New House

Woohoo~ Got my first house ever! This is exciting. Cannot post pictures though, BlogSpot is not liking the pictures I have been trying to upload all these times, which is why I have not been blogging as promise (*good excuses).


Been actively looking for "gently" used or new house for a good six months before deciding on a house that we (hubby and I) like. We end up buying a brand new house given that we both are terribly bad at fixing things, and the price of buying a new one is equivalent to buying a "gently" used one. We are better off saving ourselves some troubles down the road, right?


Alas, I have to take my word back. We have to supervise closely at the construction because just our luck that the contractor to build our house is pretty much slacking the whole time. Some of our requests were not carried out as planned, and he is always not around the office, never picks up the call or returns the email. We were complaining, and the completion date has been delayed from mid-November to end of November. The builder has finally decided to change to another contractor, and things have improved drastically, and the completion date has been push back to mid-November, although by then we have already postponed our rental agreement to meet the completion date, and were given three weeks’ notice to the closing date, but our apartment has a policy to give a two months’ notice. Not only that, the very second day we got the key to the house, the A/C stopped working, and the weather is not cooperating either. It was forecast to have a freeze for about a week starting from the day our A/C broke. Thank goodness we have not move in yet.


My experience is, you put the efforts in before you move in for the new house, and you put efforts in after you move in for buying a used house (based on friends' experiences). But in the end, everything will be worth it, because you will have a house you call your own.


We are getting the refrigerator and washer and dryer tomorrow. Can't wait to settle in.


Mood: Glee~


Music:  Shatter Me Featuring Lzzy Hale - Lindsey Stirling  

What have I been up to

I have tried to update my blog once, but my computer failed me. It has gotten sooo slow...... I was trying to upload some pictures, but they all failed to download. So I gave up. Lost my patience.


OK, I will try to update more blog posts from now on. But of course, no guarantee.


October 2013


I have finally been offered a job by the end of October. Life is good.


November 2013


I went back to my husband's and my hometown for our wedding ceremonies.


December 2013


Came back from our trip and everything freeze here in town... In fact, the coldest it has been in history.


January - February 2014


Nothing much happens, or my memory has failed me.


March 2014


Got another job offer. Decided that I should go for it since this job is more in line to my career goal.


May 2014


Went to Big Bend, have the scariest hike again! I have been there four years ago, and have the scariest hike ever because there are mountain lions, bears, wild boars, snakes... you name it, and they have it. When I was there, there are signs warning of recent mountain lion encounter, and if I am not mistaken, it was exactly a week ago when it happens. Anyway, it is five miles walk to the window view and back, and sunset is the best time to go, which means by the time we walk back it will be dark. With the mountain lion warning signs and hearing that each area is cover by at least one mountain lion just almost scared me to death. I was constantly out of breath as there is a lot of climbing to do, and my legs got cramped couple of times too. According to my friends that were with us, I actually went pale a few times. Then the next day, my hip bone and leg bone dislocated. Orz...


June 2014


Nothing exciting


July 2014


Went to Oklahoma for July 4th, I got beg bug bites all over me, were not able to sleep well, and just plain uncomfortable the whole trip. The lodge we rent is the smallest lodge I have ever seen, the bathroom the nastiest. I hate it whenever the bathrooms in the hotels are not well keep, and people have the guts to charge high amount some more. Simply disgusting.


August 2014


Nothing exciting


So this sums up my past year's activities. Need to sleep now.


Ciao~


Mood: Sleepy

Life So Far...

Life has not been treating me too kindly.


Ever since my graduation in May, I have been working on my bar exams, and needless to say, I have failed quite miserably. On average, I used about 4 weeks or less to prepare for each exam. All the tests results are around 10 points apart from the passing grade. I am so devastated.


Since my last exam at the end of August, I have started looking into jobs as I have not been able to pass any exam. But unfortunately, I have not been offered a position.


I have no idea if I should continue on with my exams or should I continue looking for jobs. I have spent two grants on the exams, continue failing is out of question, but I am not confident that I can make it for the next exam.


Mood: gloomy

Gaining Weight

Didn't do much today, and for some reason I feel like eating today.  So I had both chocolates and chips... after my lunch.  So much for new year resolution. 

Christmas and New Year 2012 Trip - Part 2

Argh, I need to keep up with the blog.  Haven't blog in such a long time.

One of my new year resolution is to blog more, but I didn't bother to keep up my new year resolution at all.

Anyway, let's move on with the trip.  I think I am starting to forget a lot of the details...

12/24

10am - Trying to fix rental car left signal light.  The light was malfunction the moment we rented it.  But we were not having enough time to fix it since we wasted so much time to even get the car itself.  Hertz - you are so disappointing!  They made us run around the town to get the signal light ourselves and refund us the cost of the signal light.  When we argue that fixing the signal light delayed our trip, they don't even budge.  WTH?!

11:30am - Finally on the road to Flagstaff, Arizona. Due to the rented car issue, we were not able to reach Flagstaff in time for lunch.  We intended to go to "The Place" for lunch, but they close at 4PM if I am not wrong.  I believe we still have 6 hours to go. Ended up eating some Asian buffet out of no where.  So mad. 

Around 3pm, it started snowing, heavy snow too.  We have to slow down due to limited visibility.  By the time we reached Flagstaff, it was about 6pm.  We drove for about 1-2 hours, then it started snowing again, and the road was so icy.  It was too dangerous to drive so ended up staying at Williams, Arizona for the night. 

You can see some icy patches on the road.  But the view is absolutely gorgeous~

We went for dinner after we have booked a place to stay for the night. 

 

Cruiser Cafe 66 is where we lay our eyes on.

 

 

So pretty~

 

The snow on the trees, and of course, it was freezing. 

