Cooleys in Columbus/Cincinnati

Baby Talk!

2009-10-05T14:31:00.004-05:00

San-San had her 20 week ultrasound last week which was quite exciting for us both. We got to see the first pictures of our baby. They asked us right away if we wanted to know if it was a boy or girl and we have been wanting to know forever. So midway through the exam we found out our first child is a BOY! We even have a picture, but I am not going to post that here. Things have gotten quite more meaningful for us now that it just seems that more real.

We are such proud parents. I showed off the ultrasound photo to my coworkers and now have it posted above my desk.

Oktoberfest 2009 and more

2009-09-15T12:00:00.006-05:00

Last weekend we finally made it out into the greater Cincinnati area and explored a bit. On Friday when I left work to head to Cincinnati we had no real plans and it looks like a quiet relaxing weekend.

San-San had to work late on Friday (which is quite normal for her job now) so by the time she got home it was late so we ate a bit and relaxed before bed.

On Saturday morning San-San had an early meeting at a doctor's office but came home before I really had done much. We had made no plans, but remembered a previous discussion about the Oktoberfest celebration in Kentucky which happened to be this weekend. We are already getting hungry for lunch so German food and beer sounded like a great lunch to us (the beer for me).

We ate lots of good food, and I made sure to enjoy plenty of the beer, San-San had lemonade. We had bratwurst, two German potato pancakes, corn on the cob, butterscoth ice cream sundae and a lemonade.

Saturday night was the Ohio State Buckeyes game which was not on any of the tv channels we get at the apartment, so we met up with Karen near her apartment in Dayton. We watched most of the game at Champs and then listened to the rest on the way back to Cincinnati on the radio. The night was fun but unfortunately ruined near the end as the team fell apart.

Sunday we met up with a family from our Columbus church who was near Cincinnati for the weekend, and ate a great lunch at BD's Mongolian Barbecue. It was a first time for me to eat in a mongolian style but was quite good. If we ever go back I think I will be better at picking the best toppings and options.

The rest of the day was filled with relaxing and a movie.

Labor Day Weekend in Blue Ash

2009-09-07T12:42:00.019-05:00

Ahhhh....love these long weekends. Ben was in Indiana for work last week and then came to Cinci for the weekend. Though I had to work on a presentation, we still got out and did a little exploring.

Saturday was sunny, but not too hot, a perfect day to go to the park. We went for a walk and fed the ducks some old bread I had, then we walked for a bit further and saw the sign that said we weren't supposed to feed the ducks, oops. Next, while driving along the road, we saw what I thought would be a Cincinnati gift store, since that was what they called themselves. We decided to stop and take a look. So I expected a store with the typical postcards, keychains, etc. of Cincinnati. When we walked in, it was an explosion of knicknacks, figurines, and a ton of Christmas stuff! And nothing Cincinnati related. What a let down. Guess we actually have to venture into the city of Cinci to find stuff like that. We will one of these days. It is just too easy to explore the north side of town because it doesn't involve much driving.

After the very short stop at the gift store, we were still driving around when we saw a cute ice cream shop in a little square. We didn't really feel like straight ice cream, so we shared a root beer float and relaxed on some park benches just outside of the store.

Sunday we felt like some BBQ in the spirit of Labor Day weekend. Since our grill is in Columbus, the decision to go out was made for us. Ben diligently looked up a couple of options and we were off, but when we arrived, we found out that both places were closed! How sad, so we ended up at a restaurant called O'Charley's where Ben was determined have BBQ and ordered ribs, but they really didn't have any other BBQ options, so I ordered a parmesan chicken sandwich. All the food was mediocre, I think we had gotten our hopes up for good BBQ. Though lunch was unimpressive, we ordered the cinnamon sugar doughnuts on a whim, and were pleasantly surprised at the warm, fresh, delightful dessert.

After lunch we were quite full and decided to walk off a bit of our heavy meal at Babies R Us. This was the first excursion for the two of us. It was quite overwhelming, even though we made a game plan to skip clothes, feeding, and bath accessories and focus on the big things like strollers, cribs, carseats, and other furniture. It was an educational visit to see what is available out there and to compare the different models and features, since both of us are pretty clueless on baby equipment. I've done a lot of babysitting in the past, but never had to do any kind of shopping for baby stuff. Ben was interested in the technical features of everything, dimensions of the cribs, and how things would need to be assembled. Here is a picture of him wearing a baby carrier, it suits him well! We weren't looking for anything in particular, and models might change in the months to come, so we'll figure out specifics at that time. But we did learn a bit more about how the various equipment was put together, how they were stored or folded up, and what we thought we would really need, and the items we could skip. Oh yeah, and everything is really expensive! So with the advice of a few of our friends who have been through it, we'll be checking out craigslist and garage sales too.

Today we went for dim sum round two. It was quite good last time, and there were a couple dishes we had wanted to try at the previous visit, but were unable. This time we actually ordered a couple of dishes off the main menu as well: the house pan-fried noodles, hot and sour soup, and gai-lan. We also had short ribs in black bean sauce, shrimp spring rolls, and a repeat of the ham sui gok because it's one of Ben's favorites. There are some leftovers for dinner tonight, can't wait.

THE News!

2009-09-01T16:47:00.002-05:00

We're pregnant!

Ben and I are very excited to announce that a little one will be joining the Cooley family in Feb 2010! I'm about 16 weeks along and feeling much better now that I am out of my first trimester. Some days I almost forget that I am pregnant because I'm feeling so well and I'm just starting to show. I'm sure the big belly will soon arrive and I will have a constant reminder. =) Those early months were pretty rough, which is why we ended up missing a couple of early summer weddings (see previous post).

Baby is doing well, we heard a strong healthy heartbeat at the doctor visit yesterday. In a month we will go in for our ultrasound and get to see baby for the first time! I can't wait!

We'll keep you updated!

Two Weddings in Two Weeks

2009-09-01T16:15:00.004-05:00

Ben and I had a summer drought of weddings until the past few weeks, but that had more to do with other news, saved for the next post. We got invited to four weddings but were only able to make it to two.

The first was Mallory's, a friend and the daughter of Dr. Kuhlmann, who I worked for while I was a student. It was a very nice wedding and I got to catch up with some of the opticians and techs I used to work with.

The second wedding was Kevin and Katie's. It was outdoors on a lovely day, and again another fun time to catch up with friends we hadn't seen in awhile.

Greetings from Dr. Cooley! Warning lots of eye talk ahead...

2009-07-31T19:49:00.022-05:00

Hello Everyone! It's been a long time, and I must apologize. But after hearing from several people asking about when the next update would be, I thought I better get to it. To be honest, I didn't think very many people read this, so I've gotten busy with life and thus slack in my blogging.

First things first, I am now a doctor! After four long, fast, excruciating, fun, crazy, amazing, difficult, exciting, stressful, interesting, awesome years, I'm an optometrist!

I've started work as the resident optometrist at Cincinnati Eye Institute, and have already gotten one month under my belt. It's a wonderful place to work. Huge too! Every ocular disease specialty one could dream of. Everyday I am learning something new as well as solidifying my clinical skills. For you eye people out there here is a smattering of some of the pathology I have seen: ruptured globe, Boston keratoprosthesis, aniridia, detached DSEK floating in the anterior chamber, erosions through tube shunt patch grafts, crazy snowbanking from pars planitis, fungal keratitis, trauma from a bottle rocket, trauma from alkali burn, trauma from a tree branch...etc. (Enough eye talk everyone else? =) I can't help it, I love eyeballs! It isn't all intense ocular disease though, I see plenty of patients who are doing well in follow up care.

Here is a typical schedule of my week:

Mon	am: Neuro-ophthalmology
	pm: Retina
Tues	am: Cornea/Ant Seg
	pm: General Optometry
Wed	am: Post-ops
	pm: Cataract consults
Thur	am: Cornea/Ant Seg
	pm: General Optometry
Fri	am: Glaucoma
	pm: Uveitis/Inflammatory disease

Ben and I haven't gotten much chance to explore the Cincinnati area. I got sick right after graduation, and though I was well enough to work during the week, I just didn't feel up to exploring on the weekends. We definitely plan to check out more of the city in the months to come.

2009-05-27T13:09:00.007-05:00

It has been a long time since our last post, so I will give you a quick update of what we have been up to over the last few months.

San-San finished up in Minnesota, moved out and into her Huntington, WV lodgings all in one weekend. She now only has 2 weeks left in at her Huntington VA Hospital rotation, and then she comes back to Columbus for graduation. Yes, her optometry schooling is almost over.

I have been busy with work, working on many projects for many airports. Things have slowed down slightly this year, but there is still plenty of work and I have more work than I can do right now.

Other than that we have been counting the weeks until San-San is back in Columbus and done being on the road away. She has come home on the weekends but it does not allow much time to do anything exciting.

Over Memorial Day weekend, we decided that a 4 day weekend in Huntington would be fun. San-San did lots of research and planned some good places to eat and visit and everything went great. The real fun of the weekend was my birthday present San-San had found and planned for us to do. On Monday we went whitewater rafting on the New River about 2 hours from Huntington.

Not a picture of us, but an idea of what we were doing. We were 9 people in a boat 4 people on each side and a guide in the back all with paddles, life jackets and helmets. I think we hit rapids from Class 3 to Class 5. Class six is the hardcore professionals only type stuff, so we were doing a little hard stuff but not too crazy. The real danger is if you don't listen to your guide and paddle when you were supposed to etc. They always put the boat in the right spot (if you listened) and we never even really came close to flipping over. The group which left earlier in the morning had multiple boats flip in rapids. I am glad we didn't have to deal with that. I did get knocked out of the boat 2 times and it would have been bad had we all fallen out. Both times I was knocked out by strong waves which flipped me over the sides. There really isn't much to hold onto, you just brace yourself in with your feet and lean to the correct side when told to.

We both had a blast, but were bruised and sore the next morning.

Quick Update

2009-02-26T16:27:00.003-05:00

Since it has been a while since we last posted I will give you a quick update on things. San-San is almost done in Minnesota and will be heading back home the first weekend in March (just over a week left). After spending a quick 36 hours at home, she will be back on the road to Huntington, West Virginia for another 3 months. We plan on visiting each other much more while she is in WV and we both are looking forward to that.

I have been busy with work as the airport funding/construction season approaches things get a little more stressful. One deadline seems to follow the next and it is hard to stay on one project for too long, and another one is just around the corner.

Oliver and I seem to keep busy at night with lots of relaxing and video gaming. San-San and I do talk nightly and we cannot wait to see each other again soon.

My life in MN

2009-01-16T22:39:00.006-05:00

It's been awhile since I've posted, and last you heard of me I was driving through crazy weather to get to my extern rotation here in MN. Now I'm living in the crazy weather. This past week it has been hovering around a bone chilling -20 degrees. In hindsight I realized I forgot how frigid MN is when I was filling out my picks for extern sites.

So here is a run down of what I've been up to since early December.

I started my extern rotation at Associted Eye Care, and am really enjoying it. I'm in clinic five days a week and a rare Saturday as well. My rotation actually covers three different sites: Stillwater, Woodbury, and St. Paul. I live in Stillwater, so that one is quite close. The drive to Woodbury is not bad, averaging about 25 minutes. The commute to St. Paul is the one I dread as most days it takes about 50 minutes to an hour, if I'm lucky and traffic is cooperating. The actual distance is not that far, it's the lack of moving roadways that is the problem. The freeways are parking lots. Once it took me 2 hours to get to work. Why is it so ridiculous you ask? Because MN freeways are horrible. I don't know who designed them, but they are not designed well. Factor in snow, and you've got the makings of a frustrating commute.

The clinics, doctors, and staff of AEC are wonderful. I've learned a lot and my patient encounters since leaving school have increased significantly. I've been quite autonomous in clinic, being able to see my own patients, though the attending doctor does have to agree with my findings and sign off on my charts. I've worked closely with my two optometry preceptors and have also had the chance to work with the other 9 ophthalmologists in clinic and observe them in surgery.

In other news not relating to my externship:
- Early December I got together with some of our old college friends for a Christmas dinner. It was good to see everyone again, but it also made me miss Ben, since the majority of the people were there with their spouses.
- I've also gotten together with a friend from highschool and college, Tammy. She recently had a baby girl, who is simply adorable.
- Friends from Ohio (the Smiths) came to visit family they had in MN, and invited me over for dinner.
- In late December Ben and I got to see each other over Christmas and New Years when he and Oliver made the trip out here for a visit. We spent time with both sides of the family: The Cooleys in both BRF and Bruce WI, and the Luah's in Rochester, MN.
- We celebrated New Years Eve with our college friends at a ritzy restaurant/club in downtown Minneapolis.
- I've also hung out with my siblings and parents quite a bit, visiting with them just about every or every other weekend. This has been great, I've missed my family since moving out to OH.

Harrowing Drive and Minnesota Chill

2008-12-11T21:06:00.007-05:00

On Saturday I arrived safely in Minnesota after a dreadful 15 hour drive. I had only gotten about 4 hours of sleep the night before as Ben's company Christmas party went really late and I had not packed before due to boards. If you know me, it is very uncharacteristic that I had not yet packed for what was to be a 3 month long extern from home. So with 4 hours of sleep I was very concerned that I might be tired while driving on the road. I hate driving as it is, and riding in cars usually makes me motion sick or sleepy. So I prepared myself with an energy drink (which I don't like the taste of, and only took it along for the caffeine) and a book on tape.

The first quarter of the trip wasn't too bad. Road conditions were dry and traffic was light. After going through Indianapolis, it started to snow, but the danger came when it melted and refroze. That's when people started slipping off the road. There were three accidents in the span of about one mile, and I lost count of cars in the ditches after about 7 for fear of taking my eyes off the road and sliding off myself. All cars were going about 20 miles an hour on the interstate. It was pretty scary, I could feel my car losing grip on the road a couple of times. The white knuckle driving certainly woke me up and kept me alert.

Chicago was the next stop. I like passing through Chinatown because it is on the way, and I like to pick up some Chinese food and pastries. But with the recent snow, traffic was terrible. About 5 miles outside of the city was the most horrible wreck I have ever seen. It was on the other side of the freeway, and it involved a school bus and a tiny car. There were other cars that looked like they had been minimally damaged, but the focus was on the bus and the car. Only the front end of the bus had been involved, but it was completely embedded in the tiny car, which was T-bone crushed from drivers side to passengers side. There was a heavy blue tarp over much of the wreckage, but it could not spare the sight of broken glass and twisted metal, and indicated the worst was probably true. I was very sad when I saw it, what a horrible accident. The holidays would not be the same for the families of those involved in the accident. I said a prayer for the passengers, their family, and myself as I drove on those icy roads.

Again, the adrenaline from all the accidents I saw, and the poor driving conditions certainly did their part to keep me awake. When I arrived, I was so happy to be out of the car and off the road. My landlord is a really nice lady, and she made me feel welcomed in her warm home, and had even made some delicious chili, which she shared with me. I'm staying in her finished basement. My sister also drove out from Minneapolis to help me get settled and and spend the night with me. It was so wonderful to see her. We spent some time catching up and I was just grateful to have someone with me after the day I had had. She also surprised me with a care package of sorts: various things that she thought I would need, and food, as she knew I would not have gone grocery shopping. She is the best sister, I love her so much!

The next day we met up with my parents and my brother. It was so good to see them too. I've definitely missed my family. We all went out for dim sum. Mmmm, delicious! After lots of talking and catching up, I went back to my basement-house and unpacked and arranged my things. Then went to bed early since Monday was my first day of clinic.

The week has been a whirlwind of clinics. I travel to three different offices: Stillwater, St. Paul, and Woodbury. I'm relearning how to drive in the snow, though I think people see my Ohio license plate and expect me to drive like I'm from out of town. I've been busy seeing patients and learning the idiosyncrasies of each office. There is so much more to say about my rotations, but I don't have time right now. I have no internet where I am staying, and Caribou Coffee where I can get free wireless and have a hot cup of chocolate laden coffee will be closing soon.

Until the next time I can find internet...

Only one Cooley in Columbus now

2008-12-08T14:09:00.003-05:00

San-San started her first day at the new clinic in Stillwater, MN and will be there until the end of the quarter 3 months from now. We will be able to see each other over Christmas break but the rest of the time we will be apart. We hope to have lots of phone calls and texting, but it is going to be a hard 3 months apart.

San-San left Saturday morning around 6AM and got into Stillwater around 9PM which was at least 2 hours over the standard travel time. There was lots of snow and poor driving conditions for her travels, and a few times she had to slow to a crawl to stay on the road. She can explain it better, but there was multiple car accidents and cars in the ditch from the poor conditions. She made it safely with no major problems or incidents.

I don't expect to have much to post about until the holidays since I don't expect to be doing much exciting without my wife. I will be travelling to Washington DC this week to do some runway inspections at Washington Dulles Airport for work, so I might be able to post some interesting pictures from there. The work will be out on one of the main runways so it will have to be performed after midnight so they can close the runways for us.

Lake Erie: Put-In-Bay

2008-10-28T10:04:00.014-05:00

San-San was going to post again about the next 2 days of our vacation to Lake Erie but has gotten quite busy so you are going to be stuck with my story telling from now on.

Saturday the plan was to get up and make it to downtown Port Clinton to ride the ferry over to South Bass Island and Put-In-Bay. The first ferry left at 8:45am and since the parking lots was hard for us to find we had a little hurried scramble at the last minute to board the ferry. Since we were visiting during the “off season” (not summer) we knew the crowds would be quite less, but it actually was the last weekend of the season. There was lots of good end of the season sales and things to buy, but that also meant we were one of very few people on the ferry. After a short 20 minute ride to the island, we started out looking for a place to eat breakfast. We knew we had a little time to kill before all of the shops and activities opened, so breakfast was a perfect thing to do to while we waited. We found a neat little café called Paquele's, where we ate and relaxed.

After breakfast we walked around to a few more stores and started the journey to Perry's Cave. The walk looked pretty short (about a mile), and with few cars on the island most people drove rented golf carts around. We thought walking would be fun, and it was the perfect morning for it. It had been cooler earlier on, but the sun came out and we got to experience some great fall colors.

