Gratitude IMHO

This year has not gone the way that I planned. But it probably hasn't gone the way for all of you either right? There are many things that I miss such as traveling, dining out, getting together with friends, going to church and breathing freely without a mask. But I realized that the core things, the things I can't live without, the things I appreciate and love the most, I was able to get in abundance. Through the confinement, disappointment and loss, there is still much to be thankful for. 

1. FAITH

Throughout this crazy year where things were so unexpected and we can never plan for anything before state and county restrictions change it,  I was thankful that God never changes. He is always the same: faithful, loving and true. Knowing God gives us Hope. Hope for a better future.  He is always there for us. We just need to go to Him. And Trust Him. As we embark on a new endeavor (Matthew starting his own business January 5), we have great faith that God will provide for our family in all that we need. 

We have made new friends at a new church (gracechurchfremont.org) and have been encouraged through the friendships and challenged through the sermons. Matthew and I have also been meeting with our former pastor weekly as he teaches us how to interpret and understand God's Word which has been an enlightening experience!

 

2. FAMILY  

I don't think the four of us have spent so much time together under one roof ever! Working at home; schooling at home, eating all our meals at home.. HOME is where our heart is at and that is so true. I am thankful that both of my girls had virtual schooling this semester. Both were able to finish well academically and Emily also tutored her sister when needed. She also had the time to help me with some graphic design projects and start her own small business:  dustbunniesandco on Etsy. 

Even though we have not seen our extended family as often as we would have liked, I am thankful that everyone is safe and healthy and local.

And ZOOM gives us the opportunity to connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime. We have reconnected with family in Hong Kong, Vancouver, Washington, New York, SoCAL and throughout the Bay Area.

3. FRIENDS

As I miss connection with others outside of my family, the pandemic does not prohibit you from connecting with others. I reconnected with my high school friends; friends I worked with 30 years ago in advertising and in teaching; and friends from the first church I attended in Oakland when I was single! And when SIP guidelines eased, I squeezed in a few in-person meetings a few times with old and new friends. 

4. FOOD

I have not cooked this much in my life! Matthew got me a Ninja air-fryer and I put it and my InstaPot to work! I so appreciate the ease that both appliances offer in making quick and tasty dishes. My most intricate was making beef pho in the Instapot,  

5. FITNESS

I am so thankful for the MOTR to keep me active at home. With the daily Pilates Zoom classes, I had the opportunity to continue working out with some great instructors and even more awesome friends. We have not seen each other in person since March but I am so thankful we can see each other early each morning at 7am on the TV!

6. FOSTERING

In the 9-1/2 months that we have been SIPing, Emily had the opportunity to foster eight more bunnies and was able to write for House Rabbit Society's (where she gets the rabbits to foster) bi-annual journal. We are thankful for the opportunity to care for these creatures many of whom had illness' or injuries that they were healing from when we cared for them. All of them have been adopted into forever families except our current bun, Crimson (pictured lower right). One of the best rewards of fostering is to be in contact with the adopters! We love seeing how their buns are doing in their new homes! You can follow Emily's bunnies on IG@fosterbunnymama

As you reflect on the past year, I hope that you find many things you are thankful for and know that God exists, He loves you and has a plan for you.

Gratitude IMHO

It's the last day of this decade and I feel bad that I've only blogged twice. Since I've opened an account on Instagram  (@mamacez2017) I've been mainly posting there.

But I want to at least blog on what I'm thankful for this past year. And that is ...

God has been so faithful in all that we ask or need. He may have not answered my prayers in the way I've wanted or in my timing but He is working all the time in my life.

A few of my prayer requests this year were:

1. Healing for my dad's knee replacement surgery: My dad does not like seeing the doctor, being in a hospital, nor anything that makes him depend on a medical professional. He thinks he is his own physician but unfortunately as we age, our mind and body age and deteriorate. After many years of enduring pain in his right knee, he realized that at the age of 79 he does not want to be in a wheelchair. So he succumbed to getting a knee replacement. The orthopedic surgeon looked at his knee and told him it looked awful, horrible and that he should have replaced it 5 years ago. Basically his knee was bone-on-bone and was rubbing against each other that the knee shape was unrecognizable. It took four hours for the surgery to be completed (rather than two which is the norm).

My dad 3 days after surgery at home; his x-rayed knee before and after

 But God is FAITHFUL and with many praying for him (and consistent help from my mom and his children),  his surgery and healing process went smoothly. After four weeks, he is up and walking without any assistance from a walker or cane and more importantly, no more pain.

