What made us smile. Week of 06.18.2012 & 06.25.12

Week of 06.18.12

Kyreen

• Cleaning. Normally, cleaning wouldn't make me smile, but this week I was able to clean out the pantry cabinets. I could not believe how much food and condiments I threw out! With so much food tossed, I was able to place all new stacking wire shelves in there to maximize my space. Which in the long term will me keep track of what I have and what I need to stock up on.
• Ganesha. A gem of an Indian cuisine place in the most unlikely spot in a mainly Korean shopping center. We first came across Ganesha on Restaurants.com because of a special offer. We figured we'd give it a try and since then it's been our go to Indian restaurant. The owner is really personable and very friendly. We hadn't been there in a while and despite that he still remembered us.
• My BF Louisa. I love that I have a best girl friend that I can talk to about anything. I could be having the worst day and she manages to make everything better. She's awesome. 

Glen

• All Hands On Deck! I've been trying to develop better cleaning habits. It's always nice to see Kyreen jump onboard. She cleaned the kitchen cabinets before I got to it - and I didn't even ask her to do anything!
• "Come on baby, light my fire." I had a terrible day at work so Kyreen saved me some effort and cooked Salmon for me. On top of that, she lit a tiny fire in our fire pit. The little things really do count :)
• Retail therapy. I finally found a natural colored linen hat as well as some pretty loud, well-fitting pants at the mall with Kai. Thankfully, they were on sale. I NEVER buy full retail (on imported goods).

Week of 06.25.12

Kyreen

• The Whole Enchilada. Took hubby to Moss Landing for his birthday dinner and had the whole family come out. Great food and great company, and perfect place to celebrate my hubby.
• Appreciation goes a long way. I was taking care of a patient at work that was getting a procedure done for the first time, she was anxious and worried about any possible reactions to the treatment. I had spent a good amount of time educating and calming her; I also made it a point for her to see me during my rounds to make her feel comfortable knowing I was watching closely. After her treatment completed without any problems, I escorted her out to where her husband was waiting for her. She gave me a hug and thanked me for taking such "great care" of her. That really made my day.
• Girls' Night Out with Magic Mike. Went to opening day with my girls to watch Magic Mike. Nothing like some eye candy and laughs to start off the weekend!

Glen

• I have wonderful friends. But, I never see them due to work and distance. It's sad, because my friends in SJ really care about me, even though I'm never around. Alex's housewarming party reunited me with some friends I hadn't seen in almost half a decade.
• I'm 28 years young. I worked on my birthday and not a single person at my jobsite said anything. But, a bunch of my friends on Facebook wished me a happy birthday. That really means a lot. More so for me because I don't think I deserve it, considering how terrible I am at keeping in touch. I am changing that this year, though.
• Kyreen's upcoming 30th birthday is the BEST thing to ever happen to this house! Her dad and cousin really cleaned up the place. It's amazing. The only parts of the house I truly had control over were my own bedroom and bathroom. The rest of the house was at the mercy of my in-laws. Well, 3 years later, they finally came around to making the house presentable! And keeping it clean will be so much easier!

What made us smile. Week of 05.14.12

Kyreen

• Getting voluntary cancelled at work. I was cancelled, voluntary or forced, for the first time in over two years. Which in turn gave me three nights off in a row! Such a small thing but it had a profound influence on my morale that week.
• Baby shower at BJ's for a coworker. It was the first time since the economy hit that we all got together outside of work. We threw a shower for one of our coworker's who's having a baby due next month. I was a lot of fun to get dressed up with the ladies I work with and get together without having to hear call lights going off. 
• Girl's night out. This past weekend was all about the ladies! Went out with my girls for our annual "Mother's Day" shopping trip to San Jose. We ate out for lunch and dinner, and literally shopped for almost 12 hours. Can't wait till next year!

Glen

• House within a room within a house. Kyreen and I have finally started season 7 of House M.D. Yes, I know we're way way behind but with hockey being on every other day, it's hard to keep up with any show on TV. So, we abstain (from House) until the DVD/Blu-ray comes out. Then we proceed to torture ourselves even more by not watching all of the episodes in a single sitting.
• Well-fitting pants are hard to find. Kyreen found me some on her "girl's night out". The fact that this girl still thinks of me when she shouldn't be is one of the reasons why I love her (and why she's stuck with me).
• Saladmaster. Months ago, I cleaned out the shed and found a curious purple box that belonged to Kyreen's mom. In it was a Saladmaster. After doing a little research, I found out that they're not sold in stores, they're only sold door-to-door, and they're built like tanks because they're made in the USA. Our unit was brand new. It has found a new home on our kitchen counter.

What made us smile. Week of 05.07.12

We're moving WMUS to Mondays because it just makes more sense. Doesn't your week start on Monday? Right?