We stopped a few times for photo ops, but made it to Perry’s cave in time for the noon cave tour. The tour takes you down underground into a cave which was quite neat. It was not like other caves I have been in, more of a void between 2 layers of rock that had separated and tall enough for people to walk through. The ceiling was quite low in a lot of the places below 6 feet at least so I had to duck my head most of the time I was in the cave.

After we took the cave tour we headed across the street to Heinneman Winery where we took a wine making tour and a short tour of the largest geode I have ever seen. A geode is basically a hollow rock where crystals have grown inside the hollowed area. Usually I have seen ones baseball sized or smaller, but this one was big enough to hold our tour group of about 10-12 people. After the winery tour we drank our free glass of wine and had a nice cheese and cracker tray with it.

It was a nice little snack but we were still hungry so we walked back to downtown Put-In-Bay to a little outdoor bar on the boardwalk for their famous lobster bisque. Since it was outdoors right on the water it was a little cold, but the food was great and they had just enough heat to make it comfortable. We did a little more shopping while we waited for the next ferry and we were soon back in Port Clinton. It was mid afternoon and we were quite tired so we relaxed for a while. Our original plan was to go out for sushi for dinner, but by dinner time we were in a lazy mood and decided to snack for dinner. Our resort supplied a bunch of cheese and wine, so we ate some of theirs and some of ours that we brought up with us and had a nice dinner.

Sunday we had to head back to Columbus but made a quick stop in Sandusky at the Maritime Museum which was a nice quick place to stop for a little while. We did get there a little early so we walked around on the breakwater at a park right near the museum.

Lake Erie: "African Safari" & Mon Ami

2008-10-21T20:32:00.004-05:00

This past weekend Ben and I took a much needed vacation - just the two of us. It's been awhile since we've gotten out of Columbus together, over a year in fact. Since I didn't have much time off and because we're on a pretty tight budget, we decided on something relatively close. Neither of us had been to Lake Erie before, so it was a good spot to visit.

Friday morning we dropped Oliver off at the boarders, then we were on the road headed north. Our first stop was the "African Safari." It is actually the name of the attraction, but obviously we were not on safari in Africa. It was in Ohio, but still pretty cool. The first part included a walk through a small zoo with a kangaroo, llamas, various monkeys, etc. For the second part we drove in our own car though double gates a la Jurassic Park style to a wide open area where grazing animals of all sorts roamed about and were free to come up to the car. We were given a large cup of feed and a bag of carrots, and the animals definitely knew where to go to get fed. It was exciting, fun, and scary all at the same time.

Some of the smaller deer type animals were pretty cute, but the larger elk looking ones with large antlers were a quite slobbery and a bit intimidating. They were totally comfortable sticking their heads in the car windows. There were many funny moments involving strategic planning on how to feed certain animals, then all of a sudden one would sneak up on us. Or there were the very aggressive deer trying to steal the entire cup of feed, or the time when a whole herd of animals came running toward the car and there is a moment of concern whether they'd actually run into us. At the end of the tour there were zebras and giraffes. I have never been so close to either animal. They are amazing! I was so excited. The zebras loved the carrots as did the giraffe. Ben found out how long giraffe tongues are, and he was pretty grossed out. There was also an albino zebra, so cool. We made it through the whole tour with all of our fingers intact, and just a few splotches of slobber on the windows, and couldn't stop talking about it all the way to the gas station, where we promptly washed our windows. =)

After we left the gas station we were going to drive around the peninsula to see the Marblehead Lighthouse, but we got sidetracked and went to Cheese Haven instead. The store was huge and sold dozens of kinds of cheeses, wines, beer, and candy. We sampled a few of their different cheeses, but all we bought was a corkscrew (because we brought a couple bottles of wine with us and forgot a corkscrew, and we had brought cheese with us too, and didn't need to buy more) and a big pickle because it looked tasty.

Next we were on our way on the single road that followed the coast. On our way to the lighthouse we stopped by a cute shopping area with a few touristy type stores. When we got to Marblehead Lighthouse took a few scenic pictures...

After the lighthouse we went to check in at our hotel. We got a really great room rate because it is the off season. The reservation also came with a gift certificate to Mon Ami, a nice winery and restaurant. It was actually less expensive to get a two night stay with the restaurant package than it was to rent a room for two nights separately. We weren't sure how that worked out, but we're glad it did. We still had an hour before dinner so we walked down to the pier behind the hotel. It was a gorgeous evening with the sun reflecting off the water, very peaceful, calm, and relaxing.After our walk we got ready for dinner at Mon Ami. We first went to the winery and walked around the beautiful store. Then we were seated for dinner. Our gift certificate was for a dinner for two. Included were soup, salad, entrees, (Ben got New York Strip Steak topped with mushrooms served with green beans and roasted potatoes. I got a pretzel crusted halibut topped with onion strings, all sitting on top of a bed of sauteed spinach and seasoned mashed potatoes and a delicious sauce), a bottle of wine, and dessert. The food was fabulous, ambiance romantic, and we were full! A wonderful way to close a wonderful day!

Another post to come about day two and three at Lake Erie.

Pumpkin Festival

2008-10-20T21:50:00.025-05:00

Last week we went to the Circleville Pumpkin Festival. It was about a 40 minute drive from our house. We didn't really know what to expect, but it was great fun for free! Everything pumpkin was there. We walked around the different food and artist vendors, peddling everything from pumpkin ice cream to pumpkin fudge to pumpkins made of glass (see above picture), and of course pumpkin pie. The best pumpkin food we sampled there was the pumpkin cheesecake.

Delicious, creamy, tasted like ice cream, but not as cold, it was perfect. We saw floats and houses decorated in all kinds of pumpkin glory. There was a huge pumpkin tower, dozens of varieties of squashes, and the biggest pumpkins that I have ever seen. The winner for this year weighed 1,375.5 pounds! Haha, I didn't know such a big deal could be made about pumpkins, but this festival has been an annual celebration for 102 years. They also had a lot of displays, art exhibits, and fair games and rides. Kind of like a mini state fair, but in the fall, and all about pumpkins.

Sibling Visit

2008-10-06T12:18:00.013-05:00

Daniel, Christina and Naran came to visit again and it is always great to see them. They arrived around 7am on Thursday morning and we had gotten up a little early so we could be ready for them before work. San-San still had a full day of work so she had to leave soon after they arrived. It was great that they could come visit, but since it was short notice, San-San was not able to request time off.

Since they are all mostly night people anyways the night driving (they left Wednesday afternoon from Minnesota) was not a problem for them. Shortly after they had arrived and settled in they were all fast asleep. San-San was off to work, and I went to work for a few hours. I came home for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon with them. Nothing exciting happened just a lot of relaxing, talking and playing Wii games. We did a little grocery shopping as well in the afternoon so everyone could pick out the topping they wanted to make pizzas for dinner.

That night Christina had an asthma attack and she had forgotten her inhaler back in MN. Luckily San-San got home just in time to call her doctor and get a prescription called in to a pharmacy nearby. After a couple of puffs from her inhaler, Christina was feeling much better. Our initial plan was to go to Gameworks that night. But we scrapped that idea as we had all had enough excitement for the night and instead had a relaxing evening of making pizzas.

Friday San-San had to work again. Meanwhile everyone slept in, even me. I felt like I was starting to get sick so I stayed home from work. It was a lazy morning of computer and Wii games. I finally got everyone moving and we went out to Polaris Mall. When we got back it was not long before San-San was on her way home from work and we went out for a sushi dinner. All of us like sushi and the place we went to had a great selection of rolls and sashimi.
On our way home after dinner we randomly decided to stop by a Halloween store and look at all the costumes. Then Big Lots because it was right next door and we didn't feel like going home yet. Yeah, Columbus isn't that exciting.

Saturday was a happy day for San-San as she actually got to spend a whole day with our visitors. That morning she made fresh hashbrowns from scratch. Everyone had a leisurely brunch then San-San and Christina went to go get Christina's hair cut. I bet you can guess what us boys did while they were gone - yup video games. When they got back we headed out to Dave and Busters which is like a Gameworks. It was pretty fun. There were lots of ticket games to play, carnival type games, plenty of arcade games, I played a horse racing game for awhile, and Naran won a few big stuffed animals on the claw game for Christina and San-San.

Dinner time came and we went to Hickory House for ribs. Actually Christina had meatloaf, Daniel had steak and fish, and Naran had steak and ribs. It was good, I will have San-San post pictures because she likes to do that. After dinner we headed home, hung out for a bit, talked until they had to go. They like driving at night better since they were still wide awake and there is less traffic, so they left around midnight. They called us when they got back to the cities.

We slept in on Sunday. After lunch San-San went to go study for boards with Angie. Oliver and I hung out at home, watched football, and a couple of movies. It was a perfect lazy day for me.

OSU vs Minnesota

2008-09-29T07:37:00.003-05:00

Saturday was the first Ohio State Buckeyes game we got with our season tickets this year. There are only 4 home conference games this year, but they should all be good ones. On Saturday was the game against Minnesota my old alma mater, but I no longer an a Gopher fan since moving to Ohio.

The game was pretty good and the weather was perfect most of the day. After a prediction of rain during the game we were a little worries, but the sky cleared and it even got a little sunny and hot as the game went on. After the third quarter the game we nicely in hand and we were able to relax and sit down for a while.

This season are tickets are not as good as last year, but much better than 2 years ago. The photo shows our view of the field during the "Script Ohio" by the marching band.

Cici's and a picnic

2008-09-24T09:05:00.007-05:00

Last weekend we had a little time and managed to get out and do some fun activities. Friday night we went to Cici's Pizza Buffet which was really good, and we managed to stuff ourselves silly. Pizza buffets are so good since you get pizza toppings you never see else where and would never want to order a whole pizza with these toppings on it. It is really easy to find yourself trying lots of small slices of many different kinda and then going back for more of the ones you really liked. My likes and dislikes from the night: One of my favorites was a buffalo chicken pizza which was kinda spicy and had a nice spicy sauce on it. San-San liked this one too. She also liked the weird ones with spinach and white sauce on it. The mac and cheese pizza was not as good as you would think, and the flavor was just like eating mac and cheese on pizza. There was a good Canadian bacon one (Canadian bacon is my favorite pizza topping) and a few others I am forgetting. They also had really good desert pizzas and very very gooey and tasty cinnamon rolls. I had 5 or 6 pieces of those as well. After the pizza buffet San-San and the youth group (the pizza night was for the youth leader's birthday) went to one of the high school football games.

Saturday we relaxed for most of the day and then San-San had to babysit for a family friend from church. I watched a movie and relaxed while she was gone.

Sunday we slept in and went to the late church service. After church the weather was so nice we decided a spontaneous picnic at Highbanks park would be fun. It was the perfect way to get out and enjoy the afternoon. We made a quick meal and headed to the park. After eating we relaxed and played a little boccee ball while Oliver ran around and tried to get in the way. More relaxing and a little bit of boards studying for San-San before she was off to church again for youth group at night.

Oliver the Brave

2008-09-16T18:43:00.010-05:00

It's been a couple of weeks since Oliver's ear got bitten off by Ben's aunt's and uncle's dog. Ben wrote about it a few posts back. It happened at the Cooley family reunion, which I was unable to attend as I was in Ecuador for a missions trip. Apparently, the incident happened very suddenly and unexpectedly.

Oliver's ear is healing nicely, though it's not the same as it once was. Here are some healed, non-bloody pictures.

Here are a few "before" pictures, which I luckily took just before I left for Ecuador. =)

Ecuador SVOSH Missions Trip

2008-09-15T21:22:00.009-05:00

The missions trip to Ecuador was an amazing experience! We saw many patients, handed out thousands of pairs of glasses and sunglasses, and treated quite a few ocular conditions/diseases.

The first and second days were spent traveling. On the first day we flew into Guayaquil, one of the major cities in Ecuador. The second day was spent traveling to a rural area about five and a half hours away from Guayaquil.

Days three, four, five and six were clinic days. The clinic day started at about 7:00am and finished at around 6:00pm. On day three and four, our group of 40 people split in half and went to two different sites. Each group saw about 370 people both days. On days five and six we combined into one group and saw approximately 700 people each day. Altogether, we were able to give eye exams to about 2800 people!

Each day I saw ocular pathology that is very rare in the United States. Not only was it an incredibly rewarding experience, but I learned much more about certain eye diseases and was able to advance my clinical skills. It was wonderful to give a pair of glasses to a patient and see their smiles when they looked around and were able to see clearly. We also gave out certain medications if necessary, and put them on a surgical waiting list if they had an eye condition we could not treat.

I have many more pictures and stories than what I have described here, and would be happy to share more, just let me know. Thank you for all of your support and prayers! It meant a lot to me and to the people of Manta, Ecuador.

Hurricane Ike... in Ohio??

2008-09-15T09:26:00.003-05:00

I know the hurricane left a lot of damage in Texas and along the southern coast, but yesterday was our chance to feel it's wrath. Starting mid-afternoon yesterday the winds started picking up and by 5 PM we were getting 40+ mph winds with gusts over 60 mph. The airport clocked some 75 mph winds and there has been a lot of damage around the state. That is the highest non-storm (thunderstorm/tornado etc) wind ever measured in the state of Ohio. 200,000+ people were without power as of last night, and when I checked with morning it is over 580,000.

We never lost power for more than 30 seconds or so last night, but it was enough to get me worried that is was going to be gone for sure. There is also power here at work today, but lots of schools are closed and businesses without power this morning. No major damage from trees or wind around our development, but at work we lost a few smaller pine trees which were totally ripped out of the ground.
One of my co-workers said that the power company was giving them a tentative schedule that Wednesday the power would be back. I don't know how we still have power and most of the area around us, including Polaris mall and a lot of other developments are without power.

During the afternoon/evening we heard and felt lots of huge gusts of wind which would shake the walls and make lots of noise. I was sure I was going to hear our siding get ripped off the house or something during the wind but everything seems okay this morning.

The storm was gone by 8 or 9 PM so it was easy to have a good nights sleep without worrying about trees falling on the house.

Last weekend update

2008-09-02T08:53:00.007-05:00

News from Ecuador: I received news from San-San's group that everyone arrived safely with no problems other than some paperwork issues with a few people (no details on who) which delayed them slightly. They made it to the hotel late Saturday night and were going to be traveling to the smaller town where they will be doing the optometry clinics on Sunday. If I receive any other news I will forward it on here.

My Labor Day Weekend:
I went to visit family in Oconomowoc, WI on Saturday over the weekend which was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, Oliver and the families dog did not get along and within the first minute of arriving he bit the top half of Olivers ear off. It happened so fast it took me some time to realize what happened. We quickly got him to the dog emergency room, but over an hour and a half later we left with no real help. Oliver was doing okay he didn't seem to notice a large part of his ear was gone, and since he was already on painkillers and antibiotics they couldn't do much else. See the picture below for the bloody details.

I made the 8 hour drive each way without much problem. The traffic was a little heavy on the way there since I was heading towards Milwaukee which was have a HUGE Harley Davidson motorcycle party all weekend. I saw lots of motorcycles out on the roads the entire weekend which was quite different than normal for me.

Saturday afternoon and evening Uncle Bob and I went out on Lake Michigan to do a little sailing and check out the Harley Davidson event. Bruce Springsteen was playing near the marina so we hang out after the sun went down and listened to a few songs. It was a long day for me so after cooking a few burgers off the back of the boat we headed back to there home.

Sunday was full of conversations, games and fun in the water. There was volleyball, bocce ball, water baloons launched with slingshots and other craziness.Everyone had a lot of fun and I am sure I am not the only one who is back to work today and quite tired and sore. Thanks to everyone who helped out and made the weekend great.

Upcoming weekend

2008-08-28T15:41:00.003-05:00

We have big plans for this coming holiday weekend. San-San leaves for Ecuador (optometry mission trip) for 9 days, and I am going to be meeting up with my other Cooleys in Oconomowoc, WI. I am sure San-San will have lots of stories to share after she returns from her trip and many photos as well. While she is gone I plan to relax maybe get some work done around the house. I have been putting off doing some rust repair on her car, and next week will be the perfect time to do it.

We will keep you informed when we have more things to report on.

Ohio State Fair 2008

2008-08-05T14:21:00.003-05:00

Last Friday I got off work a little early so San-San and I could make a trip to the Ohio State Fair. I think we have been 3 times in the 4 years we have been in Columbus, so we are big fans of the fair. By leaving earlier in the day we managed to see all we wanted to see and be home before 6pm and still be able to relax at night. Plus, it was less crowded, which was good. The main thing we love about the fair is the food. Lots to sample and enjoy. We had a fried mozzarella cheese stick which was perfect right as we walked in the gate. Then a jumbo lemonade shakeup while we walked and checked out more food vendors and shops. The weather was a little hot and sunny so the air conditioned building were a nice break from the heat.

After more walking around I ate a shrimp fried rice plate while San-San ate her sweet potato fries with all the toppings. I think she had salt, pepper, cinnamon, sugar and powdered sugar all on various parts of the fries. Then more walking around and we had to try our annual favorite: jumbo pickle on a stick. San-San loves pickles and when they are gigantic State Fair pickles, it makes it that much better. Since you can only find then a few times a year it is something we always try to eat while at the State Fair.

And after a few samples from various places like the homemade dips and cheese balls vendors, and a demonstration on Asian burgers which were good we were getting quite full.

We walked around a bit more and took in all the sights including the Budweiser Clydesdale Horses, some horticultural exhibits, a fine arts exhibit, the craft building, and we strolled by the midway and rides. We did not go on any rides, because nothing can compare with Cedar Point. All in all it was a fun day.

Clippers Game and Cedar Point

2008-07-21T12:54:00.009-05:00

Usually San-San and I like to relax on the weekends and maybe get a few things done around the house, but last weekend we had a busy event-filled few days.