 

Our barbeque meat, and baked beans, which we didn't even touch.

 

I think the restaurant is on Route 66. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you see how icy the road actually is?  We drove 5mph, and practically slide to our commodation for the night after the dinner.

10pm - hit the sack. 

12/25

9am - breakfast at the Jack in the box. 

 

So pretty~ yet so dangerous.  The road was even icier. 

9:30am - hit the road again.  The highway is finally not icy like the night before. 

11:30am - reached the border of Nevada and Arizona, and Hoover Dam.  Do some sight seeing and pictures taking. 

 

Hoover Dam view from the bridge 

 

Hoover Dam under the bridge.

Opposite view.  We were on the bridge.

 

1:30pm - reached Las Vegas, Nevada, and have dim sum at KJ Dim Sum and Seafood Chinese Restaurant at Rio.  I believe we paid about $20 per person.  Didn't bother to take any picture since all the dim sum dishes look alike anyway. Also, we have to wait for about half an hour.  We were having a hard time locating the restaurant since is our first time there.  So we actually spent about one hour to locate and get seated. 

2:45pm - reached our hotel (We stayed at our friend's parents' house.  We are so grateful that our friend offer a place for us to stay).  Get to refresh a bit, then went out to watch a magic show, by Nathan Burton.  After the show, we get to walk around the hub of Las Vegas, to snap some pictures.  It's a long walk, so glad I wore a comfortable shoes.  But of course, after about 3 hours of walk, I think my legs are quitting on me.  I feel like they are going to detach from me at any time.

This is the best pic I have taken out of all other pics in Las Vegas. 

 

Pretty Christmas tree with weird white thingy.

 

Argh, my bf told me that we can actually go watch the blue men when we are in Las Vegas.  Who knows they went to TX when we are in Las Vegas, and by the time we are back in TX, they are gone...

I think this is in Bellagio. 

 

Went to Jean Philippe to have ice cream~  It's soooooooo good.  I wanted the crepe, but I didn't want to wait in line for the crepe because it was going to take forever to wait for the crepe, so we ended up just getting the ice cream, which took us almost half an hour to get the ice cream...  BTW, those are real chocolate flowing behind the glass. 

Some of the deserts they have at the counter.  I am getting hungry... 

 

Casino full of crystals.  Don't remember the name.

10:30pm - Dinner at Hikari Japanese steakhouse & sushibar (yes, dinner at 10:30pm).  It is an all you can eat sushi for $26.95.  If we go in at 11:30pm, it is $22.95 (I believe.  Don't quite remember), but for ladies only.  Didn't manage to take any picture either because we ordered and ate like crazy.  No kidding, if you see me eating, you will think that I haven't eat for days. 

12am - reached our hotel. Hit the sack in half an hour.  I was dead tired. 

That's it for now.  Night.

Mood: Hungry

Music: Cant Hold Us ft Ray Dalton - The Heist

Can never make the right decision.

I feel so dejected today. 

I bought something online yesterday with deal thinking that deals like that do not come easily, and I actually missed another deal for the same item I want to purchase two days ago.  So of course, I didn't want to miss the chance.  Who knows today a better deal comes out for the item I want to purchase. 

Never mind about this incident. 

I then wanted to purchase a packaged item on Amazon, but not knowing what exactly I wanted to purchase.  So I consulted my friend.  By the time I noticed her respond, the item with the price I wanted to purchase is gone.  So I resulted purchasing a higher price of the item, but not in a complete package.  So I went to ebay, looking for better deals, and I found the missing item in the package for a reasonable price, but way more expensive than the first deal I saw.  I thought I want to ask for a bargain instead.  It was listing for $250, and I asked for $200.  The person rejected my deal today, and when I wanted to purchase, the deal is gone again!!!  I ended up purchasing that missing item for $400 not including shipping... 

Argh!!!  All in all, I purchased items for $200-300 higher than intended over this two days... 

Rant over.

Mood: Agitated!

Christmas and New Year 2012 Trip - Part 1

I was on a trip that lasted 11 days during Christmas and New Year 2012.

We went to a few states:

New Mexico for ski and White Sand National Park
Arizona for food
Nevada for shows and Christmas celebration
California for Disney Land, and more food.

Anyway, here's the break down on the way to New Mexico:

12/22

12pm - start our trip.
1:30pm - lunch

The view is so pretty~

 



6:10pm - dinner at The Big Texan at Amarillo, TX.  It is famous for its 72oz steaks. - http://bigtexan.com/

 

 

Apertizer for $12.95 (cheese sticks, fried mushrooms, fried jalapenos, fried gizzards)

 

It took the waiter too long to service us.  But the food is good.  My only suggestion is that don't go there during dinner time, go in the afternoon instead. 

12:30pm/11:30pm NM time - Reach Santa Fe commodation.

12/23

10:20am - reached Ski Santa Fe - http://www.skisantafe.com/

On the way to the mountain.  Is so pretty when the snow covers the trees.  Sorry is kinda blurry.

 

 

You can see so many people lining up for rental.  It didn't used to be so many people. We went there two years ago, I believe we got there around 10 something, and started skiing around 10:30am. 

 



12:20pm - started skiing (took us forever to rent the ski equipment). 
6:20pm - dinner at Thai Cafe - http://www.thaicafesantafenm.com/

 

Seafood curry with rice for $13.95

 



 

Tofu pad thai for $11.95.  Too sweet.

 



Chicken pineapple fried rice for $11.95.  The rice is sweet too, but not as bad as the pad thai.

7:30pm - Too tired to have anything else plan up, so back to the hotel and call it a night.

I am going to post more of the trip in several posts.

Music:  I knew you were trouble - Taylor Swift