Malaysia!

So Malaysia didn't start out to well for me actually. By the time we landed in Penang I was pretty much crippled with food poisoning. I held it in until we made it to the hotel room, but that whole night was miserable to say the least. I was actually worried I wouldn't feel up to being on the road the next day, but I ended up rallying in time to meet the ship, Meg, and her two friends Kayoko and Jenna when they came into the Port of Penang. These girls are so fun! I love how much Brennan and Meg are clones of each other, too.



As soon as we picked up the girls, we hit the road and headed to Cameron Highlands via Ipoh. Brennan drove and I was his trusty co-pilot. We did hit a major rainstorm which made it a little scary to drive up the windy mountains. Once the rain cleared, we stopped at a little strawberry farm on the side of the road which was so cute! I think we put them in the poor house from all the samples we ate. Brennan asked the lady how business was and she kind of grunted, so... maybe not so good? We liked it anyway.




When we made it all the way up the mountains to the town of Tanah Rata in Cameron Highlands, we hotel shopped a bit and ended up finding the CUTEST little villas called Bala's Chalets. Our "family villa" had a downstairs and upstairs and was called Tiffany's Corner. It was SO great... except for the spiders. YUCK.




We spent the whole next day touring around Cameron Highlands. The highlights were definitely hiking around the highest peak of Malaysia and touring the Boh Tea Plantation. I honestly think I have never seen anything like these places. They were absolutely amazing... green and lush. The kind of place where there is mist stretching across the treetops. The tea plantations were SO neat. The way tea grows looks so trippy! It's somewhere you have to see, I think, to really see how neat and crazy the place is. I'm so SO glad we saw it. Renting the car was one of the best decisions we made the whole trip :)






Thank you, Jenna... not sure we could have found where to go without your direction.



So from Cameron Highlands we made it down to Kuala Lumpur! The most recognizable thing there is the Petronas Towers (which were stunning!). We ate and slept VERY well in KL to say the least. What was kind of perplexing about KL (and about Malaysia as a whole really) was just how kind of "any city in the world" it felt. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE cities and it was so fun to be in a new one, but there isn't anything very distinctive about what people looked like or what people were eating... their music... it was a huge mix of ethnic Indians and Chinese splattered with a bunch of Westerners. We spent a lot of time perusing markets, enjoying our awesome hotel room, and hanging out with the girls' Semester at Sea friends. It's good to know some things never change about Semester at Sea. It was like I could see exactly who from their ship equated to people from our ship. Funny.




NO KISSING IN THE CABS!



From KL we flew back up to Penang for our last night of the trip. We found this Night Market/Food Paradise that was basically a huge courtyard of tables with food stalls all around them. We met a new friend from England named Ash and just sat around the table sampling the different plates and Tigers. Brennan tried to take a picture of "the ambiance" and ended up with a picture of these two women who lived in Penang... are you kidding me!!??



Fortunately they were good sports and ended up thinking it was as funny as we did. Ash, where are you looking?



The group at the end of the night...


6:30am the next morning we left Penang and flew to Bangkok, to Beijing, and to DC totaling another 30 hours door to door. Totally worth it for what was a great trip. Good to get away... good to remember what it's like to be lost and different and anonymous and international. Good to read books and spend too long getting out of bed and trying street food I can't pronounce and trying to smile as much as the Thais do. Good to be gone, really. And good to be back now... I suppose :)

Samui Sun

Spent a few fantastic days in Ko Samui, a little island in Thailand. We stayed in Bo Phut Beach at a resort that turned out to be absolutely perfect. Lonely Planet says it's a "step down in luxury" which is probably right but we just really were pleased with the location and beach and hospitality. Plus there was a sweet buffet breakfast everyday on the deck overlooking the beach and ocean so that was nice. Actually it was just kind of fun to be there with a bunch of European families on their "holiday." I think we picked an absolutely ideal time to be in Samui because from what I can tell we were between seasons there, so it was not at all too crowded and the weather was awesome. I can't remember being more comfortable at a beach ever. Costa Rica had some sweet beaches but it was always so hot... the weather in Samui was perfectly hot but with a breeze and no humidity. One of the days we went to another beach on the island called Chaweng and crashed a five star resort to use their pool and beach area. Good idea by us! Weaseled our way into a yellow towel that made us look like we were supposed to be there. Brennan and I both managed to finish a few books which is always nice :)




One of the nights we were there I took Brennan out for his 25th birthday dinner at a place called Poppies (I will have to put a link in when I'm back on American computers). Ok seriously this place was SO good. We had a bunch of dishes but our favorite was definitely ostrich satay. We decided that if ever ostrich is on a menu in the future we will order it and always decidedly announce "this just is not NEARLY as delicious as the ostrich in Ko Samui, Thailand." The best part of the night hands-down, though, was the live music at this place. Brennan said if he could have a soundtrack of our trip it would be absolutely priceless. I'm talking 3am 80s love song infomercial style music. This included "If We Hold On Together" by Diana Ross from the Land Before Time - which of course sparked the conversation about how come Little Foot's mom dies in the movie and that I went to high school with a kid who looks just like Petri.