Friday night my work had a company sponsored night at the local Columbus minor league baseball game. We have been to quite a few games over the past years and it has always been with our co-workers at San-San's or my office. We had a little picnic just outside the left field wall and had some reserved seats provided for us as well. The weather was quite hot and humid and once we were seated in the stands it got quite hot, so we stayed for as long as we could, but not the whole game. Besides, we had an early start the next day.

On Saturday we had a very fun and very tiring day at Cedar Point. We went with Angie and Bill who arrived at our house around 8am and we left shortly thereafter. The weather in the morning was hot ~85 degrees and quite humid, so standing in line was not always as enjoyable as we would have wanted but the rides were awesome as usual.

Unfortunately our luck was not great and we only managed to ride 2 roller coasters by mid afternoon, due to ride maintenance and ride closures due to rain. The rain felt good because it cooled us down, but it also caused the rides to close occasionally. We rode one more before dinner but thought we would try to ride as many as possible. We were starting to get a little discouraged, but managed 3 roller coasters in the last 2 hours of the night and ended quite happy and excited. Overall we rode the 6 main coasters at the park (Raptor, Mantis, Maverick, Top Thrill Dragster, Magnum XL and Millennium Force) and enjoyed them all.

Check out or old post from last year's trip for more details on the specific rides.
Old Cedar Point Post

Sunday was a recover from Cedar Point day. Our feet were sore from standing in lines for approximately 13 hours the previous day, my legs were sore, and San-San's back was aching. Our bodies may be starting to get a little less tolerant of roller coasters, but we love riding them just as much as ever.

Saving Vision!

2008-07-09T20:19:00.007-05:00

Today was one of the best days in clinic. One of my rotations is in vision rehabilitation clinic. Here we see patients that have very low vision. Most days it is testing for driving privileges or assisting people who have had a high degree of vision loss. We attempt to increase their visual capability for day to day activities such as reading, watching tv, and general orientation and mobility. Today we had a young gentleman come to our clinic with very poor vision. He was unable to read even very large print (ie letters about 3 inches tall), unable to recognize faces, and had difficulty with seeing his surroundings and walking about. For most of his life until recent years he has had good vision, so this was very tough for him. Much of the exam supported the finding of very low vision, but when I began to check his prescription there was a turning point in the exam.

To get an objective measurement of one's refractive error (prescription) we use an instrument called a retinoscope. By shining a light into a patient's eye and using lenses of varying power, I was able to estimate his prescription. I found that he had a very very high amount of refractive error. I placed the appropriate lenses in a trial frame, and he noticed a significant difference immediately. With a big smile on his face, he told me that he hadn't been able to see this well in years, and that he didn't even know he would ever be able to see what he could see today. We repeated some of the tests with the correction and he did much better, and was even able to read large print (letters about 1/2 an inch tall fairly easily and even down to about 1/8 of an inch tall) with the help of his prescription and a magnifier. We were all very excited.

Though his vision is not perfect, it is much better than he ever expected. He is now able to recognize faces, and the most touching thing he said to me was that he has a niece who was born recently, and that he had never seen her face, but with these glasses he would finally be able to see what she looked like. That made my day! I am so happy for him! We will follow up with him and see how he is doing with his new visual aids, but I'm optimistic about his improvement in functional vision.

The real 4th of July

2008-07-07T19:31:00.045-05:00

Hi everyone! Hope your 4th was fun. We had a great time at the fireworks show downtown. The best I've ever seen, but the city actually put it on on July 3rd. So on the 4th we had a grill out, and invited Angie over (we would have invited Bill too, but he was in MN =) Angie came over early afternoon, and the three of us went to go watch WALL-E the movie. It was cute, but kinda sad most of the way through until the end.

When we got home, we grilled corn on the cob, caribbean jerk chicken, ginger orange steak, and pepper steak. We also had cole slaw and a fruit salad. For dessert Angie had made an apple crisp and bought an apple pie! Wow, tons of stuff to eat, and all very delicious.

After dinner we fired up the Wii and played a few (many) rounds of Mario kart. Angie is getting better and better! Then we played sequence and uno - games galore. We were waiting for the sun to set so that we could light up the sparklers and snappers. It was all fun until we got creative and decided to take some cool pictures with long exposures, then it got really fun. =) Here's some of the cool stuff we did:

4th of July Weekend

2008-07-07T13:00:00.014-05:00

Last weekend was a perfect chance to get out and do some fun things as well as relax and recover from a few busy weeks in a row. Thursday night was Red White and Boom, the fireworks show downtown which were quite fun and exciting. Rain during the day discouraged many people from going, but very light sprinkles when we arrived stopped soon after and it was dry the rest of the night. Angie carpooled with San-San and I since Bill was in MN, and we just happened to meet up with the Youngs while walking around the food area. Once we found a seat that we thought would give us a good view we all relaxed and talked until the fireworks started around 10pm.

We initially thought there would be a tree between us and the fireworks, but when the first one went off we realized the fireworks were being launched about 300 yards or so from us across the river. They were straight above us the entire night and very very loud. The view was wonderful with the trees on the sides framing all of the action perfectly. These are just some of the pictures San-San took with her camera. No zoom at all, that's how close we were to the fireworks.

July 4th Weekend

2008-07-03T12:19:00.004-05:00

This Independence Day weekend we have a few things scheduled, but mostly I am looking forward to relaxing with San-San. Tonight we are planning on going to see the fireworks downtown. They launch them off over the river so there are plenty of good places to get a good view. There has been a lot of rain so far today so we hope that it clears up by nightfall and we don't have to get soaked while we wait.

Saturday we are going to go to the movies and grill out for dinner. I have not grilled out much this summer so I really need to get out and get grilling. The movie we are planning on going to see is the new animated movie Wall-E. It looks really quite funny and the previews have been quite hilarious to me. I am sure San-San will enjoy listening to my loud laughter and make fun of me afterwords.

Sunday we have no plans after church so I am sure we will relax and be lazy, which is my favorite Sunday activity.

Last Weekend Update

2008-06-23T13:57:00.003-05:00

Last weekend's big highlight was the wedding of one of my co-workers. He got married in a small town a few hours from Columbus on Saturday. The weather was quite bad (rain, winds and lightning) on the way there but by the time we arrived it was quite nice out. The wedding was quite nice, and a few of my other co-workers were there so we had some people there we knew.

Not much is planned this week for me, I don't even think I have anything on my planner. Work is still quite busy with multiple projects in design at the same time, plus one project under construction. I am making weekly visits (sometimes more) to the job site so I am able to be out of the office on nice days.

San-San is busy with her daily clinics and other school related activities. Not much else happening.

Short update

2008-06-18T14:46:00.004-05:00

Life has been pretty busy the last month, but not with too many things that make good blog posts. I will try to update everyone on a few of the newest things we have been up to.

Work has been busy for me with lots going on at work, since the summer construction season has begun. Multiple projects are is various stages of progress which can make for some interesting days.

Since last weekend I have been working on the patio on the back of our house again. No major changes just replacing some of the smaller rocks, and a few rocks chipped up pretty bad last winter. We are also going to add some mulch under the swing since no grass will grow there plus some plastic trim around all of the edges. I will post a picture of the project once completed.

Also in the back of our house the lilies we planted towards the end of the summer last year are blooming now. We had no clue what color they were going to be, but the first bloom looks like we have a cool pink and white lily. I'll get San-San to take a photo of that and post as well.

San-San has been busy with clinics and has had a few long days with troublesome patients. Some days she has great stories about the people she sees in clinic and other days (like today) where she is busy from 7:30am until after 8pm. Usually we will try to relax and unwind with some television before bed. She is doing quite well and I think she cannot wait until she is out on her own.

If I think of any other stories or news I will post them when I think of them.

Weekend in MN/WI

2008-05-06T11:42:00.015-05:00

This weekend we went to MN/WI for Jason and Shelby's wedding. We also visited both sides of the family. It was a packed weekend.

Thurs: It was 11 hours of travel to the Cooley's in WI. Halfway we stopped off in Chicago to pick up treats and candy to share with the family. Oliver had a lot of fun walking around the plaza and Ben and I enjoyed a delicious Chinese lunch outside in the sun. Then it was back in the car to BRF. It was fun to see the Cooley family. Sarah, Carrie, and Kerry were there along with Dave and Mary. Unfortunately Dan (Sarah's husband) couldn't make it. We had dinner, looked at pictures and talked a lot. Mary had tried some new recipes, which were delicious! The next morning we had a late brunch and headed to the Twin Cities.

Fri: We drove the 2 hours to Minneapolis, dropped Oliver off and went to the Stanek/Holubiw wedding. It has been a couple of years since we've seen all of our friends, and Ben and I had a great time catching up. It rained the whole day, but the wedding was indoors at a church, and the reception was in a golf course's clubhouse, so everyone was able to stay dry.

Sat: We met up with the newlyweds, the Steinbach's, the Boomers, and the Goplins for breakfast at the hotel. Next we picked up my brother, sister, and Oliver and headed down to Rochester to visit my parents. On the way home we picked up some live crab at the Chinese grocery store. When we got to my parents house, my mom had cooked up a delicious feast! We sat down to a lunch of traditional laksa (a spicy curry soup noodle dish), chicken rice, Hainanese chicken, and lettuce wraps. It was all the foods I have missed, and my favorite, the laksa was amazing! We relaxed for a bit after lunch, then decided to go walk around the mall for a bit. When we got home, it was time to start preparing dinner. Everyone helped with the meal. We made steak and crab, and also had some smoked salmon too.

Sun: It was time to head back to Columbus. We ate a quick breakfast (I had laksa and Ben had cereal) and then made the 12 hour journey back to Columbus.

Rapid Review, Externships, and SVOSH

2008-04-29T19:22:00.008-05:00

I know it's been forever since I've last posted. Just a little over three months in fact. I've been busy, but that is nothing new. So no excuses, here's the update. =)

February
- I chaperoned a ski retreat for my church youth group. Very cold, but lots of fun.
- For Valentines Day Ben and I went to the Eyeball, a gala type dinner and dance put on by the optometry school. Fancy-schmancy. See picture above.
- Took some midterms.

March
- Early March we had a record setting snowstorm for Columbus OH. We got 20 inches of snow within a 24 hour period. Check out the picture of Ben in knee/thigh deep snow! (see March 10 post)
- Chicago trip to meet up with the Luah's. My aunt and uncle were visiting the United States for the first time. My parents drove from MN, and we drove from OH to meet halfway in Chicago. It was really great to catch up with everyone!
- Took some finals.
- I started my last quarter of classes! Very exciting. I have one year of school left, but the last year is fully clinical save one business class.

April
- A month full of social activities.
- Bill's birthday.
- Angie's birthday.
- We had Sy and Elizabeth over for dinner just for fun.
- Took some midterms.

And that's about it really. I guess the most exciting news is stuff that I have coming up. Fourth year begins on June 9th and I have four quarters all with different assignments. Read this part only if you really care what I'll be doing and where I'll be in the next year.

Summer: I start next quarter with my internal rotations. Each day I am in a different clinic at the school. Mondays: Elementary School Screenings (actually we go out to elementary schools on this day) and Binocular Vision/Pediatrics. Tuesdays: Contact lens clinic. Wednesdays: Contact Lens clinic and Vision Rehabilitation. Thursdays: Contact lens clinic. Fridays: Eyewear Gallery.

At the end of my summer rotation I will be going on a missions trip with SVOSH (student volunteer of optometric services to humanity). We will be traveling to underserved populations in Ecuador to conduct free eye exams and give out glasses and medications to treat certain eye diseases. It is a pretty intense schedule. Right now we have to put in 80 hours of volunteer work to qualify to go on the trip. This includes collecting glasses, sorting glasses, giving presentations, and participating in fundraisers. The fundraisers will hopefully cover some of the cost of flight, travel, food and lodging, but we will likely have to pay for part of the trip ourselves. We arrive by plane in a fairly large city, but it is a 5 hour bus ride to get to the area we are serving. We then have 4 days of 10 hour long clinics. At last years trip they saw 1500 patients while they were there. I have been told that the days are hot, intense, and generally poor clinic conditions; that we will be physically, mentally and emotionally fatigued. But the people who went also said it was one of the most rewarding experiences. Most of the people we will examine have never seen an eye doctor, or even a regular doctor. They line up before dawn for hours before the clinic opens just to get an eye exam. Last year the students and doctors did as many eye exams as they could until the sun set and there was not enough light to perform the necessary tests, (I believe there is some electricity, but it is very limited) and even then they weren't able to see everyone and had to turn people away or tell them to come back the next day. I know that it will be a good experience for me. Also knowing that I can use my skills to help another person is really inspiring. I will keep you updated on the trip preparation as well as post about it when I get back, but the trip is not until the end of August/early Sept.

Autumn: Next are the primary care externships. These are sites around the Columbus area, within a 30 minute commute. Everyday I am at a different rotation. Mondays: Binocular Vision/Pediatrics. Tuesdays: A private optometry practice. Wednesdays: Eye Surgical and Medical Care (my MD site). Thursdays: South High, which is an outreach site for the underprivileged. Fridays: The Student Health Center.

Winter: I am at Associated Eye Care in Stillwater, my advanced practice site. During this quarter I go to the same site everyday. Good and bad because I am in MN this quarter. Good because I get to be near my family. I will be staying with my brother and sister at their condo in Mpls, with my parents an hour and a half away in Rochester. This means I will be able to celebrate Christmas with the family. Also, Ben will come to visit, and we can spend some holiday time with his family as well. Bad because I will be separated from Ben by about 774 miles. He has to stay in Columbus because that is where his job and our house is. I don't know how I will do with the whole distance thing, I know I'm going to miss him tons. =( Also bad because winter in MN?!? Yes, I am crazy to want to go back. I really don't like the cold and snow, but I do love my family, so I picked that site when I found out it was a rotation close to where they are.

Spring: Last quarter! This is my disease rotation and I will be at the Huntington West Virginia VA (Veteran's Affairs) site. It is closer to Columbus OH than MN, but it's still a 3 hour drive. So Ben and I will still have to live in different states, but the drive on a weekend is much more manageable.

And then I am DONE! Don't ask us where we plan to live after I graduate. It all depends on where we can find jobs, and where we want to settle down more permanently. We prefer to be somewhere warmer if possible. Probably more for me, but even Ben said he would not be sad about missing MN winters. Also, there is so much out there, and this is our chance to try a different location. I've lived in the west and midwest, and Ben has lived in the midwest. We were thinking it might be fun to live on the eastern part of the country. But honestly it is a decision we will make after a lot of prayer and research.

That's all (for now) folks!

Earthquake!

2008-04-21T07:57:00.003-05:00

I am not sure how many people know that there was an earthquake last Friday in Illinois about 300 miles from Columbus. It happened at 5:30 in the morning, and we were both asleep when it hit.

San-San woke up and knew something was wrong but could not clear her mind fast enough to understand what was going on. She woke me up asking me if I heard the noise she was hearing. There was a very faint ticking noise every half second or so, I barely heard it. San-San got out of bed to try and figure out what made the noise, (she thought it was coming from the closet). I thought it was the air from the furnace or a train passing by, and I went back to sleep. San-San said it was definitely not the train, and she said she didn't fall back asleep quite so easily.

Later that morning a co-worker informed me of the news of an earthquake, and after checking the time of the shaking I knew what had woken San-San up. The noise we determined was the hangers in her closet shaking back and forth very slightly from the shaking of the ground. Since San-San has quake experience and is a light sleeper we assumed she felt the slight vibration and woke up.

There really wasn't much damage near the quake in Illinois, but I have heard a few other people who felt to ground move in our area.

Blizzard of 2008

2008-03-10T14:08:00.006-05:00

As some of you may have heard, Columbus was hit with a pretty big (by Ohio standards) snow storm on Friday and Saturday of last week. The snow started mid-day on Friday and didn't stop until late on Saturday. We received ~20 inches of snow, with lots of drifting due to windy conditions. We have grown out of dealing with snow since moving from Minnesota, so this was a reminder of what we used to deal with.

San-San took some pictures of me shoveling the snow which was almost up to my waist in some of the drifts.

We were snowed in from Friday night, after going out for sushi, until Sunday when the snow plow had some by. Luckily we had nowhere to go all weekend, and since San-San has final exams next week she studied all weekend without any disruption. Church was canceled on Sunday so we didn't leave the house until late afternoon when we went grocery shopping for a study break.

Niagara Falls

2008-01-23T22:34:00.000-05:00

We had Monday off of classes last week, so Angie wanted to do something with the long weekend. She asked if I wanted to go on a road trip, I said, "Sure, where?" Her reply was, "mmmm....how about Niagara Falls?" I responded with,"What? Are you serious?" And that's how this trip all started.

The original plan was to leave on Friday or Saturday and spend Saturday, Sunday, Monday there, however our friend Karen also wanted to come along, and she worked until 9pm on Saturday. Since our house was the furthest north and thus would give us the best advantage for driving to Niagara Falls, Angie and Karen stayed over Saturday night. It ended up becoming a girls only trip, since Ben and Bill both had to work on Monday. Also, it was such short notice and someone had to take of Oliver (our dog) and Ginger (their cat). Because it is winter and the down season for Niagara Falls, we got a great package deal including hotel, lunch, and four attractions.

We left our house Sunday morning just before 5am. It was supposed to be a six hour drive, but we made it in about 7 hours since we hit a bit of snow coming off of Lake Erie. When we arrived we walked around a bit and ate at one of the neighboring shopping/food centers. Then we went to "Journey Behind the Falls" (part of our package deal). We got to walk right next to and behind the Falls. It was loud, wet and cold, but incredibly beautiful and awesome. The natural ice sculptures forming from the mist of the falls were really cool to see. After that we walked around outside above and next to the falls to get some good pictures. Then we walked down by the American Falls for some more pictures. By that time we were frozen, so we headed back to the hotel and checked in. We hung out there for awhile to rest and warm up. Our hotel had a great view of the falls - this picture was taken from our room window.