2. Spiritual and social community for my girls.

Emily and Hannah's friends from school

As Emily started her Freshman year in college and Hannah in her Sophomore year of high school, I wanted them to gain a good group of friends, and find community where they can feel accepted and loved. Emily adjusted well to college life and met some great friends who even wanted to meet us parents when we came for Parent Weekend. Hannah celebrated her sweet 16th birthday with some old and new friends. Whenever her anxiety feels overwhelming, she can lean on an incredible group of supportive friends and teachers that I am incredibly grateful for.

3. Adjusting to a Missing Family Member: With Emily gone we saw and felt a huge hole in our family that could never be filled. One small comfort was when Hannah decided to continue Emily's passion for fostering bunnies. This helped Hannah not to miss her sister too much, and to focus on caring for someone else. It also regularly connects us with Emily as she wants constant updates on what the bunny was doing at our home.

From top L-R: Owen- who loved to put his paws in his food bowl; Momo and WonTon, a mother-daughter bonded pair who are still available for adoption; Leon, our first bunny who had megacolon, and also loved romaine lettuce (he passed away recently due to his chronic illness); Hopkins, a mischievous lion-head; Finley, an extremely shy lop-eared bunny who has been adopted into a very loving home with two sister bunnies; Cousteau, our excitable binky bun; Billy who loved going outside to play; Graham, our other bun with megacolon, who happens to be my personal favorite because he was so gentle and sweet, and was recently adopted; and Kristen and Nosey, another mother-daughter pair who also got into everything!

The girls were blessed with the opportunity to foster bunnies (1 or 2 at a time) for one month each. We've never had a pet (other than a tiny turtle) because we are allergic to many types of animals. Once we got a bunny (and changed it's hay to Orchard hay instead of the common Timothy hay) our allergies were fine so we proceeded to foster many bunnies. The girls do everything to take care of the bunnies, so it's been a joy to see them growing in responsibility.

Lula is a sweet energetic bun who loves to explore inside and outside. She also loves to be petted for hours on end!

Currently, we are on our 12th bunny.. this one is Lula who is our biggest bunny to date (8 lbs). It has been so fun and interesting fostering these bunnies since each of them have such different personalities.

4. Safe Travels: We have been traveling quite a bit this year especially since Emily is in SoCal for college. I'm thankful we can travel (it's one of my passions) and eat well when we do. Traveling and food go hand in hand for us since an important reason why we travel to different places is to eat the food.

Top L-R: This years NEW and BEST favorites: Dream Cake from A Taste of Denmark in Oakland; Baked spaghetti from Van Tea House, Vancouver BC; Hot brown sugar latte with boba from Yifang Tea, Vancouver BC; Golden custard tarts from Kirin Seafood Restaurant, Vancouver BC; Earl grey lavender soft serve ice cream from Caldron's Ice Cream, San Jose; Pastrami sandwich from Katz Deli, New York; Poke' bowl from Poki Run, Fremont; Pepperoni slice from Bronco Billys, Fremont; and Mochi ice cream from Tokyo Disney, Tokyo.

God has been faithful in keeping us safe and healthy while we travel and that has been a huge blessing.

5. Good Health: I am so thankful that I have been diligent in keeping up my regular exercise routine by going to Pilates 5x/week. God only gave me one body so I really need to take care of it for as long as I can. But exercise isn't the only reason that I go. It's also the people that I have met some whom have become very dear to me.

Thank you to our fearless leader, Jen @ IMXPilates for the group pic!

Also I am regularly using essential oils to help my health! Frankincense oil significantly reduces the pain of inflammation that comes with arthritis; Lavender is great for decreasing the coloration of bruising and itchiness from bug bites; Deep Blue oil for achy muscles; and Melissa oil, which reduces anxiety and depression, helps Hannah sleep through the night peacefully! If you're interested to hear more, just comment below or contact me!

Many thanks go to Lisa L for introducing me to the powerful healing affects of oils!

I hope that God has been faithful to you in your life this year also! Looking forward to seeing what 2020 will bring. I know God will continue to be faithful in our lives because He loves us so.

Gratitude IMHO

If you know me well, I do not like change, was never good at it, never looked forward to it but life is filled with change and we have to adapt. I'm rarely bored. When I find something I like to eat at a restaurant, I usually order the same thing each time (salmon terayaki and hamachi kama at Japanese places). If I like a particular movie, I'll watch it over and over again (right now my favs are Crazy Rich Asians and AntMan and the Wasp). I take much comfort in the familiar, the routine, the predictable.

 So when unexpected change happens, it literally throws me for a loop.

This year has been filled with CHANGE for all of us. Some were unexpected.. some were planned.
Matthew's developed more aches and pains due to playing basketball. After 23 years, his company moved to a different building and had to adjust from working in a private office to an open shared space where he can't eat his lunch at his desk nor decorate it like he wants to.

His old private office to...