Glen

• My new camera. A couple weeks ago I lost my camera. You can read more about it on Valley of the Saints, my personal blog. As for my new camera, I'm excited to be able to continue to learn about my new hobby of photography.
• Frozen fish. At Target. Swordfish and Halibut that were selling for $25 per package were clearanced down to $3.44 and $6.44. Our freezer is now completely full. Of fish.
• Mother's Day. This year's Mother's Day involved an entire day of cooking and cleaning. I was happy to do it because 1)I love cooking and 2)it's fun making people smile. Hope your Mother's Day went as swimmingly as mine.

Kyreen

• Nurse's Week. This year, nurse's week was celebrated at my work. The last two years, with the economy as it was, the hospital couldn't do anything special for the staff. This year, on one of the nights I worked, I was able to enjoy some Myo frozen yogurt courtesy of the hospital. Also, I got to go home voluntarily half way through my shift.  
• Date night. Hubby and I had made it a point a while ago to always designate one night of the week to date night. However, since we have been so busy lately we haven't been able to do that till this past week. Date night consisted of The Avengers movie (which is freaking awesome btw) and dinner at our favorite Denny's in Morgan Hill. Yup, it was a perfect night.
• Mother's Day. Yes, for the most part it is a holiday probably created by card companies, but it gives me the opportunity to reflect on the time I did have with my mom and to celebrate her memory. I also received the cutest card from my little baby Napoleon and a very sweet handwritten letter from hubby. Did I mention I already had a feast waiting for me with my faves right when I woke up? 

What made us smile. Week of 04.29.12

Glen

• Family time. Last sunday I played basketball with Kyreen's brothers and Dad. It's sad that my new family isn't as involved with each other as I've been blessed with in my childhood, but it makes finding time for each other a little more special. After basketball, we all sat down and ate dinner together. It's a rare event.
• Life, filtered. On the ride home last Monday the sunset, clouds, and sky combined to create a stunning view. The entire world looked as if it had been instagrammed. Hey, when you commute 70 miles home each day, you gotta find things to appreciate about it.
• Coming home to a cooked meal. There's little that I appreciate more than coming home to a meal cooked just for me. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach and Kyreen has wooed me yet again.

Kyreen

• Prom. My little brother Kevin is growing up-- he had prom yesterday. It was nice to see how far he's come and to see that he's turning into a great young man. Also we got to do the annoying picture taking that's involved before he headed off to prom with his date. 

The fam with Kevin and his date Chelsea.

• Cinco de Mayo. Or rather just Saturday May 5th. Hubby was oh so sweet in being my DD as I got to spend the night dancing and drinking with my girls. It's been a long while since we've done that and it was definitely nice to let loose.
• Reconnecting with old friends. Friday night we got to have dinner with Glen's old friend Dave. It was nice to catch up and to finally meet their little son Isaac. He's the splitting image of Dave and has his energy to boot. Then today we got to spend a little time with my old friend Yvonne for her son Aaren's birthday. Yvonne is probably my oldest friend here in Salinas and it's always nice to catch up with her even if it was just for a brief time. 

What made us smile. Week of 4.22.12

Glen

• My haircut. With my schedule so erratic, I can't regularly go to my barber, so I decided to get my hair cut by Kyreen's stylist. Let me tell you, she's as beautiful as she is good. And she is good. I think she might be off the market, though. Sorry, fellas.
• Harbor Sushi. We went to Lancaster, CA for a baby shower and in desert town with pretty much nothing but dirt and tumbleweed, there's an all-you-can-eat sushi joint. Normally, "all-you-can-eat" and "sushi" don't go together, but this place really pulls it off.
• Friends making families. A high school friend of mine, Lehua, just gave birth to a beautiful girl. She has a blog where she's been chronicling her journey towards a family of her own. I'm really happy for her.

Kyreen

• Harbor Sushi. Yes, Glen already mentioned it, but it really was a true gem in the most unlikely place. The rolls were delicious and unlike most "all you can eat sushi" places, they actually had rolls that you'd want to eat. None of these generic cucumber rolls or California rolls with fake crab meat, they served the good stuff. Definitely one of the places we'll be visiting again on our next trip to go see Vanessa and Phil.
• Lunch with new friends. It's hard to make new friends, even harder to make new friends that are on the same timeline in their lives. Blanca came to work with us after some circumstances, and we've quickly become friends. Nothing better than food and great conversation to build on a friendship.
• Prom. Kevin had finally asked the girl he's been crushing on forever to prom with him and she said yes! I got to help my brother pick out his tux for prom. Though I may have made other choices in terms of neutral colors vs color matching, it was definitely fun to be on the other side. Made me remember my own prom just 12 years ago! Man, I'm getting old :)