Next we went to an area called Cliffton Hill where we ate dinner at an Italian restaurant called Mama Mia's. Then went on this gigantic ferris wheel ride called the Niagara Skywheel. We wouldn't have gone on it if it wasn't part of the package because all three of us are scared of heights. But we went anyway. Angie was really scared, she didn't even open her eyes the whole time, unless the car was at the bottom or until the ride was done. We went at night, so we got a great view of the Falls all lit up with different colored lights. It was pretty, but I got freaked out too, especially once the wind started whistling and howling through the cracks of the little compartment.

We went back to the hotel and fell asleep. It had been a long day with an early start. The next morning we woke up to spectacular views of the falls with the sunlight glinting of the surface of the water. After eating a breakfast of snacks we had brought along with us, we checked out of the hotel and went to the Bird Aviary (another part of our package) It was nice and warm in there. The scenery was jungle-like and the birds were free to fly around. Lots of color and it was a nice break from the frigid weather outside.

Lunch was next on the schedule. We ate at a restaurant called Edgewater Tap and Grill. As its name describes, it is on the waters edge with a great view of the falls. We had a huge lunch (included in the package) that was pre-set for us. We could choose from chicken, fish or prime rib. I got the prime rib, as did Karen. Scrumptious! Although I did try a bit of Angie's salmon and that was delicious too. It also came with soup, vegetables, rolls, drink, and dessert. We were stuffed!

After lunch we went to the IMAX theater to see the show about Niagara Falls and visit the "barrel museum"." It had all the original vessels that people have tried going over the Falls in. Apparently 15 people have tried and 10 have survived.

The last stop before we left Niagara was the Butterfly Conservatory. Another warm location, almost too warm in our thermals and long sleeve sweaters! It was almost like we had gone to the tropics instead of north to Canada. There were tons of butterflies floating around. After enjoying the warmth and color of the conservatory, it was time to go home.

Driving back wasn't too bad either, just a trafficky and a snowy spot in Buffalo NY. I was so tired, I went straight to bed when we got home at about 11pm. It was a fun, short, activity jam packed trip, but we still got to do most everything we wanted. The falls are pretty amazing in the winter, definitely a different view than in the summer. Another bonus is the lack of crowds, only con is the insanely cold weather.

p.s. O-H! I-O!

Christmas with the Luah's

2008-01-04T15:31:00.001-05:00

My family once again made the long journey from MN to OH for the Christmas holiday. I had clinics for which I was required to be present, so Ben and I could not make the trip back to MN this year. However, next year will be different, but I'll tell you about that later.

Mom, Dad, Daniel, and Christina arrived late in the evening of Friday the 21st. It was wonderful to see them again. The last time we saw them was for a brief visit while in town for Ben's sister's wedding. We had the house all decorated, our Christmas lights on, and candles lit for a warm welcome. After settling down, we ate a late dinner of roast duck, rice, and other Chinese goodies. Everyone was enjoying the conversation and catching up. That evening we also celebrated Daniel's birthday, which is actually in November, but we decided to celebrate it then since we did not have a chance to on his official birthday.

The next morning we woke up early to call our relatives in Singapore. We talked to them over an internet program called Skype, and we were able to use webcams so that we could see them and they could see us. It was a lot of fun. Breakfast was duck porridge, but some of us (Ben =) had cereal, and Christina preferred hash browns. Next we moved into the living room where a rotation of Wii gaming was set up. Throughout the entire week, there was a lot of Wii played, mostly by the boys, but my parents got into it too. Their favorites were Wii tennis and bowling. The whole family was gathered around, but only 2 people could play at once so in the mean time, we continued having great conversations about the latest news.

For lunch we had cha siu baos, more Chinese goodies, and duck porridge. Duck porridge might sound unappetizing to you, but let me tell you, it is delicious! After lunch, we took Daniel to get his haircut at a salon that specializes in Asian haircuts. It was part of the birthday present that Ben and I gave Daniel. Before he came to visit us, Daniel said his hair was getting long and he wanted a haircut while he was here in Columbus. I really like the salon I go to, they do a good job with Asian hair texture, which can be difficult to cut, so I thought of taking Daniel there too. His haircut turned out well, and everyone liked it. We also stopped by Best Buy to do a little shopping, and then went to the Chinese grocery store for groceries.

Dinner was our treat at Akai Hana. We had sushi, and lots of it! It was yummy, and I will let the pictures speak for themselves. =) After dinner, we stopped by a Japanese grocery store that my family had seen on the way in to the restaurant.

When we got home, we watched Christina's slide show on her trip to Singapore, and heard all of her stories and fun memories.

The next day was Sunday. After a breakfast of bagels and cereal, we were off to church. After church we came home and made beef salad and a lotus root vegetable dish. There was more relaxing, playing Wii, drinking tea, looking at pictures, then it was time for lunch. We had sticky rice, because we were saving the beef salad for dinner. It tastes better if it's had time to soak up all the seasonings. More snacking, relaxing, Wii, and then we opened a couple of presents. This year we had a lot of presents - unusually abundant because my sister brought back many gifts from Singapore. We normally do not get gifts for Christmas from our relatives in Singapore, but this year Christina happened to be there, and they were very kind to send things back with her.

Dinner was beef salad and the lotus root dish. After dinner, Kevin, (the youth group leader at our church) Bradley and Branson (two of the youth group kids) stopped by for a visit. They got to meet my family, our puppy Oliver, and they stayed to play some Wii too. After they left, we played one of my favorite games, Apples to Apples with my family. That night Christina and I stayed up late playing cards and talking into the wee hours of the morning. It was fun to have some sister time.

We slept in late the next morning. For brunch I baked a batch of fresh cinnamon rolls to go along with bagels. Next we all got ready and dressed up for family pictures. After pictures we took a few hours to open our Christmas presents at a leisurely pace. Later that afternoon, Mom and the girls went grocery shopping. We made lettuce wraps for dinner, and watched a movie before going to bed.

Christmas morning was a breakfast of waffles, one of Ben's specialties. After breakfast, we finished opening the last of our presents. Then Mom and Dad gave a slide show of their recent vacation to Jamaica and their Caribbean cruise. This cruise was supposed to be for their 25th wedding anniversary, which was two years ago, but they weren't able to go until now. It looked like a lot of fun, and brought back memories of the cruise Ben and I went on for our honeymoon. The scenery was gorgeous, the food looked delicious, and from the glow of their smiles, they look liked they had a blast!

Lunch was fried rice, then more Wii and relaxation. Dinner was another one of Ben's specialties - BBQ Ribs! So good. Fall off the bone tender and delicious good! He has a special recipe and method of cooking it that seals all of the wonderful flavor and juiciness in. Yum! The six of us polished off two full racks of ribs!

After the hearty meal, we were ready for our next activity. Daniel and Christina had been looking forward to this even before they arrived in Columbus...Gameworks in Columbus. Apparently on Tuesday nights you can get 4 hours of unlimited play for $10, which is a great deal. Ben and I have never been to the Gameworks here in Columbus, so we were up for it. It took a little convincing, but we got my parents to come too. When we got there, Gameworks said they were originally going to be open for 4 hours, but now were going to be closing after 2. The manager was very kind and gave us the two hours for $5 rather than charing the full $10. So we got 4 passes for $20 - great deal! Ben and Daniel used their own cards, while Mom and I shared one, and Dad and Christina shared one. It was a fun time, and I found it entertaining to watch Mom and Dad play video games. =)

Wed was the last day my family was going to be in town. We ate a brunch of eggs, cereal, and bagels. The Mom and the girls did their nails, while the guys played Wii. Next we decided to get out of the house and do a little window/post Christmas sale shopping. Dinner was my parents treat at Tria, a Greek Restaurant. Their food was really tasty. We had chicken and lamb dishes as well as their specialty, gyros.

The next morning was an early one, as I had to be in to clinic by 7:30am. We said our good byes at about 5:45am. I had to get ready for clinic, and Ben got to go back to sleep. All together it was a really fun visit. I'm so glad my family came! Now about next year...I have been assigned a three month extern rotation (from December through February) in Stillwater, MN! So the Cooleys will be in MN/WI next year for Christmas!

Holiday Pictures

2007-12-14T10:57:00.000-05:00

Since everyone reading this blog will not be able to see us this Christmas season we wanted to post some pictures to give you an idea what we have been up to.

Our house with all the exterior lights lit.

Last weekend we went to a Christmas production called "The Living Christmas Tree" at Grace Brethren Church in Worthington. Tickets to the show were given to us as a gift by a family from church that San-San knows quite well and it was a wonderful time. The show was very very well produced and they even had live animals walking through the aisles of the church just feet from us. Huge camels, horses, donkeys and even some sheep. Often there was so much going on around us both on-stage and off, at times we would be looking at the things going on off to the side more than the main action on the stage. Flash photos were not allowed so after the show we took a few pictures just to get an idea of how massive this even was. The cast was quite large and there were 20-30 choir members on both sides of the stage inside risers shaped like a Christmas tree (see the picture below).

The Living Christmas Tree

The huge cast after the show

No recent posts

2007-12-04T10:52:00.001-05:00

We have been quite busy recently and no have anything too noteworthy to post about. However over the holiday season there should be more news to post about so don't be discouraged and check back soon.

Here is a quick summary of what he have been doing over the past 2 months.

Thanksgiving: We had no guests for Thanksgiving dinner and after a huge meal with our small group a few days prior we enjoyed a smaller lunch together. Since there is only 2 of us a huge turkey is not needed so we continued our previous holiday tradition of getting a store bought rotisserie chicken the morning before lunch. Not only do we like chicken better than turkey, the leftovers are gone sooner and minimal work is needed to prepare it.

Fun with friends: Last month we got into playing Guitar Hero 3 with Bill and Angie who has just bought it. It is a lot of fun and even had a GH3 party with some of her classmates.

Work: Things have been busy at work with a bunch of projects rushing to completion at the same time. New hangars at Fairfield County Airport, finishing of the design for a taxiway reconstruction at Washington Dulles Airport, and some other design projects for some other airports.

Recent Visitors

2007-10-16T07:43:00.000-05:00

Life has been quite busy the last week, and we even had a few visitors. Carrie (my sister) and Kerry (her husband) came to visit us in Columbus all the way from Wisconsin. They arrived around 6:30pm on Thursday night. San-San had to work, but she had made a pot roast earlier that day. So Carrie, Kerry, and I chatted and I prepped for dinner so we could eat when we all were home. We had some rice and fresh baked dinner rolls along with the delicious pot roast.

Friday we all got to sleep in, except for San-San who had class at 7:30am and clinic all day. She is not able to miss any class or clinics this year, otherwise it affects her grades, so we had to work around her schedule. She did have a slight break were she was able to give our guests a quick tour of the Optometry building, and a brief chat before lunch. Back at our house, I grilled brats for lunch, and the Carries/Kerrys and I relaxed all afternoon. After San-San came home, we went out to dinner at Bonefish Grill, a new restaurant we wanted to try out for a while now. The food was great, and the interior design was classy yet not too dressy.

Saturday we took off to go to the Ohio Renaissance Festival south of Columbus. It was a little bit of a drive (only a little over an hour), but was definitely worth it with great weather and a lot of fun times. We saw lots of shows including a full armour joust, visited many merchants, and had some Renaissance type food. We stayed from 11:00am until after 4pm so we were quite tired on the ride home. San-San and I went 2 years ago and were ready to go again. It was a little better this time with more people to go with, and we did a little more this visit. Saturday dinner was chicken broccoli casserole which is a San-San specialty and always gets rave reviews. Once again it was prefect after a long day of walking around in the sun, we were ready to relax. A few more games to end the night since we all had to waken early the next day.

The Carries/Kerrys left first thing Sunday morning so they could be back to Wisconsin before it got too late on Sunday. We had a great visit with them and were quite tried from all the fun we had.

San-San's Exam

2007-09-25T13:15:00.000-05:00

BIG NEWS!!

San-San passed her Optometry Boards Part I!!

She is quite relieved and happy.

First 2007 OSU Football Game

2007-09-25T13:07:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday we had tickets to our first OSU football game of the season. Our seats this year are great and we like them much better then last year. Our seats are right on an aisle about half way of the upper deck near the 30 yard-line. The view is quite nice, and we are sitting near some of San-San's classmates. (see the X on the picture below) We'll bring a camera next time and take a picture from our seats.

The game quite quite fun for the first half, but since Northwestern is not that good the second half of the game got a little boring. The final score was 58-7 and by the end the team wasn't even trying anymore.

Our next game is in 2 weeks against Kent State which should also be a similar type game.

Day Four and Five: Monuments and Travel

2007-09-09T13:42:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning we woke up and went straight to the International Spy Museum. We had been told that tickets reserved a specific time you could enter and they limited the number of people who could enter at one time. We had purchased the tickets yesterday for the first available time which was 10am so we ate a little breakfast in a cafe next to the museum and got in pretty early. There was a little confusion about what to do at first when we got in, as their elevator was broken, but soon we were off exploring the world of the international spy. It was fun and they really packed a lot of information into a small building and made it fun as well.

Since we had yet to visit any of the many memorials and monuments in Washington DC up to this point, we planned the rest of our day around that. We bought a day pass ticket on a tour tram which drove around the Capital, Mall, and Arlington Cemetery area. It was quite nice since you could hop off to see the memorial and hop back on to ride to the next stop. There were stops all over the area so you could pretty much see anything you wanted without walking much. In order we saw these monuments:
-Jefferson Monument
-Franklin D Roosevelt Monument
-Korean War Memorial

Then took the tram across the river to the Arlington Cemetery were we rode the shuttle around to see the following:
-John F Kennedy eternal flame
-Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Then we got back on the tram to see the following:
-Lincoln Memorial
-Vietnam War Memorial
-World War II Memorial

After seeing all of those memorials and walking around quite a bit we were tired and headed back to the hotel. On the way back we walked past the White House and took a few pictures.

Dinner was at Legal Seafood which was quite good. I had a surf and turf (Lobster and Steak) and San-San had a crab stuffed flounder. It was a big date night, so I decided to splurge and go for the lobster. I'd never had a whole lobster before. We walked around in Chinatown but were still tired so we took the subway back to the hotel to sleep.

Since the drive home was only 6 or 7 hours we planned to spend a little time in the morning around DC just to see a few more things that we had missed. The first stop was the White House Visitor Center which had lots of good history and photos of the inside of the White House. Since you have to make an appointment with your Congress-person to get a tour of the actual White House we just settled for the photos and stories.

After that we stopped by Potbelly's for a great lunch of sandwiches, I had a ham and swiss and San-San had roast beef I think. After checking out of the hotel, we drove by the US Capital building so San-San could jump out and get a few pictures and then we left town. The drive back was pretty uneventful and we managed to get home with enough time to relax a little before we had to get ready to both go back to work the next day.

Day Three: Washington DC - Smithsonian

2007-09-09T12:13:00.000-05:00

Saturday we woke up at a good time an started out to explore the area around The Mall (not a group of stores but a grassy park). We were not sure of a good place to eat breakfast, so we started towards the Mall (our hotel was 3 or 4 blocks away) and found a Corner Bakery to eat breakfast. The first stop after eating was the Air and Space Museum. On our way their we crossed the mall, got a few silly pictures with the Washington Monument and made it to the museum just as the doors were opening. Since most museum and monuments in DC are free, there are no admission tickets to buy and few lines to stand in.

The Air and Space Museum was a lot of fun, with the highlights being many spacecraft, old WWII planes and the 3D Imax Movie called Stace Station 3D. It was the best 3D movie/Imax movie I have ever seen. Not only was it well made, but the 3D aspect made it really seem like you were in the space station with the astronauts.

After the museum we were tired and hungry so we walked to Union Station for lunch and to get to a central location to decide which bus tours or subway rides we were going to ride to get to our next destination. For lunch we ate in a food court so I could have pizza and San-San ate some Indian food.

The Natural History Museum was the next place we went. A large variety of topics were covered there from prehistoric animals, to a Hope Diamond exhibit, to mammals from all different parts of the world on display. I was getting tired by this time and didn't see every exhibit, but San-San seemed to have endless energy.

On the way back to the hotel to get ready and go eat dinner, we stopped at the International Spy Museum (more on that in tomorrow's post) to pick up advance tickets.

Dinner reservations were for a restaurant called Mezza Luna which we had researched before we left on the trip and were very excited to go to. The cuisine was tapas, which are many smaller dishes combined to make one meal. We had two hot dishes (crab cakes and lamb chop) and two cold dishes (tuna tartare and beef tenderloin carpaccio). The food was very very food and we were quite full when we finished eating. We rode the bus back to the hotel, and turned in for the night.

Day Two: Off to D.C.

2007-09-09T10:38:00.000-05:00

Friday morning we woke up and ate breakfast, then went the pool opened we went for a swim. I really liked the pool at the hotel, it was 9 and a half feet deep. Ben and I had fun doing dives, cannonballs, jack-knives, and all the fun tricks we learned as kids. I grew up in So-Cal and pretty much swam everyday in the summer. After moving out to MN and now OH, there aren't very many deep swimming pools that are accessible, so I had tons of fun.

After checking out of the hotel we headed towards Washington D.C. On our way we stopped in Gettysburg to check out the battlefields and to have lunch. I really liked the historic town, and would like to go back to visit and spend more time there. Gettysburg wasn't in our original travel plans, we were only passing through, but sometime I would like to go back and stay at one of the cute bed and breakfasts, and see more sights. We ate lunch at Dobbin House Tavern, which is an old home/tavern that used to help runaway slaves hide and escape. It was very cool, dark, and there was definitely a sense of history there. The servers and even some of the customers were dressed in period clothing. Great atmosphere, and delicious food!

The next stop was the Gettysburg visitor center and museum, and the National Cemetery across the street. This was the site of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address.

We then continued on our way to D.C. and stopped by for a visit at my highschool/college friend Disha's house. Disha and her husband Sraven, along with their little boy Zubin live in a suburb about 40 minutes from D.C. It was fun to see her as it has been a couple of years. We di d a lot of catching up, and had a nice dinner with the family at a restaurant called ATR. We walked around the plaza where the restaurant was located, then headed back to their place. After more talking, some video games for the boys, and sharing photos for the girls, we drove into D.C. and checked into our hotel.