Saw this sign when I was walking down the beach one morning... LOVE IT!


So now we're on our layover in Bangkok on our way to Penang, Malaysia. Can't wait to see Meg tomorrow morning! Pray for us... I'm already getting an ulcer thinking about Brennan driving and me navigating the Malaysian freeway to Cameron Highlands and eventually KL! OYE.

Bangkok... check!

Just about to leave Bangkok to fly to Samui in a few minutes here, but am taking advantage of free Internet in the Bangkok Air lounge. Why aren't American airports this comfortable? There are like... snacks and everything. Amazing how customer satisfaction goes up tenfold with a bag of popcorn and cup of juice preflight!

Four movies, a 70 dollar sushi layover in Japan, several drinks and bugging the flight attendant to steal cookies from business class, and 30 hours of transit door to door got us right into Bangkok late Thursday night. We basically went right to sleep that first night but I was raring to go the next day and hiked myself down to a breakfast place (that turned out to be closed so I resigned myself to an in-hotel meal).

We spent the morning touring temples and took a much needed relaxing boat ride from one side of Bangkok to the other on the river. We had a drink at the Shangrila (that looks spelled wrong... someone help!) and took a nap before getting ready to go out.


Last night we started at the Banyon Tree Skybar on the 61st floor of the hotel and met up with a friend of Brennan's boss named Chris. I am SO glad we connected with him, as anyone knows it is a thousand times better to see any city with a local! Anyway we enjoyed the view for awhile and then headed out to a little hole-in-the-wall traditional Thai place for dinner. I told Chris he has to order to break me out of my Pad See Ew confines. It ended up being one of those dinners you wish you would never get full... so good. Dumb American alert: Did you know the Thais don't use chopsticks except for noodles? Apparently they got the fork memo a long time ago.


After dinner we went out on the town and met up with a bunch of Chris' friends... The table ended up being the beginning of a bad joke: Two Thais, a German, a Belgian, a Dutchman, and four Americans were sitting at a bar in Bangkok. Anyway the night was SO fun and I couldn't have asked for more. We ended up late night at Chris' house talking in the courtyard. He has this awesome mosquito tennis racket looking thing that zaps them that I could not get over. It was just fun, you know, getting to sit there with different people from different places with different jobs and different ideas. I didn't realize how much I needed a change of scenery! Last night made me feel like me.

Today we begrudgingly checked out of the hotel at 12pm (since we needed at least another hour or so of sleep) and headed up to the weekend market. Spent the whole day there. I love markets- they're so cool to walk around, but the problem is that since there is everything under the sun being sold, it's hard to like... actually BUY something. Is that weird? I ended up with a few doo-dads but what I really wanted was to buy Lauren and I our Chihuahua. There were many candidates for Captain Fabulous but alas I have ended up furry critter-free. Brennan was quick to want to get out of the pet section saying all he could see was disease. Cute disease at least!


Anyway off to Samui for some beach R&R... yay!

Don't Blink

Life goes faster than you think
Don't Blink

I've been listening to that Kenny Chesney song for the past two weeks that have come and gone faster perhaps than any other... ever! I know everyone in this city is busy, and I do think there is a real unhealthiness that can begin with busy-ness, but GEEZ! Life has been so busy! Ha. (I'm still at work at it's 9:05pm, if that's any indication)

A few things...

NCC in the news!
Story on lent
One on Ebz

Brennan and I leave in less that TWO DAYS for Thailand and Malaysia! I'll devote a whole post to that of course, but suffice it to say the tickets are booked, the itinerary is set, and I have a new pair of enormous sunglasses that make me look like a bug to wear on the beach. The long and the short of it is we'll do a few days in Bangkok, a few days on an island called Ko Samui, then off to Penang to meet the Semester at Sea ship and pick up Bren's sister Meg and two of her friends. From there we're RENTING A CAR (this is where Brennan and I will fight the most out of the whole trip obviously) and driving from northern Malaysia (Penang) down to a mountainy part called Cameron Highlands and ultimately to Kuala Lumpur, then catch a flight back up to Penang. Start saying prayers please haha.

I met with Pastor Chris today at Ebenezers and had a great talk. More to come on that as life unfolds, but I just want to say a thanks to Chris for being so supportive, so excited, so prayerful, and such a leader to me! My relationship with Pastor Chris is a great example of how multi-site churches work from a pastoring perspective. Even though NCC is a huge huge church and it is easy to be anonymous, committing as much as possible to one service at one location is key to plugging in and developing relationships with the church body and pastors. Pastor Chris made me realize today how I really have gone through a cycle at NCC - finding my personal faith there, developing it through sundays upon sundays and small groups, and now beginning the process of being "sent out" with the blessing of the church. It's pretty neat.

Louie Giglio

What's the greatest thing of everything there is?

I want to wake up to the brevity of life.

