Games We Play At Home

Jordan and I like to play games at home.  Currently, here are our favorite games to play:

1) Throw all the plastic golf balls as far as you can, then go pick 'em up.  Repeat.
2) Roll a thing of tape on the floor down the hall until it bumps into something.  Repeat.
3) Shriek hysterically after laying down on the Panda pillow pet.  Repeat.
4) Give eskimo kisses.
5) Stack Kirkland paper towels and then knock 'em over.  Count them while stacking, then knock 'em over.  Put 'em in a row, then knock 'em over.  Basically... knock 'em over. Repeat.
6) Pretend to talk on the phone with Andy's old phone, the remote control, the baby monitor, and anything else that's around.
7) Bang on the drumset of pots upside down until Mom says that's enough.
8) Put jenga blocks anywhere it fits (these are fun, we find them everywhere, even places we did not see him put them).  Repeat.
9) Crawl through Huggies boxes.
10) Run through Daddy's BYU and Mommy's CMC school flags like a bull.  Yell and laugh.  Repeat.

We have a good time.  And then I don't feel so bad when I am working at the computer, iPad, or Kindle while he plays with his toys independently before his second nap.   Haha.  

Karma Stinks

I thought it was funny when Andy got his calling before me.  I am just gliding, not even flying, cuz gliding is that much more slick, right under the radar. I thought. A short weekend later, while I was still gloating, I got not only a calling but a call from the Bishop, asking me to speak in Church in two weeks.  Guess Andy got the last laugh.

Stupid karma.

Stinky.

Rain Rain Go Away... Come Again Some Other Day!

Rain sucks.  Rain ruins my day.  Rain gets in the way.  Rain is depressing.

It's hard to think of it being summer when all it does is rain here.  It's even tougher now that Jordan is super mobile and runs around, but is not quite old enough to appreciate indoor rainy day games.  We need the playground and outdoors.  We need the sun back.  We need it to not rain.

Alas, the weather report says sunny for the rest of the week.  Here's hoping!

Butt Pains

One noted side effect of living in a small town with lots of nature and outdoorsy stuff: butt pains.  We got me a mountain bike from our Costco rewards and went biking as a family this weekend. It was really fun despite my constant anxiety of dying, from either a misplaced rock I would flip over on or a drunk driver who would not see me and t-bone me out of nowhere.  We ventured out onto a path Andy found the other day, and saw horses, lots of green grass, homes far and few in between, and awed at the beautiful scenery and breathtaking view of downtown.  But shortly after we came home, I realized my bony butt hurt.  I need a seat pad, cushioned biker shorts, or more fat on my butt bones.  Ouch.  What a pain in the butt.

Eventful Post Office Trips

As part of my job, I was responsible for mailing 50 towels for a summer token of our appreciation.  I was quite a sight at the post office.  A big box full of towels and lil ol' me stuffing each towel, but only after I meticulously refolded it to fit inside the envelope, tucking a thank you card inside, and then sticking my address labels and return addresses, all while standing at the island where the line circulates around, attempting to find more space for my million of envelopes that began to pile up.  For a small town and the only Asian for miles, I got a lot of attention.  I also accumulated more than $100 worth of postage, and left, knowing I'd be back with the last ten towels.

Luckily for me, this was before work began for Andy, so he was in the car with Jordan while I did all of this.  Not so lucky this week. ...

Fast forward to this week.  I arrived at the post office, after putting Jordan into the stroller, and stuffing the stroller's undercarriage with envelopes and one box with six towels stuffed in, only to realize that they would not provide me with packaging tape (somehow the LA post offices always have a way around this!) unless I purchased it.  Heck no!  This was not a matter of simplicity,  this was a matter of principle.  And by all means, I stuck by it.  Stubborn, I know.  I left the post office, irate, telling the post office sir I would be back with my package sealed.  I'm sure he got the last laugh that day.

Today, I returned, but smarter and wiser than before.  My package was taped, and I even brought tape and scissors along into the car just in case I needed to tape more of my stuff together.  I arrived with the envelopes tucked into the undercarriage, and the box, perfectly centered on top of the stroller leaning against the handle.  I even brought two toys for Jordan this time to keep him preoccupied. I walked in with my head held high, so proud of my own preparations.  And I even asked for another box to mail my mom a computer necklace she gave me (that I do not use) that she wants back.  Thinking I was so smart for bringing tape (though I left it in the car), I advised Mr. Meany Mail Man that I'd be back shortly when he told me to have a great afternoon.  I got to the car where I intended to use the tape, only to find there was prepackaged tape on the box.  Wow.  He got the last laugh.

I went back in, even made some small talk with the postmen, asking them why there were two cops with rifles and one with a sniffing dog and a bulletproof vest (in a small town, really?!).  He said he didn't want to know why, but that everywhere in the world, there was bad stuff going on.  That he was lucky to be in America.  That he had traveled the world and seen much worse.  And then, he told me and the other lady in line, that if we were in California, we'd have to take a ticket to wait for our place in line at the post office.  I thought for a brief moment.  "Really?" I asked him.  "Not at the post offices I've been to," I told him, "and those were in California," I continued.  In that glimmer of a proud moment, I felt bad, so I added, "but I was not in a big part of California," to which he responded, "Yes, they only make you get a ticket for post offices in big cities in California, but not here," he said so proudly.  I wanted to be mean to him.  Wanted to tell him I was from Los Angeles and that was indeed a big city, but in that moment, I felt bad for being so prideful.  For wanting to be right even when I was wrong for a) not bringing my own tape the first time, and b) not realizing there was already a sticky edge on the box I got there.  But that was not the time.  Another time I suppose.