Day One: Hershey, PA

2007-09-07T12:39:00.001-05:00

Since, San-San has been so busy with school and work I thought it would be nice to take a short vacation over the extended Labor Day holiday weekend. We had watched a tv show called hidden secrets of Hershey, Pennsylvania and it was kind of interesting. San-San had also never been to our nation's capital Washington DC so we combined two trips into one and started planning.

The trip started out at 7:30am last Thursday since we needed to drop Oliver off at the boarding location, since he could not travel with us. :( After dropping him off we were off to Hershey, PA. The ~6 hour drive seemed to go by quite quickly since already this summer we have made two 12 hour trips back to Wisconsin for weddings, so 6 hours is a drop in the bucket comparatively. We arrived in Harrisburg (our hotel location) around 1pm and could not check-in so we went straight to Hershey which is less than 30 minutes away.

We drove through town and enjoyed a few sights before our first stop, Hershey Chocolate World were you can ride a short FREE tour of a simulated chocolate factory and then get a FREE sample. After the tour we stopped at the shops for lots of candy for ourselves and a few gifts. Dinner at the Hershey Lodge restaurant called Hershey Grill was pretty good and the price was right. We ate outdoors next to a nice garden.

Next we visited Hershey Hotel, the fancy hotel of the town. The grounds were very nice, and we took a few pictures. Then we made our way back to Chocolate World for Hershey's Trolley Works, which is a singing tour of the town and history of Hershey. We learned more about the town, and the tour guides were pretty funny. After that we headed back to our hotel, and went swimming before going to bed.

What I have been up to.

2007-08-20T14:58:00.000-05:00

While San-San has been busy with school related activities (class, homework, study groups) I have managed to keep busy with other things. This summer I finally got back into bicycling as much as I was back when I lived in Minnesota. I was quite spoiled before since the paved bike trail was only 1/2 a block from my apartment's back door. In the height of my previous riding I could manage 10-15 miles every other day after work.

The paved bike trails are a little farther spread out here in Columbus compared to Minnesota and since we don't live close to one I did not start biking last summer either. Some of San-San's classmates husbands also were into biking and took me to a trail about 20 minutes from home. We went a few times as a group and I went a few more alone but after a few accidents my bike was broken and I needed a replacement. I bought a used bike from another fellow biker near Toledo and have been out on the trails a lot since then. Every Thursday night the local mountain bike association goes out for a group ride (usually 6-10 people) and if the weather cooperates I have been attending as well.

There are 2 main mountain biking trails near Columbus both around 6 miles long and I usually try and get out and do one lap (6 miles) every Tuesday, Thursday and once a weekend. The trails are nice and get lots of riders so they are well maintained. The brush and trees are all trimmed back and many wooden bridges cross the streams along the trail.

Last weekend was another group event at a different trail about an hours drive from Columbus. I had not been to this trail so I thought it would be better I went with a group the first time. I met up with them on Saturday morning and had a good time. The trail was quite hard and more overgrown than the trail I usually ride.

I am on the left of the picture of everyone who was at the group ride last weekend.

Second Cooley Wedding

2007-08-10T20:08:00.000-05:00

We have been very busy since the last post but most of it was not anything special to write about. However, my sister Carrie was married on July 28 and we made the trip back to Wisconsin to celebrate.

We left Friday around 12:30 since San-San had an exam that morning that she could not miss. We drove all 12 hours to my parents house that day and spent the night in one of the upstairs "guest rooms" (Sarah's old room). The wedding was in Eau Claire, about an hour from BRF, so it worked out well for us as a stop over spot. The trip to Wisconsin went well, a little road construction/traffic in a few places but no problems. San-San was able to use the long roadtrip to study for boards. Once we were in Black River Falls we went straight to bed since it was quite late.

Saturday morning we had no plans so we slept in for a while and got ready for the wedding. My tuxedo was already at the church so I relaxed while San-San changed, did her hair and makeup etc. The preparation before the service went nicely and pictures were smooth. I was an usher for the wedding ceremony which required some coordination of seating and flow of traffic. The ceremony went smoothly, Carrie and Kerry (her new husband) both had planned a nice unique service.

During the reception there were some very Carrie-type games played and special events, but everyone had fun and played along. After it had gotten late, San-San and I drove back to BRF to spend the night before our long drive back to Columbus on Sunday. Sunday's drive went well also, but it was a full weekend that we are glad we will not have to do again.

Quick Update

2007-07-19T13:36:00.000-05:00

Life has been quite busy for us since the last post. Our next major event is traveling to Wisconsin for my older sister's wedding in 2 weeks. San-San has multiple exams before then, and her big optometry board exams just after our trip. She has been quite busy with study sessions at school and more at home.

I have been staying busy with other jobs around the house and trying to make things easier for her. I do try and stay out of her way while she is studying since it is not hard for me to distract her and get her off task.

Work has been quite busy for me since I have been designing a large storm water drainage study for one of our airport clients. Most hours during the day for the last two weeks have been consumed with designing, modeling and preparation of this project. I will be ready to move on with something different when that time comes.

Happy 4th of July!

2007-07-04T10:56:00.000-05:00

We've had two events this week so far. One with Eye Care Professionals, and one Ben and I went to on our own last night. Monday night Ben and I went to a Clippers game (baseball) with the people I work with. Dr. Kuhlmann and Dr. Miller and everyone else from the office was there with their families. It was fun to see everyone outside of work and enjoy a baseball game. The kids had a good time, I don't think they were watching much baseball, but neither was I. I was having more fun playing with the kids. It was Dime Dog night, which meant 10 cent hot dogs - a great deal considering they are usually $2.75 on a regular game day. The Clippers lost, but it was still a fun evening. After the game, there were fireworks, so Ben and I stayed to watch.

Yesterday, after class and Eye Wear Gallery, Ben picked me up from school at about 7pm, and we headed downtown for Red, White, and BOOM! Hehe, it is the fireworks show that Columbus puts on every year. We did not go last year, so we thought it would be fun this year. By the time we parked and walked, it was about 7:45pm, and we still had plenty of time before the fireworks at 10pm. We made our way to the Taste of Boom, and had a bite to eat and some lemonade. We walked around a park that was full of people, walked down to the river, and looped back up to the food area, mostly just to use up some time before the fireworks started. When it got close to 10pm, we made our way back toward the river to pick out a good spot to watch the fireworks. It was a great show, with lots of huge fireworks, and a good variety too. Ben really liked the light blue colored ones, but my favorite were the cascading champagne looking ones. All the fireworks pictures are from Red, White, and BOOM! You can click on the small ones to see them bigger in full effect.

Minnesota Day Trip

2007-06-28T08:52:00.001-05:00

This post is to fill you in on what we did on Thursday. Ben and I left BRF in the morning, and drove two hours to Minneapolis. We arrived at my brother and sister's condo at about 10am. Actually my parents own it, but thats where Daniel and Christina are staying while going to school at the U of M. It's really nice and spacious, especially for being so close to the U campus. My brother and sister share it with two other roommates (who were out of town for the weekend). Ben and I arrived and had some time to catch up with Daniel and Christina before my parents got there. Mom and dad were meeting us up in the cities, but had some work related things to take care of in Rochester.

It was great to see Daniel and Christina again, even though it had only been a few weeks since they had come to Columbus to visit us. Oliver was super excited too. =) He had a lot of fun exploring his new surroundings. When my parents arrived, we headed out for lunch at a Korean restaurant. It was a buffet full of delicious Korean cuisine, but they also had some Japanese food and sushi. The food was great, and we had a wonderful time talking and sharing the latest news.

After a long lunch, we stopped by the Korean/Asian grocery store, just to walk around a bit, and pick up a few snacks. Then it was back to the condo. More catching up and hanging out, and Christina gave us our Christmas/birthday(Ben's)/anniversary/

birthday(mine) present. She had gone to Ireland last December and brought back Waterford crystal from the actual store in Ireland. It was beautiful. She gave us a matching crystal bowl set, a large serving bowl, and a smaller candy dish to match. My parents received a wine glass set and a tumbler set. All were specially hand engraved and personalized. We were very touched.

That evening we went out to dinner with some of our MN friends. Daniel had class so he couldn't make it, but Christina came with us. It was a good time. Many of our friends like us have moved out of town, so it wasn't the big group we had going to dinner at Old Chicago back in our college days, but it was still great to see all of them.

After dinner we went back to the condo, stayed up late talking with the family, and finally went to sleep. The next morning, I woke up early for some reason and couldn't fall back asleep. My mom happened to be awake too, so we sat out on the balcony, talked and enjoyed the early morning sun. Oliver of course wanted to be out on the balcony too, so he sad out with us. Eventually my dad woke up, and he joined us on the balcony. By this time more people were out and about on their way to work and school. It was fun to people watch, relax, and talk about life. I was really glad I could have this chance to talk to them for a few hours. Since we live so far away, face to face conversations are few and far between. Phone conversations are good, but it's just not the same.

Daniel, Christina, and Ben slept in, but after everyone had gotten up and ready, we went for brunch at a Malaysian restaurant called Peninsula. http://www.peninsulamalaysiancuisine.com/ The food was amazing. I hate to say it, but their roti pratha (canai) certainly rivaled Singapore's, and was perhaps even better! Other dishes we had: beef and chicken satay, Penang style tofu, Penang loh bak, Hokkien char mee, spicy crispy golden fried squid, and beef rendang. Yum! So, so good, I'm making myself hungry. After lunch we returned to the condo, picked Oliver up, said our good byes, and headed back to WI for Ben's sister's wedding rehearsal.

The Wisconsin Weekend

2007-06-19T12:09:00.000-05:00

We have been many miles since we posted last. The main event we have been planning and looking forward to is the marriage of my sister Sarah to Dan Solberg. Their wedding was last Saturday, but the events before and after were also noteworthy so I will start there.

Wednesday June 13
The wedding was scheduled perfectly between OSU's spring and summer quarters so San-San did not have classes leading up to the wedding, but she did have patients to see in clinic Wednesday morning. While she worked I finished packing the car, picked up Oliver from the groomers, and we left straight from OSU around 1pm. The 10.5 hour car ride was pretty uneventful and traffic was not a problem. The last time I drove to Wisconsin there was some major roadwork in Illinois but it had all been completed and even the time spent at the tollbooth was short. We arrived in Black River Falls, Wisconsin around 10pm and managed to get a little talking done with the family before it was bed time.

Thursday June 14
After a quick breakfast we took off for Minneapolis to meet up with San-San's family who were all at Daniel and Christina's condo. San-San is going to post more details from our visit with them.

Friday June 15
After finishing our visit with the Luahs we took off for Wisconsin. The wedding rehearsal was scheduled for 5pm so we had time to pickup my tux in Eau Claire on the way home. We just happened to run into my dad, Dan and his dad at the tuxedo place trying on their tuxes. There was no problem with my rental so we met them later since it was taking them longer.

We had a little time to unload our bags and relax before heading to the church for the rehearsal. No major events took place at the rehearsal dinner afterwards, which was quite good.

Saturday June 16
Saturday I didn't have much to do in the morning while San-San and some of the other ushers setup the tables with centerpieces and decorations at the reception tent. She then met the rest of the girls in the wedding at the church to all get ready together. Dad, Kerry and I stayed at home and played a board game until 11am. The pictures before the service went well, with the families posing with both the bride and groom separately before the service.

The service was quite nice, good music and the flow of the entire thing was perfect. Sarah looked quite nice, and Dan was red as usual. Some tears were shed by Sarah, and once the service got going they just looked into each others eyes and enjoyed it all.

After the ceremony we had group pictures with both the bride and groom together, and the full wedding party as well. Once that was done we were off to the reception at Circle Hill. The weather was perfect for the outdoor games, and the tent where dinner was served helped people stay cool out of the sun. Games like Ladder Golf and Bocce Ball were setup in the field by the tent and tables under the tent. Carrie and Eric (Dan's brother) both gave great toasts with funny and meaningful statements about Sarah and Dan. After dinner there was more games, and then dancing inside. The air conditioning was on inside so it was nice to cool off and do some dancing. San-San and I did dance moderate amount and we both had a great time. The reception was done around midnight and were both very tired and went straight to bed once we got to my parents house.

Sunday June 17
We left Wisconsin early in the morning around 8am and took off for Ohio. Since we were tired from the weekend we took a few extended food breaks, and got back close to 9pm. We had safe and uneventful travels and were quite happy to be home and be able to relax. It was a great weekend and we hope the happy couple is doing well on their honeymoon in Hawaii.

Memorial Day Weekend Recap!

2007-06-07T18:56:00.000-05:00

So I'm finally done with finals! It's been a long week. But now I have some time to update the blog. Ben already gave a small taste of the awesome weekend we had when my brother and sister and their friend Naran came to visit us. It was Memorial Day weekend, and we had a blast.

Thursday: Daniel, Christina, and Naran arrived at about 8pm. They had been on the road all day. It's about a 12 hour drive from Rochester, MN. I had dinner waiting for them, since they had eaten lunch, but only snacked for dinner while on the road. We did a lot of catching up, talking, and just enjoying each others company. After dinner we relaxed in the living room and talked some more while Iron Chef was on tv in the background. They were all tired from a long day of traveling, so we went to bed soon after. Since we only have one guest room, Christina, being the girl, got to sleep upstairs on the bed. The guys were reasonably comfortable downstairs on the couch and futon.

Friday: Daniel, Christina, Naran, and I all woke up early to be at my optometry school for 8 am eye appointments. I examined Daniel's eyes, while two of my classmates examined Christina's and Naran's eyes. Daniel and Christina are each getting a new pair of glasses, yay! They both needed an update in their prescription, so I'm glad I could help them out with that. I still had clinic and classes until 4:30pm, so the three of them went to Easton Town Center, an outdoor shopping mall. There they did a bit of shopping, ate lunch, and watched Spiderman in IMAX at the movie theater in the mall. Watching a movie is probably one of the better things you can do after being dilated for an eye exam. It's nice and dark, and the movie is usually as long as it needs for the dilation to start wearing off. Although I've never seen a movie in IMAX while being dilated and the screens are huge, so I don't know if that gets affected. I'll have to ask them.

After Easton, the three of them came and picked me up at school, and we drove to a restaurant called House of Japan, where Ben met us for dinner. We sat at the sushi bar, which was great because we got fast service and got to see the chef making our sushi. The five of us all ordered various rolls and different types of sushi and got to try a little bit of everything. It was delicious, and we left stuffed full of good sushi. After dinner, we came home and played a game of Scene It, and then turned in for the night because we had a big day planned for Saturday.

Saturday: CEDAR POINT! Ben, Christina, Naran, and I woke up and had breakfast, and then were on the road on our way to Cedar Point. Daniel was meeting up with some of his college friends who had moved out here to Columbus OH. He wasn't as interested in going to Cedar Point, so that worked out perfect for him. Ben already posted on our favorite rides, but I'll give you a rundown of the entire day:

Iron Dragon - A good start to the day, exciting but not the most intense one.

Mantis - A standing up ride, 145 foot drop, top speed of 60 mph. Fun, but waiting in line for this ride was the worst, in the rain, with the fans blowing on us.

Millenium Force - (click on the picture) At first Ben thought the name was a bit cheesy, but by the time we got off the ride, we all agreed, BEST COASTER EVER! You start from the station right up onto the hill, no straightaway, no curving, just up, and fast. They use an elevator cable system, it's smooth and quiet, just shoots you up to the top. But it's a long ride up, it keeps going and going, and thats when you start to get a bit nervous, and just before the state of panic, you crest the hill. That first drop is amazing. It's 300 feet, with an 80 degree incline! Honestly, I don't think you can see the track for some of the time due to the seats in front of you and the angle of incline. You know how your stomach comes up into your chest when you go down big drops like that? Well this drop is long enough that your body equalizes, and your stomach settles for just a split second of weightlessness, and it feels like your floating, not falling, then you get to the bottom and you can feel all the G forces pushing down on you. Like I said, amazing, and the rest of the ride is awesome too (top speed 92 mph), but that first drop is the worth the price of admission. Can you tell I love roller coasters? =)

Corkscrew - Pretty typical, decently fun.

Top Thrill Dragster: (picture is clickable too) Another amazing adrenaline rush ride. It's 420 feet up and 420 feet down. Their hydraulic launch system sends you speeding up the track at 120 mph in about 4 seconds. When you crest the top, its a free fall at a 90 degree angle with a 270 degree spiral on descent. That's IF you crest the top. There are no forward motion controls at the top. Meaning if you get to the top and don't have enough inertia to put you over, you go back the way you came, falling backwards to the start line where they reset the hydraulics and send you up again. Fun stuff, but our coaster went over on the first try. While waiting in line we were planning where to go next. Magnum XL-200 was next on the list, until someone in line told us the ride had shut down for the day due to an accident. Apparantly the rain had made the ride rails slick, and the brake system slipped. One of the incoming trains rear-ended a train waiting in the station. No one was seriously injured, and I think they reopened the ride the next day.

Mean Streak: It was a wooden roller coaster. OK. but I remember why I love steel roller coasters so much more. This ride hurts, too jerky, I think everyone hit an elbow, shoulder, back, or neck on this ride.

Millenium Force: Part Two! We had to go on an encore ride of this one, our favorite. =)

Raptor: Another one of my favorites. Christina and I closed the night out with this ride. The guys were done, but we had to go on this last one, especially since I had been wanting to go on a "dangly leg" ride all day. This ride's track is above you, and you are suspended with your legs free. With the track above, the twists, turns, and loops are much tighter and more of an adrenaline rush. It was a great ride.

We didn't get to ride Maverick, which was the new ride that had opened just that day. The lines were insanely long for that one. I definitely would come back and ride Maverick, along with Magnum XL-200, Millenium Force (at lease twice), Top Thrill Dragster (maybe twice on this one too), Raptor, and Wicked Twister. Looks like I've got my next Cedar Point trip planned!

After we got back from Cedar Point, it was super late. I went to go pick Daniel up from his friends' place, and everyone went to sleep.