What made us smile. Week of 04.15.12

Kyreen

• Vanessa's Baby Shower- There are a lot of things that took place during the baby shower that was a lot of fun. Too many things to list so I'll just list my top 3:
1. Hosting and running the events of the shower was a lot of fun. Despite it being the first baby shower I've thrown, it went surprisingly well. I say good planning helps with the execution.
2. The shower games were a blast. The main reason the games were a success, was because of the participants. Guests were super competitive which made the games all that more fun. Seeing everyone get involved was very entertaining. I also got compliments on the couples relay race that I came up with!
3. Food- What's a Filipino party without food? I had probably the most amazing chip dip, fresh veggie pizza, cassava cake, and Nathan's (baby's nickname) shower cake. Vanessa's boss had made the chip dip and the fresh veggie pizza at home from scratch. And the cassava cake, courtesy of Vanessa's aunt, was borderline close to how my mom used to make it. Nathan's shower cake came all the way from Las Vegas and the red velvet with the fondant was probably one of the best I've tasted. The food, of what I could eat, was delish!

Glen

• Denny's. We've recently made it a tradition to stop by Denny's in Morgan Hill after a night at the Tank (San Jose Sharks). Although they lost, we can always look forward to the good service.
• Kara's Cupcakes. Kyreen surprised me with the best cupcakes in the world. The icing on the cake (see what I did there) was that Kara's finally made a Red Velvet cupcake. It's the closest thing to our wedding cake, in cup form.
• Winning. Our beloved Sharks lost, but I won some lenses on Ebay after the winner didn't pay the seller. Sometimes 2nd really is good enough!

What made us smile. Week of 04.08.12

Kyreen

• Game 1 Sharks vs. Blues- Sharks win in double overtime! Heart pounding suspense for 40+ minutes! 
• Papa John's Pizza- Was craving pizza so got my favorite combo: cheese and double pineapples... yummy!
• Wrapping my cousin's baby shower present. Yes, it is an accomplishment, considering how much stuff I had to stuff in a basket and then shrink wrap. (will post pictures after the baby shower as to not spoil the surprise)

Glen

• My trench coat. In every cloud there's a silver lining. My silver lining this past week was khaki colored. We had thunderstorms and scattered showers for most of the week, and I was finally able to bust out my favorite piece of outerwear.
• Winning. I won an old Yashica FR-1 SLR camera on ebay. It's old (1977, baby!) and comes with all the accessories. But what I really bought it for was the lens. Will post pics soon my other blog.
• Food blogs. Speaking of other blogs, I'm carefully looking at food blogs. I haven't added many to my daily RSS feeds simply because once I start, I'll end up with dozens. #InformationOverload.

What made us smile. Week of 04.01.12

Glen

• The San Jose Sharks are playoff bound! We were at Fan Appreciation Day in the Tank when the Sharks beat the Kings 3-2 in a fantastic comeback!
• Schooner's Clam Chowder. Being new to seafood, this is the best clam chowder I've had thus far. The service was terrible, but at least I got my fix.
• Jordan's hospitality from Johnny Rockets in Monterey. As mentioned, the service in Schooner's was bad. So bad, we finished up our chowder and looked for another place to eat. We came across Johnny Rockets and our waitress, Jordan, made our night.
• Picking 60s songs from a jukebox. I dunno. It's just really satisfying to me.

Kyreen

• Double Date with BFF Weezy. And reminiscing about the past.
• Epic haul from Target. I have to post some of my couponing hauls soon.
• SJ Sharks comeback. I love Hockey!
• Johnny Rockets server Jordan. Strawberry Oreo Crumble Shake.

What made us smile. Week of 03.25.12

Kyreen

• Weezy's Engagement Party- I got to spend time with my bestie. Being a part of this one event made me feel special to be sharing the experience with her. Plus it felt good being recognized for all the work we put into helping prepare and run her engagement party.

• Work - As much as I hate to take on additional responsibilities at work, I appreciate the fact that I'm recognized by my peers as a good mentor. 

• Dinner on the table - I love how hubby and I both take turns making dinner for one another. On Wednesday, I loved how hubby had dinner already made for me even though I was very grumpy waking up that night. And I'm sure he appreciated the dinner I made last night for him as well. Always nice to come home to a home cooked meal.

Glen

• Seeing friends enjoy and endure the pleasures and stresses of pre-wedding celebrations.

• Wendy's fish sandwich- 100x better than a Filet O'Fish from McDonald's.

• Nordstrom Rack- Finding Ralph Lauren Made in USA loafers and Wolverine 1000 Mile boots at Nordstrom Rack for pennies on the dollar. I call this epic winning 2nd only to whoever gets that $630mil Mega Millions pot.

• The stylings of Arnie's little nephew and niece. Best dressed kids I ever did saw. Yup.