An open space with an adjustable desk

Emily got her driver's license and a car to drive; experienced a very slow and painful healing from the removal of 4 wisdom teeth; became an official adult; diligently worked on college apps for five months; goes an hour each way to volunteer at a bunny shelter every Saturday since July; and got our very first 'temporary' pet. She has fostered 3 bunnies already and will be on her fourth next month.

She fostered Owen, an adorably people friendly gray bunny who had hip surgery; and two black bunnies, Momo and her daughter, Won Ton, two extremely active girls.

Sadly, I had to turn my living room to a cardboard amusement park for the bunnies.

Hannah got braces (did not like) and contacts (does like); started school as a high schooler; had her first co-ed birthday party and was nominated (1 out of 4 girls) to be Homecoming Princess for the Freshman Class. She wasn't chosen but was honored to be nominated. It was a great surprise for her since she was new to the school.

Celebrating Hannah's 15th Birthday at the ice skating rink

I had vertigo, a strained rotator cuff, tendonitis in my hand and big toe and am currently going through menopause (do not like any of it).

We had five significant home repairs: re-grouting and caulking of the whole kitchen and bathroom;  fumigation from dry-wood termites, repaired part of a rotting roof, repainted the exterior of the house and fixed a broken furnace in the middle of a very cold winter. We even found a mouse in the attic!

The before and after of my sink was night and day!

The grouter took 4 long hard working hours to make my tiles look new again after 23 years of constant use and dirt!

After the fumigation, had to patch up cracks and created a totally different look for the house - March 1995 vs Dec 2018

I stopped teaching since KHA closed and didn't want to sub at a new school (don't like change remember?). So I spent most of my time doing administrative duties in various church ministries at FCC.

So even though I don't like change, change is inevitable .. it's a part of life and I am so GRATEFUL knowing that God does not change. He gives me great comfort and peace that in times of change He is unchanging. If I pray and lift all my anxiety and uncertainty to Him, He will take care of it. He healed my vertigo through a Pastor who has the gift of healing, as he prayed over me.

He is faithful and brings joy in the mist of change.

I embrace the change so that I can live life on how God has planned. He never wants us to live in the past. We should learn from the past not live in it.

Some changes are huge blessings...

I do like learning new ways on how to take care of my skin by using K(orean)-Beauty products and getting microdermabrasion facials (highly recommended from my sister-in-law). I have not changed my frequency of attending IMX Pilates classes (4-5 times a week) and it has significantly improved my flexibility, strength and stamina.

I'm in all these pictures if you look hard enough!

My mom, after 23 years, visited my MIL for the first time for Thanksgiving while my dad was in China. 

New additions to our families on each side:
This past summer, my baby cousin Tiffanie and her husband Roy, had an adorable little girl, Elliott Wen Movshovitz and Matthew's cousin Sherman and his wife Elaine had cutie Roman Jenkins Ma.

I know that there will be more changes next year as Emily goes off to college: for her to be independent and away from home (she's a homebody like me) and we adjust to 3 in our home;

Got acceptance letters from 3 out 7 of the schools already..

Hannah will need to adjust to not having an on-demand tutor at home (and it's not her father) and a buddy to hang out with; Matthew and I will be taking our first sans-kids trip to NY since having the girls to hear Hannah sing in Carnegie Hall with her school choir (Hannah will be with her friends instead of us the whole time) and I will be planning a Japan trip for Emily's graduation gift. (A completely foreign place for me to plan a trip: don't know the language, don't know anyone there; looking into local tour guides to take us around.)

But with all these changes the constant of having our Lord and Savior with us as we navigate life's twists and turns gives me peace and hope to what He has planned to come.

Of course, if it's completely crazy, outrageous, and not so good... don't change! LOL!

Happy New Year everyone!

Gratitute IMHO

All through the month of December until Christmas I posted on Instagram (@mamacez2017) a picture-a-day of something or someone I was thankful for that God has blessed me with. I didn't want to go into this Christmas season with the attitude of 'what am I going to get' but to continue the Thanksgiving sentiment of what I am grateful for because let's just be honest.. we have a lot to be grateful for compared to many in the world. Most importantly is who God gave to us, his only Son to be born human as we did; suffered and experienced life as we do; but died for us because He chose to; so that we can have eternal life with Him. God gifted us His Son. No gift can compare.

I am realizing that life is not easy and it is definitely harder to live it alone. So the majority of what I am thankful for is the people who are/were in my life because I know that each one is/has been in my life for a reason. Good or bad.. each has influenced me to be the person that I am today.

So below are just a plethora of people that I am deeply grateful for IMHO:

I know that there are many many more. I am deeply grateful for all of you I call friend.

May this coming new year be filled with people that you are/can be grateful for.  Happy 2018!