Sunday: We woke up, ate a light breakfast, and went to church. After church we went to have dimsum. It's one of the best dimsum places we've eaten at, and it was discovered by accident last year when my parents and brother were in town. We actually saw it on the way to another restaurant we were eating at, and came back the next day. Very good dimsum.

Next we went to the Chinese grocery store to pick up some food and snacks. A quick stop at home to drop off the groceries, then we went to Polaris Mall to walk off the dimsum we ate and do some window shopping. Next we came home and made potstickers for dinner. Christina was tired, so she turned in early for the night. I studied for finals, and the boys played video games.

Monday: We ate brunch at home, then went to Magic Mountain Fun Centers. Hehe, it's no Six Flag Magic Mountains, but it was a fun relaxing thing to do on Memorial Day. Magic Mountain is an arcade/mini golf/go kart racing/laser tag place. We went there to play some mini golf. It was a beautiful day outside, and the course had all sorts of fun obstacles. It was getting pretty hot outside near the end of our game, so we headed indoors, and proceeded to play a lot of arcade games. I usually don't play very many games when it comes to arcades, but we got a good deal on a ton of tokens, so I played a few. Daniel hit two jackpots while playing those ticket games, and in the end, we were able to redeem a few really good prizes. It was a lot of fun. We had thought about going go karting, but it was too hot, the lines were long, and besides, what could top Cedar Point?

We came home and started preparing for our Memorial Day cookout with the Johnsons. Bill and Angie came over to meet my brother and sister. It was a fun time of hanging out, grilling, and eating. Christina had a good time letting Bill try many Chinese snacks (seasoned seaweed, cuttlefish, preserved plums) to see whether or not he liked them. I was impressed that he liked much of what he tried, let alone trying it in the first place. We got a chance to enjoy our back patio and swing, while Ben grilled all the delicious food - chicken, steak, corn. When the food was all done cooking, we ate inside on our dining room table. It was the first time we had enough people over to use the extra leaf. =) After dinner we played Apples to Apples, it's a fun game, I would love to get it, Christina brought it from MN. Then the Johnsons left and it was time to go to bed. The three of them had a long drive ahead of them the next day.

Tuesday: We said our goodbyes early that morning, and I was sad to see them go. We all had such a great weekend, and it had passed by so quickly. Then it was off to school for me and work for Ben.

I'm so glad that Daniel, Christina, and Naran were able to make the trip out here. I hadn't seen Daniel since last November, and Christina for about a year and half, since she was in Ireland the last time my family came to visit. So it was really really good to see them. Thanks again for coming out to visit us! We love you!

Our 2 year Anniversary

2007-06-05T09:37:00.000-05:00

Sunday was our 2 year wedding anniversary and since San-San has been so busy studying for finals there wasn't much time to celebrate. However we did go out to dinner in German Village at a restaurant called Schmidts. San-San ate the Alpine Chicken Spatzel which was grilled chicken sliced and served on German spatzel noodles with onions, peppers and mushrooms, topped with creamy garlic-basil sauce. It was quite good and she enjoyed it. I ate from the buffet which was good, and had a lot of choices of sausage and some really good meatloaf. It was low key, but a good study break for San-San, who went right back to studying after we got home from dinner.

My 28th Birthday

2007-06-05T09:30:00.000-05:00

May 30th was my birthday and San-San got me a bike helmet. I have been doing a little mountain biking with some friends at some trails on the north side of Columbus, and a helmet is needed due to the difficulty of the trails. It is a lot of fun, but quite a workout. After the 6+ miles around one of the trails loops, I am dead tired. I had never been on an official mountain biking trail before with jumps and obstacles etc, but it has been a lot of fun. If only I can get myself into better shape I might be able to keep pace with Bill and Andrew who I bike with.

Weekend with the Siblings

2007-06-05T09:05:00.000-05:00

Wow, it has been a long time since we have posted on the blog and we are sorry for that. Since the last post we were busy but with nothing that is worthy of a post and is no major news. Well, we finally have some news and lots to post about.

Over Memorial Day weekend San-San's brother and sister, and her friend Naran came to visit from Minnesota. We had lots to do to keep them entertained and the weekend was a great one. San-San will post about more of those details later, however I am going to post about what we did on Saturday May 26th.

Cedar Point is a large amusement park in northern Ohio which is considered one of the best rollercoaster parks in the world. They have 17 rollercoasters there and some of them have been at one time the fastest or the tallest in the world. We planned a long day of riding rollercoasters and the weather report of rain and thundershowers discoraged us a little bit. But we planned ahead brought extra clothes and made it to the park by 11am.

It had been raining in the morning and there were lots of puddles in the parking lot but when we arrived it wasn't raining. That soon changed as once we got in the park we rode one ride and while we were in line for the next ride (~a 1.5 hour wait) it started pouring. Since the park in on Lake Erie and the weather was 10-15 degrees cooler there than in Columbus, so the rain was less than comfortable. To make matters worse the fans that are normally on to cool the riders in line in the hot summer months were still turned on, and the rain and fans blowing made that wait not very fun. However the ride was a blast and was worth the wait.

Off and on during the next hour or so the rain slowed and picked up, but after we ate a warm lunch of chicken fingers and fries it had almost stopped. Luckily the rain held off for the rest of the day but we had to hang around in our wet clothes.

Some of our favorite rides were:
Top-Thrill Dragster which accelerates you to 120 mph in seconds and shoots you up vertically 420 feet and straight back down. The ride is over in 20 seconds but it so much fun.

Millenium Force is my new favorite rollercoaster of all time. It is very fast, smooth ride and the initial hill is a very sharp angle and you get shot up it so fast.

The new ride Maverick opened the day we were there but the lines were too long all of the day to ride on it.

When the day ended I had ridden 6 coasters and San-San and Christina had gone on 8 I think. They were even waiting until the final minutes of the park being open to ride the Raptor which had been closed down and rumored to reopen again. It was worth the wait for the girls, and we were quite tired buy the time we got home around midnight.

Even with 2 more days of vacation thanks to the Memorial Day holiday, I missed multiple days of work thanks to a really bad cold/flu I picked up with at the park in the rain on Saturday. I am pretty much back to full strength now, but there were quite a few days of poor health last week.

Busy weekend coming up

2007-04-27T10:15:00.000-05:00

This weekend will be another busy one for San-San. I think she has 3 or 4 events on Saturday which keep her booked from 9am until after dinner. Sunday will be filled with church, studying and youth group.

I need to look at the weather to see if any outdoor projects can be worked on, or what I need to plan on doing this weekend.

We bought season tickets for OSU football last night, we can't wait to get to more games next year. We are not expecting a undefeated season like last year but are still looking forward to cheering the Buckeyes on.

Picture update!

2007-04-24T21:27:00.000-05:00

I went through our blog and realized that Ben has been great about posting, which is why I've been scarce on the blog. That and class/studying keeps me pretty busy. However, I am the keeper of the pictures, and Ben has mentioned quite a few times that I would post pictures, and I never did. So today I decided to take a break from studying ocular disease and post lots of pictures. You will find them embedded in previous posts starting from Jan 15, when Ben's sisters came to visit. And here is one of Oliver, just because he is so cute! Enjoy!

Productive Weekend

2007-04-23T07:36:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was quite productive for us. San-San has a big week of exams coming up (one on Monday, Tuesday and Friday) so she spent a lot of time studying. I managed to finish my outdoor projects which I have been working on for a few weeks now. The weather got cold when I was halfway done so it took much longer than it should have.

Saturday we slept in late and had a late breakfast. We first went to Home Depot to pick up some shrubs/flowers to plant and some edging to accent my project. Once we got home I started right in working on the patio project and managed to get almost finished before lunch. I have been building a small extension to our concrete patio to allow a little more room behind our house to put the swing and grill. Using field stones I found around the development I put together a little 4' by 6' stone walkway between the swing and the garage. We left a little room for a small one foot wide garden next to the garage to add a little color as well. San-San took a few pictures and I will post them to give people a better idea of how it looks now. We both like it a lot and makes the back of our house much nicer and more finished. While I worked outside San-San studied and sat with Oliver on the swing to enjoy the nice weather.

Sunday we went to church and when we got home I resumed working outside to put the finishing touches on the patio project. I also washed one of the cars and rinsed off the front of our house which had gotten a little dirty due to the construction in our development. The weather was even warmer on Sunday with no clouds. I don't think we saw a cloud all weekend.

When the weekend was over I really felt like I got a lot accomplished and a few things had been checked off my project list.

Fun at the Races

2007-04-16T08:01:00.000-05:00

Friday night we went to a optometry school event called "Night at the Races". It was basically a fund raiser, but we both had a good time while we were there. Last week San-San and her classmates were able to "buy" and name horses to run in races on Friday night. The fund raiser was put on by the Lion's club through her optometry school. They tape old horse races and assign the names chosen by the buyer, then people place bets on which horse will win.

Since all the beer and food you could eat were included with admission it got louder and louder as the night went on... or at least I did. Before each race you could bet on horses to win and the odds would be displayed once all of the betting was closed. I only bet on one horse and lost so I did my part to help raise funds.

Saturday and Sunday San-San did a lot of studying for her next midterm on Tuesday. I did almost finish my project I am working on for San-San. It is a shelf for her closet. I just need to stain and put a few coats of poly on it.

This weekend

2007-04-13T07:57:00.000-05:00

Tonight we are going to some sort of fund raising event that San-San heard about at school. I guess it has to do with horse racing and naming horses but I don't understand much more than that. I will try to explain later after we go. I guess drinks and food are included in the admission price so that should be good.

Saturday I hope the weather will be nicer so I can get out a finish my patio project, or work on something I am making for San-San. I hate working out in the garage when it is 40 degrees or less and recently it was been cold and rainy.

I assume San-San has her usual amount of studying to do this weekend, so I will be doing my own thing again. If anything more exciting than that come up I will post about it here.

Weekend Fun

2007-04-02T09:06:00.000-05:00

Last Weekend we had only one event to look forward to, but we managed to get a lot done.

Saturday night one of San-San's classmates was throwing a 70's themed party. San-San took a lot of pictures and she might post a few here so you can see how silly some of them looked. The party was fun and we both had a great time.

Sunday I managed to get a large amount of work complete on some landscaping behind the house. I have been gathering materials for a while now, and was able to get started on Sunday afternoon. I think I can finish it sometime this week after a few more nights of work. We will post a picture or two once it is done.

Weekend Plans

2007-03-30T09:04:00.000-05:00

Nothing too major planned for this weekend. The main event is a 70's party with all of her classmates invited. She is planning some sort of themed clothing and since I am going I might have to dress up as well. Last year for the 80's party I managed to not have to dress up, but I might not be able to get away with it this year.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon walking around in a swamp in Fairfield County near the airport looking for a few trees that need to be trimmed or removed. The tall throned weeds were 6' tall or more so it was hard to see where I was going since I could barely see over them.

The tree in the picture is one of the ones that needs to be trimmed around 15' off the top to clear the approach slope to the airport. I knew I was going to be out doing this so I wore my boots and managed to stay pretty dry.

Wonderful Weather

2007-03-26T14:38:00.000-05:00

Last weekend the weather was quite nice, and I did manage to get out and do a little yard work. Sunday afternoon was sunny and in the low 70s so working outside was perfect. I did a little cleaning around the garage, pruned the small tree in out backyard, cleaned up a little trash in the woods behind our house and raked a few leaves.

San-San had two activities with the youth group on Saturday and Sunday plus some prep for her first day of the spring quarter today. Oliver also got a bath yesterday afternoon which he really needed. I also took him for a walk around the neighborhood while San-San was at youth group.

All in all it was a good weekend for both of us, a chance to relax and enjoy some of the good weather.

"Spring Break" News

2007-03-23T08:19:00.000-05:00

This week is the break between the winter and spring quarters of school for San-San. However, she has been working 4 of 5 days this week, and will be working tomorrow so it is hardly a break for her. At least at night we try to relax watch some tv or she gets caught up on answering her email etc.

On Wednesday night we went out to eat for dinner at a greek restaurant called Anna's Restaurant. It has been a while since I have had greek food and this place did not disappoint. I ordered a gyro which came with a great greek salad. San-San had a lemon type soup and a lemon lamb potato artichoke dish. There was also some oven fresh bread that we ate with olive oil. The service was a little slow, but the food made up for it.

No major plans coming up this weekend for me, San-San works and has some activities with the youth group on Saturday night, and Sunday night.

Last Weekend

2007-03-12T12:28:00.000-05:00

Since San-San is right in the middle of exams last week, and final exams this week nothing exciting happened last weekend. San-San was studying 95% of her time awake, and I managed to find somethings around the house to keep busy.

On Sunday night we did take a little time off to make homemade pizzas again, and once again they were excellent. San-San made an alfredo sauce pizza with various cheeses, artichokes, mushrooms, roma tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes. It looked and tasted good enough to be in a restaurant. I made a very good tomato sauce, green pepper, canadian bacon, pepperoni with mozzarella cheese pizza.

Two finals today, one tomorrow and one on Thursday for San-San.

A Surprise!

2007-03-05T21:42:00.000-05:00

So guess what?!? Cheryl, my best friend came for a surprise visit on Saturday! I was totally shocked. Ben took me to go "shopping" at the mall, which we never really do. For the past month he said he had a surprise for me. That day I kept trying to guess what it was because he said it wasn't the shopping. I thought maybe it was going to be a special lunch, movie, or just a date out because I have been so busy and stressed with school, and we haven't gotten out much. I had all these guesses (the conservatory, the science museum, ice skating?) and in the end it was really to meet up with Cheryl! It's been a long while since we've seen each other, and I was TOTALLY surprised.

They had been planning it for the past couple of months, and with the help of my sister and Cheryl's friend Annie who lives in Cincinnati, Ben and Cheryl were able to completely and utterly surprise me. While Ben and I were "walking out of the mall to our car" to what I thought was our next destination, Ben suddenly said he was hungry. I suggested Auntie Anne's Pretzels, but he said, "No, I'd rather have a cookie instead." I thought that was kind of weird, but I said, "Sure."

Ben and Cheryl's plan was for me and Cheryl to meet in the cookie store called Cheryl and Co. It's a store that we liked as kids, but there wasn't one in CA where we were growing up. So we would get the catalog, look at the yummy cookies, and pretend that it was Cheryl's cookie store.

When I first walked into the store, I picked up one of their catalogs and thought to myself, "Hm, I should mail one of these to Cheryl." Then Ben said, "Don't you want a cookie? Why don't you pick something from behind the counter?" I was about to tell him I'd rather have a pretzel than a cookie, but he could get one if he wanted, and then all of a sudden I looked up and Cheryl was standing there right in front of me. In Ohio! I had a brief moment of extreme confusion, then I understood what my surprise was! It was totally unexpected, and I was speechless for the first few moments. I don't know what my face looked like, but they said my mouth fell open, and my eyes got super huge! I can't even describe what I was thinking those few moments after we hugged, I think my brain was having trouble processing that Cheryl was actually in town.

After everything was explained to me, the four of us went out to lunch at Mimi's Cafe. There we talked a ton and caught up on all the latest news. Though there wasn't too much we had to catch up on, since Cheryl and I email each other everyday. After lunch, Cheryl and Annie came over to visit our house. Then I took the girls on a tour of the city (Annie has never been to Columbus before either). First stop was OSU campus. Cheryl wanted to see where I went to school, and to take a peak at the famous Buckeye Stadium. After OSU, we went to the Short North area, chatted over coffee and tea, went window shopping at many of the little shops and art galleries, and I bought Cheryl a square glass plate that she thought was cool - just a little something from her trip to OH to take back with her. Next we drove through German Village. It was a bit cold, so we stayed in the car and looked at all the cute houses. Then we came back home, picked Ben up and went to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. After dinner, we invited the girls to stay the night at our house, but Annie preferred to go back to her apt in Cincinnati. However, she invited Ben and I to drive down on Sunday to see Cheryl again. Yay!

The next day after greeting at church, Ben and I drove down to Cincinnati, and joined Cheryl and Annie for a trip to the Freedom Center, a museum about the underground railroad. Next Annie drove us around Cincinnati to show us some of the city's sights. We got ice cream at Graeter's, then headed back to Annie's apt to hang out for a bit before dinner. Dinner was at a restaurant called J. Alexanders. The food was good, the company even better. Ben, Cheryl, and Annie all got the Steak Maui, which looked awesome, and I went with Ahi Tuna with Spring Greens Salad, which was delicious. After a long relaxing dinner, it was time to say goodbye. It was definitely a bittersweet moment. Cheryl and I never know when is the next time we'll see each other again. Visits are few and far between, so we were really sad to be saying goodbye. Even though we only got to spend couple days of the weekend together, it was fun and full of great memories.

Thank you to Cheryl who made the trip out here to see me, to Ben who took care of planning on this end, making sure my schedule was clear, and to Annie for making the trip possible.

February is almost over

2007-02-22T09:35:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that February is almost over. After getting hit with 2 major snow storms (by Ohio standards) the last 2 weeks it has really felt like winter. However, 40 degree temperatures this week has melted a lot of the snow and we are back to the usual Ohio weather.

Work is keeping me busy and San-San is still hard at work studying. One exam tomorrow, I think a few next week, and two weeks later is final exams. Her one week "spring break" will be filled with working and other events I am sure. The spring quarter looks to be less stressful and more hands on optometry.

No major news from us other than those items. We did have a little Chinese New Year celebration on Sunday the 18th. We decorated and made some of my favorite chinese food. San-San took lots of pictures and after her exam tomorrow I am sure she will post some of the for everyone to see.

Tuesday again

2007-02-13T14:21:00.000-05:00

Well, it is Tuesday again and I sit here at work and the snow is falling outside. I know most people in Minnesota or Wisconsin don't go too crazy about snow falling, but here in Ohio the snow rarely falls as much. We are expecting around one foot of snow by the time the storm passes later tonight, and that is a lot for this area. Last year it snow only a few times and it never accumulated to more than a few inches.

Our small group meeting was canceled again tonight like last week, since freezing rain is now falling. The roads are not great and San-San will be stuck on the road again until late tonight, but I hope she is safe.

