and enjoyed just staying in bed watching Netflix until it was time to go to my cousin's 2nd birthday party.  I'm not used to the hyperness of children... let me tell you, I'm TIRED.  (Could also be due to Daylight Savings Time but I'll stick to blaming the children.)

They were cute kids and fun to watch/play with.  And now... the following picture makes me simultaneously feel super bad for my cousin and laugh...

He was doing perfectly fine the entire party and happy as can be... until everyone started singing "Happy Birthday" to him.  Then his face went from happy to hesitant to scared to full WAILING.  Poor baby but he got over it fast, no worries.

On to the presents... he's on his way to being a little rock star one day.

He REALLY loves guitars.  This would be his 3rd now and he jams along.  It's cute to watch him dancing along to the music.  He also got the drum which contained symbols, maracas, the little finger symbols, and a trumpet.  My cousins can say goodbye to sleeping in!

And now, time for some more Netflix before saying goodbye to another lovely weekend.

World Series Game 5: Texas Rangers vs. San Francisco Giants

I've been a Texas Rangers baseball fan for literally my entire life.  Not that I remember this, but supposedly as a baby I "watched" the games with my dad.  Quality bonding time on the couch.  :o)

I'm proud to say I'm not a bandwagon fan or a fair weather fan.  I've gone to games every year, win or lose, regardless of how terrible we were... and trust me, we've been terrible.  So... when this year we made it into the playoffs, I was super excited but wouldn't get my hopes up since well, we've never advanced past the first round of playoffs.  And then we beat the Tampa Bay Rays!  So it was on to the New York Yankees which we'd never before been able to beat in the playoffs.  I was WORRIED.  And then we beat them to become the American League Champions!  The Rangers were on their way to their very first World Series in franchise history!  I couldn't be more excited!

Gary and I decided we deserved to go to a World Series game no matter the cost.  It would be wrong to go without also taking Dad so we split the cost of his ticket.  It was a major splurge but definitely worth it to be there!  Jeff came with us too and helped memorialize the occasion with awesome photos.  (All photos were taken by me unless otherwise noted.)

Photo by Jeff

We chose Game 5 because we had a feeling it would be the final game of the World Series and then we'd be there for the Rangers' win and how historic would that be!  Alas, our prediction of the Rangers winning was wrong... but we were correct in that Game 5 ended the World Series and it was still pretty cool to be there.  We got to see the very best of both teams' pitchers play and they truly were fantastic to watch.  They each had such different and distinctive styles.

Cliff Lee vs. Tim Lincecum

Neftali Feliz vs. Brian Wilson

    

The Giants played a really great game and they ultimately deserved to win so I'm ok with the outcome.

Photo by Brother

And now for some random World Series photos... former President George and Laura Bush were in attendance.  (We were sitting absolutely no where near them.  Josh's zoom lens is just that good that I could snap this picture.)

I happened to be snapping a picture right at this moment too... the blurry thing in the upper left hand corner would be Josh Hamilton's bat flying out of his hands and into the stands.

And I'll end with this super cute picture.  I did a double take the first time I saw her.  At first I thought it was just a panda stuffed animal but then I realized it was her baby.  Aside from the fact that it's WAY too expensive to buy a ticket to the World Series to bring along a baby... I'd totally dress up my kid like that LOL.

Photo by Jeff

Now let's hope it doesn't take another 39 years to get to another World Series...

  

Dog Day at the Grand Prairie AirHogs Baseball Game

My family is a baseball family.  Yes, games can get boring sometimes.  Yes, it's ridiculously hot in Texas and sitting outside in the sun can get miserable.  But, we still go to the games and we enjoy ourselves.  This summer we've tried out every "big" team in the Dallas/Fort Worth area - Texas Rangers, Frisco RoughRiders, and now the Grand Prairie AirHogs!

I was easily won over because it was DOG DAY!  There's nothing better than getting to bring Zoey with me!

Isn't that a beautiful smile?

I was so proud of Zoey - minimal barking at the other dogs!  She just sat on my lap or sat/laid on the floor.

It was super hot but I'm positive Zoey was happier to be in the heat with the family than sleeping alone in the house.  She was definitely hot and exhausted by the end of it though.

The stadium is small but in an intimate way.  For only $9 you can sit right behind home plate!  (We used a Groupon so it was only $3 - even better!)

This stadium also has a pool in the outfield that you can rent just like the Frisco RoughRiders.

It was also $1 hot dog and $1 soda day.

Did Zoey eat her very own hot dog?  Of course not!  How dare you insinuate that!

Oh wait, sorry.  I mean yes.  Duh.  This dog is SPOILED.

And to further prove that point...

It was just the ice after my dad drank his lemonade.  But still.

And then I couldn't resist this photo op.

I'd be a little freaked out if I ever met a baseball player who had a dog face and a strange arm/leg/paw growing out of his neck.

Note: I tried to take a better picture but Zoey didn't really like the cardboard cutout.  She started pushing at it to get away.  We apologized with a hot dog.

All in all, it was a great game.  They won!

Grand Prairie AirHogs 11 - El Paso Diablos 9

And everyone left happy.

JFK (and more Downtown Dallas)

Day 5 continued - Old Red Courthouse, Sixth Floor Museum, JFK Memorial, John Bryan Neely's log cabin, Reunion Ball

After we could bear the heat at the zoo no longer, we got back on DART and headed back to Downtown Dallas.

We admired the beauty of the Old Red Courthouse (now museum)

Then went to the Sixth Floor Museum (the old Texas Book Depository)

No photos were allowed inside the museum.  Admission includes a free audio guide and I found it very interesting and sad.

Josh just happened to snap this picture.  The car is driving directly over the X that marks where JFK was fatally shot.

We continued on to the JFK Memorial.  (Random fact: It was created by the same person that created the Fort Worth Water Gardens - Phillip Johnson.)

Also saw John Bryan Neely's log cabin (replica)

He founded Dallas.  This is a replica of his home (the 1st home of Dallas!) and it's really close to where it originally stood.

And then I cannot have all these posts about Dallas without one photo of the Reunion Ball

We chose not to go into the observatory but I have done it on many occasions and always enjoy it.

Dallas Zoo

Day 5 - Dallas Zoo (specifically the new exhibit Giants of the Savanna)

You often hear people talk about how the Fort Worth Zoo is SO much better than the Dallas Zoo.  But with this new exhibit at the Dallas Zoo... it's pretty amazing.  I love them both now!

We took DART - it stops directly in front of the Zoo - so easy!

Upon arrival, we went straight to the restroom HAHA.  We met a cute little boy who we asked "What animal are you looking forward to see the most?" and he responded... "the merwy-go-round."  CUTE.

Then we headed to the Predator Encounter.

You get to watch trainers train the lions!  They can on command - sit, lay down, go pose on a rock, open their mouth (to help with checking teeth and administering medicine), and HIGH-FIVE!  They eat raw meat as their treat.  They're like a big version of Zoey!

Next up, the Elephant Encounter.

They eat,

and spray themselves with water,

and pose for the camera!

He just kept doing it and we thought it was cute.  (Disclaimer: Not a trained behavior.)

The new Giraffe exhibit allows you to pet them and feed them lettuce!

Yawning Cheetah...

Scary Cheetah...

This Gorilla seemed to be posing for the camera.

Baby Chimp riding Mama's back!  How CUTE is this?!

And then of course there were photo ops!

Meet Chad and Crystle Monkeys...

I love visiting the Zoo.