And yes, I am still wondering why there were three cops, two LARGE snipers (I think, they were big!), a bulletproof vest, and a police dog.

That was my eventful post office incident.  

 Also, today was the first time I had a weekly call while being on Jordan duty by myself since he's become so mobile and interested in life.  Solution?  Goldfishies with Sesame Street.  Halfway through the call, he walked on over, grabbed my earphones, and would not let go.  I sacrificed 'em and did the rest of the call via speakerphone (on mute until my turn of course), and he had a ball with the earphones for the remainder of the call.  

Love Is Dandy...

Both Andy and I forgot it was our anniversary today.  It wasn't until my friend Gena just messaged me saying, "Happy Anniversary!" that I was reminded.  And then she said, "well, I love Dandy."  Hahaha.  Years later, still unforgettable is the way we put Daisy and Andy together to become oh, just dandy.  I felt really silly.  We even have a weekly calendar we update during FHE, and it didn't even make it on there!  So much for us thinking today is a special day.  Oops.  At least we have all of eternity to make up for it.  Hehe.  Somehow I always imagined the dude would forget and the dudette would remember, boy was I wrong.


These are the only two photos I have on my computer ... the rest are on Andy's but his comp is so slow, I got lazy.  

So I just copied our photographer's URLs for some photos from that wonderful day two years ago...

  

This tree is gone now.  My dad pointed it out when I took them to the Visitor's Center before we left LA.  

the crew jumping photo

the red qi-pao I had to have

and the light posts... another LA must. 

we're such high rollers...

the beginning of eternity...

Happy Anniversary Andy!  Love is indeed dandy.  

Money Money Money.... M-O-N-E-Y!!

I'm no financial expert, but I do know a few things to kickstart your savings especially if you are a new family or have just started a new job.  We went to a financial planning meeting with the Yans while we were in Seattle (so much fun, more on that later maybe) and I learned that being a CPA and having worked in the accounting industry for seven years actually paid off a bit... because it turns out I know more than I thought I did!  

So here are three simple ways to make sure your family is on the right track to being financially secure.

1. Pay off all consumer debt - this means you don't just pay the minimum every time you get your credit card bill.  The plus is that if you're ever late on a payment (say you forgot, went on vacation, etc.) it's an easy call to the 1-800 number asking them to please reverse your late fee since you always pay in full on time but had this one time exception (and it works for more than one time - I think I've used it up to three times ont he same card before). If they say no, ask to speak to their supervisor.  It has never failed me thus far in life and I've had credit cards since 2000.
2. Start saving! - Even if this means putting aside $100, $20, or $5 a month, put aside money you will not touch.  If your company offers a 401k, DO IT, especially if they match - and if they match, contribute however much they match.  When I was single, I always maxed out on my 401k contributions to whatever they matched.  Don't even stop to think about it because it's free money.  401k is money that is put in for you and not taxed (it's taxed when you take it out, there is a penalty if you take it out earlier but you can normally borrow your own money for first time home purchases and some other stuff). If you have a kid, get a 529 College Savings Plan for them, it's money you can put aside (limits are same as that of estate tax which is $13,000 per person, $26,000 if married) for your child to use for school (anything related, even the purchase of a car used to drive to school and probably even flight tickets, books, tuition, room and board, computer, etc.) and the best part is if you take the money out for something unrelated to education stuff, it's at the income tax rate of the kid (if no job, usually small) and an unfortunate 10% early withdrawal penalty unless the beneficiary got a scholarship, died, or became disabled.  If you don't have a 401k, or even a kid to start a 529, you can start little with a Roth IRA (individual retirement account) which has limits once your income gets higher (for details, see this), but it's post-tax money that is not taxable when withdrawn (normally, I'm sure there are minor exceptions that I won't dwell on).  Of course, create a combination that works for you.  I did 401k until I quit the Firm and our income was significantly reduced.  Knowing we'd have to live off of savings for a few months before Andy's residency began, I never enrolled in my current company's 401k.  It just made sense at the time.  That said, I went seven years prior to that contributing at the max amount that was matched (and some years after I got a raise, I contributed even more because what I didn't see in my paycheck, I never spent).  
3.  Know your spending habits - You should normally have three months worth of living expenses in your checking account to be on the safe side, but you can't do that unless you know how much your family usually spends in a month.  If you don't want to track it in a meticulously detailed way like myself, at least know your fixed costs (for us, tithing, rent, utilities, phone, cable, etc.) and roughly how much you spend on other semi-fixed items like food, gas, entertainment, etc.  This helps to arm you with an understanding of what exactly spending $100 on that bike you really want, or $75 on those cute pair of jeans you really want, means for your short and long-term savings goals and encourages you to look for deals that are truly meaningful and necessary.  

Those are some simple rules I've lived by that have helped me along the way.  When it comes to spending habits, I know I always think.. oh how much I've saved by getting this cheaper version, but lately, it's been.. but do I really need that because if I don't.. I'm actually saving way more by NOT getting it, even if it is on sale.  My home might not always be the cutest.  My clothes might not always be the trendiest.  My shoes might not be the newest.  My idea of fine dining might just be Claim Jumper.  My idea of splurging might just be dinner and a movie.  But heck, my retirement plan (thus far) sure looks quite nice!