Winter Weather

2007-02-08T09:47:00.000-05:00

We had not gotten much winter weather prior to last week, and now it is officially winter here in Ohio. On Tuesday afternoon it started to snow and didn't really stop until late in the night. Traffic was horrible coming home from work, San-San's drive home from school took over 2 hours. Normally it takes her 20 to 30 minutes and the roads were quite bad with ice and snow. Our small group was canceled and we stayed at home and stayed warm. We also have had a week of cold freezing weather which has not been the usual for Ohio since we have been here.

Superbowl Weekend

2007-02-05T14:25:00.000-05:00

San-San has been quite busy with mid-terms the last few weeks but last weekend was her first chance to take a little time off from studying to relax.

Sunday was the Superbowl which was quite fun to watch. Neither of us were originally going to watch much of it, but after watching a little of the pregame show we got interested. San-San had heard that there was going to be some Cirque Du Soleil performances before the game started. As we were making pizza for dinner, I turned on the tv and it just happened to be the right time. So we stood around in the living room and watched it.

The game started out quite exciting with an opening kickoff touchdown return and then the rain resulted in many turnovers early. We turned on the fireplace and enjoyed the first half of the game. After halftime we went to the bedroom and relaxed in bed. San-San studied and I watched the game and worked out for the second half.

No major plans this week for me, San-San has one exam on Tuesday and we have a big Valentine's Dinner party with our church on Saturday. We thought going to this would be a nice way to go out on a date and celebrate without too much stress and fuss.

Sunday Snow

2007-01-24T16:38:00.000-05:00

I forgot to write this on my last post but we finally got our first snow of the season last Sunday. When we woke up in the morning there was ~2 inches of snow on the ground and it continued to fall until mid-morning. On the way to church it got a little intense when we had to drive up a steep hill and people were slipping and driving too slow to make it up the hill easily. No problems so it was fun to be out in the snow again.

It hasn't melted yet since then, which is quite different than last winter when any snow we received was gone a few days later. I did have to shovel the sidewalks and driveway but I don't mind doing that only once a year.

Midterm Exams

2007-01-24T09:02:00.000-05:00

San-San has been studying hard for her midterm exams which start this week and continue until finals in March. She has been busy every night with her head in the books.

I have been working on a few projects around the house when she is busy with her studying. A few of the projects are some new shelves above my workbench in the garage for storage, a little wooden box to hide the computer cords in the office and some table saw accessories.

Last weekend we took out our new pizza stone to make homemade pizzas. It was alot of fun and since we each only like our own toppings we made 3 pizzas. San-San took a few pictures and she will post them later this week. We also made the crust from scratch which tasted really good. My pizza had tomato pizza sauce, green peppers, bacon, Canadian bacon and lots of mozzarella cheese. San-Sans had olives, pesto sauce, artichokes and mushrooms.

Last weekend

2007-01-15T08:33:00.000-05:00

My sisters came to Columbus to visit last weekend, and we all had a good time. We ate a lot of good food and still have lots of left overs to eat the rest of this week. We also played a few games and got to do a lot of wedding talk (they both are getting married this summer).

More news to follow.

The Holidays are over

2007-01-03T22:58:00.000-05:00

Well, today is the last day of vacation. Classes resume tomorrow, and part of me is excited, while the other part of me knows that this past Christmas was the last break I'll have. We'll be going year round and starting clinics next quarter. I'm looking forward to it, but also anitcipate the busyness and stress that will come with classes, seeing patients, and preparing for boards.

New Years was a lot of fun. We celebrated 2006 and welcomed 2007 with Angie and Bill. They came over to our house on New Years Eve. We hung out, ate appetizers, and had some champagne when the clock struck 12:00.

Happy 2007 everyone!

Christmas with the Luah's

2006-12-27T19:29:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a very Happy Holidays! Ben and I had a great Christmas with my parents and brother (my sister Christina was in Ireland). They made the long drive from MN to celebrate with us here in Columbus. Here are the past four days in review:

Saturday Dec 23rd: Mom, Dad, and Daniel arrived at about 6:30pm. We had a dinner of Thai chicken that Ben cooked on the grill, garlic broccoli, and rice. French silk pie was for dessert. There was a lot of talking and catching up on the lastest news around the dinner table, which continued through dessert and out into the living room. We continued to relax, look at pictures and talk, then turned in for the night.

Sunday Dec 24th Christmas Eve: We had a leisurely breakfast of waffles, then it was off to church. It was the first time my family had visited, and Ben and I got to introduce them many of our friends. After church we ate lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant. All of us were so full, and thought a walk would be good, so we went to Polaris for some window shopping. We didn't really need to buy anything, so we walked around looking at the decorations, stopping in a couple of shops to look around. Next we went grocery shopping and headed home to make Thai beef salad, which Ben had been craving, and Greek salad, which my mom was craving. We also ended up making a chicken dish, and had all of that for dinner. After dinner, we went back to church for a Christmas Eve candlelight service. Then we went to Alum Creek Park for their Festival of Lights show. Ben and I hadn't been before, but we thought it would be a fun thing to do with my family. The park puts it on every Christmas, and I just read about it in the newspaper. It's basically a Christmas lights drive through show. We stayed in the car and drove slowly among many Christmas lights and displays. After that we headed home for tea and chocolate by the fireplace.

Monday Dec 25th Christmas! We woke up, got dressed, and took family pictures. We opened a few presents, then went to Guandong Restaurant for dimsum. It was a new restaurant Ben and I hadn't tried, but we had seen it the previous day across the street from the Vietnamese restaurant, and everyone had dimsum on the mind. Many Chinese restuarants don't close for Christmas, so I called to find out that they were indeed open. We had a delicious brunch, and will definitely be back in the future. When we were just about done with our meal, we started discussing what we wanted to do next. Being the spontaneous bunch we are, we decided to check out the movie theater to see if it was open and playing anything good. To my amazement, it actually was open, there were about 15 cars in the lot. So we went to see the movie called The Prestige. It was actually quite good. And since the tickets were only $2.50, even better. After the movie we headed home, opened more presents, and relaxed. There was some video games for Ben and Daniel, my dad read a book, and my mom and I chatted. Then we started cooking dinner.

Christmas dinner was not the traditional turkey (but what did you expect? =) so far we've had very out of the ordinary, but very delicious meals!) everyone decided that ribs sounded much better! =) So we prepared our famous juicy rib recipe. Ben grilled with two kinds of marinade, one homemade and one store bought. Both flavors were good, one was sweet and spicy, the other tangy and zesty. My mom also made brown sugar sweet potatoes. The rest of Christmas dinner included broccoli, warm dinner rolls, and chicken soup with herbs. After eating we opened the last of the presents, then went to bed.

Tuesday Dec 26th: We slept in, had a lazy morning, ate brunch at home, then went to visit OSU campus. My family wanted to see where I go to school. We showed them the optometry building and also drove past the stadium. We told them of the football games we went to, and had lots of stories about the crazy Buckeye fans, of which we have become. Next was Easton Towne Center. Easton is an outdoor shopping area with restaurants, outdoor courtyards, and fountains. It's a bit cold to be walking outside in the winter, but all the Christmas decorations were still up, and ducking in and out of the stores, provided us with enough warmth. Again, it was more for window shopping and visiting anything else. We knew the lines would be incredibly long, it being the day after Christmas. Next on the Columbus tour we went to visit my work, where I introduced my family to my co-workers, and adjusted my familys' glasses. We had originally planned to stop by Ben's work too, but it was getting late, so we headed home. We had dinner reservations at House of Japan, a teppanyaki restaurant, where they cook your dinner right at the table, so you get a little entertainment with your meal.

The chef juggled utensils, flipped a shrimp into his shirt pocket, tossed an egg up in the air and split it with his knife, and made a flaming onion volcano. It was a good dinner of teppanyaki and sushi, and we went home with full, satisfied stomachs.

Wednesday Dec 27th: Today my parents left early in the morning, and I was sad to see them go. We only get to see them once or twice a year, and it is really a special treat when they come to visit. Christmas was a lot of fun this year, and we'll have great memories to think upon.

Christmas

2006-12-27T14:42:00.000-05:00

Well all is back to normal after the Christmas holiday. The Luahs left this morning at 5am and I was back at work at 8am. Things are back to regular pace for me, and once school starts up again for San-San next week she will be back to normal as well.

Lots of stories and news to share as soon as we can get them uploaded.

Not much to report.

2006-12-18T09:42:00.000-05:00

San-San and I have been quite busy with holiday related activities and events so our blog posts are few and far between. This weekend was a chance to finally get some of the things we had been wanting to do for ourselves done since we had no major events to attend.

Friday night after work we went out and picked up a live christmas tree for the living room. After getting it home we found out that we had misplaced one of the strings of lights for the tree. So we took off to the Wal-mart and they were completely sold out of white lights. The we tried Home Depot and none there as well. We were getting quite discouraged and made one final stop at the grocery store and none to be found there as well. I guess the days of cheap christmas lights on sale December 26th are over. The three stores we went to had very small christmas sections left and were filling the aisles with other things already.

Saturday we planned to sleep in, eat breakfast and head to Polaris mall to finish our Christmas shopping. After 2.5 hours at the mall we had all but a few small items collected and with one final run to Walmart we were done with the gift shopping. We did manage to find 1 last string of white lights at the mall and our tree is decorated and looking nice.

Sunday was church in the morning and lunch with San-San co-leader of the youth group. The youth group had a fundraising baby sitting event planned for the evening so San-San was gone after dinner until around 8PM.

San-San has also been busy getting Chirstmas cards and letters sent out to everyone on our list to ensure they will be delivered before Christmas Day. The weekend was quite productive and we managed to get a little relaxation time in before things pick up again.

Busy days

2006-12-05T09:34:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since we have posted and we have good reasons. San-San has been quite busy finishing up this quarter in school. Today is her last final, and after 2 yesterday and 3 the previous week she is ready for this holiday break. As the holidays approach we both are getting busier with events and activities. San-San has put off most of the holiday planning until after her finals today when she has more time.

Last weekend we attended my work's holiday dinner at a local restaurant called The Worthington Inn. It was quite nice and we had a good time. This week is another holiday dinner with San-San's co-workers. Next week is the holiday dinner with our small group and the Luah family will be coming to visit the week after. It's going to be a busy and fun December.

OSU Football Game

2006-11-20T10:44:00.000-05:00

We are alive and had a great time at the OSU football game. The Buckeyes won the game 42-39 and it was a great game. The crowd was so loud and when they won we ran onto the field to celebrate with thousands of other people.

We took a few pictures with a left over film camera we had and we will get a few of those pictures online this week. San-San's phone doesn't have a great camera but I can try to get a few of those pictures online sooner.

Weekend Plans

2006-11-17T14:29:00.000-05:00

Well, there isn't much to report from here. San-San has been busy with midtern exams and the only thing we are really looking forward to this weekend is the football game tomorrow afternoon. OSU (ranked #1) and Michigan (ranked #2) play here in Columbus and we are quite excited. It should be a great game and despite hearing people selling there tickets for $1000+ per seat we really wanted to attend.

Hopefully the Buckeyes will win and the weather will be nice. I am sure we will post more stories on Sunday or when we have time.

News Post

2006-11-07T09:25:00.000-05:00

Well we don't have much to report since we have been a little lazy and last weekend was quite uneventful.

On Saturday morning San-San worked until noon and then we got ready for our photo session. Our church is having their members pictures taken for the directory and we got a free 8x10 out of it so we were interested. The session lasted only 15 minutes or less and we were out of there.

On Sunday was church and then a lot of lazy activities. When San-San does have freetime recently we like to relax and not do too much since she is so high stress the rest of the time.

This week is more of the same, a quiz today for San-San and more midterm exams next week. No weekend plans at this time, so I don't think we will have much to post again about that.

Busy weekend

2006-10-31T15:42:00.000-05:00

San-San has been busy with her upcoming midterm exams (one today and one on Friday) so last weekend was not too exciting. We did manage to get out and go to the OSU vs Minnesota game which was quite a blowout with OSU winning 44-0. We did have a good time even thought it was quite cold high of 45 degrees with high winds.

Sunday was a study day for San-San while I raked the leaves in the yard and stayed busy with my usual acitivities. Nothing much else to report. Hopefully we will have some trick-or-treaters tonight to report about but not much else planned in our lives.

Wonderful Weekend

2006-10-23T13:19:00.000-05:00

San-San finally had a little bit of a time free last weekend and we tried to make the most of it. She is often busy with homework, work, or other school or church youth group activities so we don't usually get time to do things together. Last weekend the homework was done and we had no major commitments so we packed our time with fun activities.

Friday night we got a wierd craving for food so we went out for a late night snack (which we never do) to McDonalds which was open 24 hours a day. San-San got a happy meal because she's never really had one before, and I had a chicken wrap. We also ordered an extra large french fry since we both like fries. The kid's meal came with chicken nuggets instead of the cheeseburger she had wanted which was not great but more on that later.

Saturday we slept in late, ate breakfast and were off to the Ohio State Buckeyes football game. We had a good time, and didn't get too worn out from the game since we played Indiana and it wasn't really too stressful. OSU won 44-3 and the one field goal should not have even happened, so we got to relax and watch the game and even sat down for parts of the last quarter. After the game we stopped for groceries and together made an awesome dinner.

San-San did most of it - mashing the potatoes, cooking the fish and all the other hard things. I just cut some garlic and peeled the potatoes. It was a good meal of broiled fish (half lemon pepper and half wasabi), sauteed olive oil and garlic zuchini, and garlic mashed potatoes. After dinner we relaxed and watched the movie Click. After the movie, late that night, San-San was still having a craving for that cheeseburger from last night so we made another quick stop at McDonalds and ordered one for her. It is quite unusual for us to eat fast food, especially late at night, and twice in one weekend.

Sunday was quite fun and new. San-San had heard from someone that Hocking Hills southeast of Columbus was a fun place to visit so we made plans and went in the afternoon. It is a state park which has a lot of rock caves and outcroppings etc.

San-San took a bunch of pictures and the leaves looked nice. We walked around the trails at two locations Ash Cave and Old Man's Cave. Old Man's Cave had some cool bridges over a small stream which had eroded the sandstone rock. You could walk around the upper cliff edge and take stairs down into the gorge. It was a lot of fun and we had a great time getting out to see more of the area.

On the way home from Hocking Hills we stopped at a nice little antique mall and spent a little time walking around. We didn't have a plan, just a little time to spend and it was fun to see the local crafts, and other goods for sale.

Out for a walk

2006-10-18T17:19:00.000-05:00

I was out walking Oliver after work today, and on the way back from the mailbox I heard a noise in the small wooded area between the housing developments. I stared for a second and saw a nice buck (male whitetail deer) not more than 30 feet away from me. It startled me that it hadn't run yet since I had been talking to Oliver and making noise the entire walk. Plus Oliver usually has a good noise for other animals and would bark at any smell of another animal in "his" area.

I ended the walk, grabbed our camera and headed back out. It may not be a big deal to see deer back in Minnesota, but here in Ohio in the middle of Columbus it is not an everyday sight. The woods near us is quite small so I knew he would attept to run towards the nearest open area and away from the other homes. So I cut between the woods and the next open area to be sure to see him if he ran out as I got close. I have not figgured out the best evening light setting on the camera yet, so some of the pictures are blurry but here is the best ones.

More pictures can be found here, but most of them are blurry and a little harder to see. There tunred out to be 2 deer in the woods, and both of them with nice antlers. The second one had a nice spread with 8 to 10 points. Bigger than any buck I saw while hunting when I was younger.

100th Blog Post

2006-10-13T10:53:00.000-05:00

Well, I was checking the blog today and realized this would be the 100th post on our blog. We have enjoyed sharing our lives with you all, and you can expect at least 100 more post to come.

Our NYC guests

2006-10-09T13:12:00.000-05:00

On Saturday the Boomers had made plans to stop by Columbus for the night on their way home to Minnesota for the weekend. They were moving things back home since it is hard to store a house worth of things in a small Manhatten apartment. Columbus is about half way between the east coast and the midwest, so it was a good place for them to stay the night. Plus we had a whole room just waiting for guests to sleep in (hint hint for anyone else who wants to visit).

After a lot of traffic and constuction issues, George and Ayuko arrived around 8:30PM on Saturday night. We had made plans to eat dinner together and knew they would be arriving around that time, so dinner was ready for them when they arrived. San-San and I had been cooking potstickers (gyoza) with gailan and rice. It was quite good and we all really hungry by that time.

After dinner we talked a bunch, gave a quick tour of the house, looked at wedding and honeymoon pictures, and went to bed. I had this crazy craving for waffles so we woke up for a 7:30 breakfast of waffles and fresh blueberry muffins San-San had just made. They took off for MN shortly after breakfast. It was a fun but quick visit and we are hoping they will be able to return again for another longer visit.

We recieved a wonderful bottle of wine as a gift from the Boomers and it has found a nice spot on our wine rack. Thanks Boomers!

Old News - Parents Visit

2006-10-09T12:36:00.000-05:00

Well, we are a little behind in our picture posting, so this will be back flashback into the past. My parents flew in for four days 3 weeks ago and we never really had time to post pictures or give details about the visit.

See this post for a summary of the visit. We had a lot of fun and were sad when they had to go. We looked through our entire collection of pictures from our recent Singapore vacation (~600 photos) and shared many stories. To help my dad see the pictures better we connected up San-San's laptop computer to my new 19" LCD monitor and sat around both screens in the living room. That way we could all see a screen and talk about each picture in depth.

Oliver had a fun time getting a lot of attention from both of my parents, taking many walks and getting lots of tummy rubs. He went to the groomers prior to my parents arriving and of course they did a horrible job and even let him bite himself. Poor puppy... :(

On Sunday afternoon Dad and I managed to get out and play a round of disc golf. I had not been out playing since I lived in Minnesota so I missed that. My arm was quite sore after the 18 holes, but we had a blast. I managed to get back into my old form after a few poor holes so I didn't do too bad.

One day we played a modified version of Balderdash were San-San, Dad and I wrote the prospective answers and Mom read them all to us with the real one. We had fun, and like usual I did quite poorly as the game went on.

The Columbus Zoo was a fun time for everyone until I started to get sick around lunchtime and we had to leave early. We did get to see the new Asia Quest exibit with the new animals so that was a positive thing. After we got home, I took a short nap and went to the doctor's office with San-San. For some reason I was getting quite dizzy and almost sick to my stomach. The official determination was positional vertigo brought on my some irritation of the ear or an allergy to something. It was not fun at all, but by dinnertime I was back to normal.

San-San cooked a nice chinese meal for my parents, and I of course helped with the chopping of the vegatables and anything simple that I could. My parents even used chopsticks which was quite fun to watch but they did much better that I would have thought. I guess they are more cultured now after the trip to Columbus.

This week's news

2006-09-29T10:33:00.000-05:00

This week has been pretty typical for both of us. San-San is into her school, work and studying groove. She doesn't have much freetime in a typical day, however the homework has not been too stressful yet so I am sure she is happy for that.

Last night she had aget together with some classmates to practice using their new eye exam equipment (retinascope and opthalmoscope) and watching the newest episode of Grey's Anatomy. I stayed at home and did my usual evening activities.

This weekend we plan to hang out with Angie and Bill and maybe see a movie. I don't know the details on that yet, but I am sure San-San will figure it out at school today.

Not much else to report. Work is staying busy planning projects for next year already since this year's budget is used up for most of our clients.

My new background

2006-09-25T18:04:00.000-05:00

I like eyes. =) Ben found this wallpaper for my computer, yay!

OSU vs Penn State Football Game

2006-09-25T09:11:00.000-05:00

Saturday was quite exciting last weekend. We went to our first Ohio State football game and it was a blast. The Buckeyes won 28-6 and the only downside to the game was the rain during the first half. But the second half of the game made up for it and we had a great time. For those who don't know college football is huge in Columbus bigger than any pro team in any sport here. 105,000 people were at the game and the place is crazy.

I posted a picture of the stadium just to get an idea of how big it is, since we didn't take any pictures of our own that day. The noise was incredible and the atmosphere was chaotic.

Sunday we took it easy and relaxed most of the day. San-San had her youth group activities at night, homework in the afternoon, but other than that we tried to not do too much.

Weekend with My Parents!

2006-09-19T15:53:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was quite nice since my parents come to Columbus for four days. We had a lot of fun and spent much of the time talking, eating or playing games. We will post a little more information (and pictures) later when we have a chance, but here is a list of some of the things we did:

-Lots of Games (Balderdash, Scene It, disc golf and others)
-Lots of good food (San-San cooked a lot of food both American and Chinese.)
-Buca di Beppo
-Zoo
-Short North & North Market
-Grilled out
-Lots of fun with Oliver who got to go on many walks with Dad

Singapore Day 10: Dimsum, Expo, Farewell

2006-09-12T21:28:00.000-05:00

Sunday September 3, 2006

Sunday was our last day in Singapore, we were to fly out late that night. That morning we went out to dimsum with Nai Nai, Auntie Janet, her kids: McKenzie, McKenrick, and Shendi, Uncle Andy, Auntie, and their daughter Vionna, and Auntie Pauline and her daughter Bernice. The food was amazing. My favorites were Shiao Long Bao (spelling?) and Mango Prawn. Yummy, but really everything was delicious. After a huge meal, we went to go buy another piece of luggage. We had bought and had been given many more things than anticipated, so it ended up that we needed to buy another luggage to bring everything home.

It was a good thing we got that extra luggage because Uncle Andy told us about the Singapore Expo, which is a big computer/electronics convention, and Ben really wanted to go. It’s a once a year event where a ton of companies get together to exhibit and sell everything from computers to digital cameras to speakers to dvd recorders, etc. Sunday was the last day of the event, so it was super crowded and many items were on sale. We walked back and forth between four huge halls comparing prices and models. Ben got a great deal on an LCD monitor, and this is where that extra luggage came into play. Ben was happy and I was happy that he was happy.

After that we took the MRT back to our hotel to pack. Then Uncle Tony came to pick us up and bring us to the airport. At the airport, many of our relatives came to see us off. We had dinner in the food court, and had a great time talking and spending a last few moments together. It was a long walk to security, hugs all around, and a very tearful goodbye especially for me and Nai Nai. After a final wave, we were through the gates and on our way home.

Singapore Day 9: Botanical Gardens and Family

2006-09-12T19:10:00.000-05:00

Saturday September 2, 2006

Saturday was the last full day in Singapore since we were flying out Sunday night. In the morning we met up with Auntie Pauline and Bernice and went to the Singapore Botanical Gardens. The main area we visited was the orchid garden. It was a huge park by itself with just orchids as the main focus and other greenery. San-San's favorite flower is the orchid so she was really happy to be there and she took lots of pictures (60+). The gardens were a lot of fun but it was quite hot and sunny out so we got worn out quickly.

After the Botanical Gardens we got dropped off at San-San's friend's apartment who she worked in a lab with in Minnesota (Sarah and Josh). They have been in Singapore for many months so they had a nice selection of good eateries around their apartment. We went out for yummy duck rice and visited for a while. Before we left we took a few pictures in there courtyard which was quite nice.

We took the bus back to the MRT and back to Juroug Point to buy some milk tea with bubbles (tapioca pearls). I was never a fan of milk tea until I got to Singapore, and then I really started to like it. Lots of family showed up for dinner at Nai Nai's house we had a chance to relax and celebrate a kinda "last day in Singapore" send-off. I even learned how to play Mah-jong (not really and I had trouble reading the tiles, but it was fun). After a long night there we got a ride back to our hotel for a nice night's sleep.

Singapore Day 8: Jurong Bird Park

2006-09-11T18:58:00.000-05:00

Friday September 1, 2006

On Friday we went to Singapore's Bird Park. The park showcased all kinds of birds - from penguins to flamingos to lories to swans to pelicans to birds of prey, etc. We started out with a couple of shows: World of Hawks and the penguin feeding. Then we took a panorail around the park. It was a tram that took us on a tour of the entire park and stopped at the Lory Loft (a big enclosure full of lories that you could feed nectar to) and the Waterfall Aviary (home to the world's largest aviary and the tallest man made waterfall in the world). It was fun seeing all the birds, feeding them, and taking a small hike to the waterfall with tropical birds of all kinds flying around. They also had "African Wetlands", "World of Darkness" (nocturnal birds), and "Pelican Cove." It was a lot of fun.

After the bird park we met up with Nai Nai, Beverley, Jared, and Bernice (some of my cousins) at Jurong Point. There we had a big lunch, played some video games in the arcade, then went back to Nai Nai's flat to hang out and play more video games. Mario Kart was the game of choice.

Later Ben and I went back to the hotel , changed and met up with Sarah, Isaac, and Peijun (cousins) for a long conversation filled dinner. After dinner we talked walked around and shopped. I bought mooncakes for the upcoming mooncake festival, and Peijun bought us delicious chocolates, made from fresh milk with no preservatives. It even came with a dry ice pack to keep it cold. Eventually us cousins made our way to a coffee shop where we continued to talk and have some drinks and desserts. By this time it was super late, and Ben was getting pretty tired. The original plan was to go out to a club with Peijun and Isaac. But about the time the night was getting started, Ben was ready to turn in. He said that I should still go to check it out. Then Peijun also had a change of plans and couldn't make it. So in the end, Isaac, Ben and I took a bus back to the hotel. Ben went to bed and Isaac and I walked to his favorite hang out Zouk's, since it was so close. The music (European trance/techno/house) was pretty good. I did a lot of people watching, and Isaac and I got to talk some more.

The evening/night was full of catching up with the cousins, and it was good to hear about what was going on in their lives.

Singapore Day 7: City Tour

2006-09-11T17:31:00.000-05:00

Thursday August 31, 2006

On Thursday we had our scheduled free city tour through our travel agent. We didn't really need a city tour since we had been many places already and I had my own personal Singapore guide with me. But it came with the trip and we thought it might be fun to hear more details on Singapore history etc. The first stop was Little India. It was nice to get back to and hear more about the history of the immigrants to the island. Our next stop was at the Esplanade which is Singapore's attempt to rival the Sydney Opera House in architectural style. I thought it looked a little odd shaped but I will remember the shape and design if I ever see it again. Many of the locals say it resembles the durian, a spikey shaped fruit.

Across the water from the Esplanade was the Merlion Park, bridge, and statue. We took a few pictures by the statue but it was a little rainy at that time, and we didn't feel like standing around too long.

At the next stop in Chinatown, we bought a few Chinese New Year decorations for our house and took a quick break.

The Gem Factory was next and it was quite nice. There was a little pressuring to try and sell us expensive jewelry and artwork made from stones, but we had fun just looking. The last stop was at the Botanic Gardens and since it was still raining we just hung out for a while and ate ice cream until our shuttle was ready to take us back to the hotel.

San-San had a fun afternoon with her cousin Peijun, getting her hair cut and colored. They also did a little shopping and bought a new outfit for Friday night's dinner. I relaxed in the hotel watching tv, using the internet, and getting a little sleep. I met up with San-San later for dinner at Clarke Quay, a newer development along the river. It was quite nice, and our dinner table overlooked the river adn all of the boat traffic. We took a night cruise after dinner to see the city at night on a small lantern light boat. It was quite nice and romantic after a long busy day.

Singapore Day 6: SIA Hop On Tour

2006-09-10T13:52:00.000-05:00

Wednesday August 30, 2006

Today we took advantage of the SIA hop on bus tour through Singapore International Airlines. Because we had flown with SIA, we got to ride on a shuttle all day for $3. It stopped at many places near the downtown area, and allowed for us to get on and off where we pleased. We got on the bus near our hotel and headed for Great World City. It is a shopping area, but we went there just to look around and window shop. We also had lunch there. Ben had a craving for McDonald’s and I had a craving for sushi. Yum! Their salmon sashimi was so fresh and delicious!

Next we took the SIA bus to Orchard Road. This is a big shopping area with many big stores and boutiques all lined up along the road. We did a lot of window shopping, walking along Orchard Road, looking at the buildings, and then it started to rain.

This is a picture of us in front of a huge aquarium in Wisma Atria, a shopping complex on Orchard Road.

So we headed back onto the bus, which took us to Suntec City, which was more indoors. This time all the stores were open, so we did a lot of window shopping again, and actually bought some things too. I tried a green tea pretzel that they had at Auntie Anne’s Pretzel store. It was so good! I wish they sold the green tea flavor here in America. Ben found an electronics shop where he could play computer games for free, and he enjoyed that while I looked at clothes. So we did a lot of window shopping and did buy some things that day, but it was also to see the sights. Stores are laid out differently than here in the US, and it was just fun to enjoy walking around together.

We then met up with Mom and Dad and my Auntie Pauline. They took us to Newton Centre, which is a big hawker center geared towards tourists. It’s a bit cleaner than local hawker centers, and the prices are a bit higher. But we went for the atmosphere. There we got BBQ stingray and grilled giant tiger prawns. They were the size of a small lobster, but definitely looked like prawns.

We also ran into a friend of ours there, Sarah. Sarah and I met in MN when we worked in Dr. King’s genetics lab together. Her husband Josh is on a work assignment in Singapore for a year, and Sarah is teaching at an international school in Singapore. We had plans to meet up later in the week, and didn’t expect to see each other at Newton Center, so it was fun to surprise her.

After eating and talking with my parents and aunt late into the evening, we were quite tired. However, we had wanted to spend as much time with my mom and dad as possible, since this was their last night in Singapore, and they were flying out the next morning. Ben and I had a tour scheduled through our travel agency the next morning, so we weren’t able to make it to the airport to see them off.

We all had to take the MRT in order for Ben and me to get back to the hotel, and for my parents to get back to Nai Nai’s. I was very sad in the MRT when we had to part ways. The last time I had seen my parents was Thanksgiving 2005, and it will probably be awhile before we see them again, since we live so far apart here in the states. I really enjoyed meeting up with them in Singapore, and all the time we got to spend together.

Miss you mom and dad!

Singapore Day 5: Shopping and the Night Safari

2006-09-10T13:15:00.000-05:00

Tuesday August 29, 2006

After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we took off for our first day where we had no major plans. We headed to Suntec City a nice mall spreadout over 4 tower buildings connected together. We arrived a little early so many of the shops were not open yet, but we walked around and saw the world's biggest fountain. A quick walk to the City Hall area for more shopping. There was lots to see and I enjoyed just window shopping and watching San-San enjoy herself. More shopping around Chinatown where we bought two nice watches and some gifts for our family and friends.

After lunch in the chinatown hawker center, which was quite good after a long morning of walking, we took our daily nap in the hotel. The plan for the evening was to meet up with Uncle Tony, Antie Elis and their kids (Beverley and Jared), and Mom and Dad Luah and go on a night safari at the zoo. It was a lot of fun and much different than a standard day at the zoo. There was a presentation with lots of nocturnal animals and then a 45 minute tram ride around the park showing other animals at night. We also walked on some trails to see ones that the tram ride didn't cover. By the time we were done at the zoo, I was really tired and ready for bed.

Singapore Day 4: Little India

2006-09-10T11:28:00.000-05:00

Monday August 28, 2006

On Monday, Uncle Tony, Auntie Elis, Mom, and Dad came to pick us up from the hotel, and we went to Little India. There we started off the morning with a hawker center brunch of Thosai and Roti Pratha. Ben also had his first coconut drink straight from a fresh coconut. After brunch, we walked around the wet market, which is where many Singaporeans buy meat for cooking their meals. All sorts of cuts were displayed for customers to purchase. It is all very fresh, but quite a different shopping experience than what you would find in America. And a little story from my childhood: I used to help my Nai Nai sell chicken at the wet market when I was young.

Next we drove over to a shopping center called Mustafa’s, which is near Little India, and is a gigantic shopping center that is open 24 hours a day. And they sell EVERYTHING there. From souvenirs to clothing to groceries to electronics to housewares to jewelry, the list goes on. We bought a couple things while we were there.

After Mustafa’s, we made our way to Little India and walked through all the outdoor shops. Next was lunch at a vegetarian Indian restaurant. The food was amazing. I loved it. It was so flavorful, I didn’t even mind that it was vegetarian!

We then went back to the hotel for a nap, (napping was becoming a trend for us, and it certainly helped to increase our energy for evening outings) then took the MRT to Nai Nai’s to meet up with Mom and Dad. From there we went on to have dinner with Dad’s auntie, two cousins, and their children. We ate at a nice indoor (ie airconditioned) restaurant at a country club. There were many courses and such delicious food, once again, we were stuffed! It was great to see more family and to be able to spend more time with my mom and dad.

Sorry this picture turned out so out of focus.

Singapore Day 3: Sentosa

2006-09-10T11:18:00.000-05:00

Sunday August 27, 2006

On Sunday (Day 3) we decided to go to Sentosa Island since we had the time, and it would be fun to go when more people would be there. It is a touristy place that local Singapore people aren't as excited to go to, so San-San was my tour guide. After a nice breakfast we took a taxi to Mount Faber. The 3 ways you can reach Sentosa Island is by boat, road or cable car. It was a little rainy on the way over but the return trip was nice and sunny. The ride lasted around 10 minutes and gave us good views of jungle and the harbor.

At Sentosa Island we did many things such as:

4D Magix ( a 3D movie with shaking chairs, wind and water effects)
a Dragon Walk through the jungle
Siloso Beach (a nice beach where we at a quick pizza lunch at Coastes)
Palawa Beach (another more lazy beach)
a bridge to a small island which was the southernmost point in Asia
ate lunch at an air conditioned! resaurant Koufu
met up with Mackenzie San-San's cousin
saw the large Merlion statue
and took the cable car back to Mount Faber

After a nice nap, since we were very tired, we got a ride back to Nai Nai's house. Dinner consisted of satay and bee hoon. More family conversations and lots to eat before we went back to the hotel for the night.

Singapore Day 2: Family Reunion

2006-09-07T10:09:00.000-05:00

Saturday August 26, 2006

After a light complimentry breakfast at the hotel, we met up with Mom and Dad and from there went on to meet one of my parents old friends, Uncle T.S. Tan. (I should make a note here to say that he is not really a relative of mine, but it is respectful to call anyone of an older generation uncle or auntie.) My dad and and Uncle T.S. had been coworkers a long time ago, and my mom and Uncle T.S.'s wife were friends in highschool. We all went to a little cafe and Ben and I had a good time talking with my parents. And they had fun catching up on the latest news with Uncle T.S.

After our yummy chicken rice meal, Uncle T.S. drove us to Chinatown, and we said our goodbyes. From there, Mom, Dad, Ben, and I walked and shopped around. Then we took the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit, a subway and rail system) to City Hall and met up with my Auntie Pauline. My mom, auntie and I went shopping for a dress and shoes for the dinner that evening, while the Ben and Dad went to look at other things. Later we went back to the hotel to change and get ready for the family reunion dinner. Uncle Tony came to pick us up and drove us to Sakura, the HUGE buffet restaurant. It was two stories high of delicious food. So I did burn some calories walking up and down the stairs to get food. They had a great sushi and sashimi selection, yummy!

It was great to see the whole family again. And for Ben, it was his chance to meet many of our relatives for the the first time. I think the experience of meeting almost 40+ of my relatives was slightly overwhelming, but he did a great job. Grandma's, aunts, uncles, and cousins from both sides of the family were all there. I hadn't seen any of my cousins for 5 years, and some of them had grown so much, I almost didn't recognize them! We had a whole section of the restaurant reserved and it was fun walking around and talking with everyone. There was a lot of eating, a lot of talking, joking around, catching up and having fun. A really great evening. After a long dinner, (we were the first ones into the restaurant, and one of the last groups to leave), it was back to the hotel for Ben and I for some much needed rest. It had been a very full day, and we still had not adjusted to Singapore time.

The first picture is of my dad's side of the family, and the second picture is of my mom's side of the family.