2 Corinthians 5:13-17

If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Viva

Went to Las Vegas last weekend with Muffin, Sweeting (Sweety, Sweetini), Heatherb (Feather), and Maus (Flaus). It is now Thursday and I'm still EXAUSTED!

Sweeting, Erin, and Muffin hadn't ever been to la vega before! We stayed at the Mirage so the group convened late Friday night and stayed out until daybreak walking around our hotel, Ceasars, and the Bellagio. Quote of the first night from Heather "If I do a faceplant in the casinos, cut a sister OFF!" For the record, she did two faceplants and there was no cut her offing happening.

Saturday I bounced right up and was ready to go. I took a walk down the strip while the rest of Team Vega was sleeping. Once everyone was up, we went to the pool... (THE POOL!! in Februrary!!)... and did more people watching and slot machining. That night for dinner we went to Koi in Planet Hollywood-- it was tres chic minus the weird annoying bachelor party hitting on the girls at the table behind us. One of the guys was just SUCH a d-bag to the point that it almost spoiled dinner. We spent the rest of the night waltzing around Paris (where HeatherB ALWAYS wins... she won 100 bucks at Roulette and another 150 or so on SLOTS of all things), New York New York (where we went to an awesome dueling piano bar), and Luxor. Sweeting went to the dark side and I wasn't feeling well so we went home while Muffin, Erin, and HeatherB stayed out and made the obligatory sunrise FatBurger run.

Sunday... more of the same but took longer to get out of bed :). We went to "Carnegie Deli" in our hotel for lunch. All of us ordered normal-people sandwiches except Muffin who ended up with seriously the biggest sandwich ever. It was like a 2X4 of corned beef and turkey. The highlight of lunch was this guy who pointed out the sandwich to his wife, and the woman looked at it and said, "That's the grossest thing I've ever seen." Muffin turned bright red and didn't really eat it. He brought half back to the room and let it sit there all afternoon until we demanded it be removed from the room.


Sunday night Erin, HeatherB, and I went to LOVE Cirque du Soleil. It was SO great. It was just so great! I had been really wanting to see it and we think our nosebleeds were actually the best seats in the house since we got to see the big picture of everything. The music made the show so fun to watch. I got strangely emotional at the end of the performance... it was just so beautiful haha. The colors and the people and the music... sigh. It was really really neat.

Monday Sweeting and I made it to the airport and launched the long trek home. Got back really late on Monday night and was back at work on Tuesday morning. The last time I was in Vegas was in 2006 and frankly I think a Vegas run every two years is PLENTY. You just completely lose track and stop carrying about the money that is being spent. It's like it becomes Monopoly money.

Every penny becomes worth it though when I think about the billions of laughs (we had a quad, you know... where there are two bunk beds and four people - Sweeting and his Appletinis and the Wan - It's not THAT kind of an emergency - the disfunctional ironing board in the room - do you think he's gay? - they were asian! - Muffin being "not hungry" and eating Sweeting's leftover BLT 6 hours later - the gross penne at the buffet - Sweeting's thousands of flushes in the middle of the night). You know, I LIKE Vegas. It's just a lot of fun. The lights are beautiful, the energy and people around you keep you pumped up, you never run out of things to do or people to watch. Really though I could have a laugh-out-loud weekend with these people anywhere in the world.

Small drop of ink...

"But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling like dew, upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think."

I voted!

Did my civic duty and got myself to my precinct to vote today! Parking in front... friendly neighborhood voter helpers... clear and concise voting procedures (turns out kindergarten "connect the dots" skills do turn out handy!)... and the reason all of us really go to the polls: the "I Voted" sticker. Woo hoo!

Go America.

How to Build Heathy Relationships

Savior - He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save

Dr. Dick Foth is a guest speaker at NCC a few times a year and I can't say enough for how lucky we are as a young church body to have his wisdom and perspective. There is something about Dr. Foth that is difficult to articulate - a humility mixed with strong leadership and an ability to just speak to people's hearts.

We ended our "How" series with Dr. Foth talking about How to Build Heathy Relationships. Just wanted to share a few thoughts he had...

Love is accurate estimate and adequate supply of another person's need.

History Giving - Who we are is almost exclusively a function of our histories. Knowing about someone's background is necessary to loving them. Makes sense! God knows our history and still loves us.

Affirmation - We all want to know why we're worth loving. Prayer awknowledges someone's value. Words. Actions.

Covenant - Time, tenacity, truth telling. Being able to tell someone what you think, feel, and know... and trusting them with it. Knowing someone will "never say 'quit' "

Dreaming - If I can trust you with my history, maybe I can trust you with my now and my future. Sharing dreams increases their power and possibility.

Love cannot be built without trust and respect. Trust and respect builds as you cycle through history giving, affirmation, covenant, and dreaming.

One thing that touched me... Dr. Foth shared that for years he struggled with stuttering. When he met his future wife, he told her he didn't think she would want to stay with him since he had such a stuttering problem. She told him she hadn't noticed. A few years ago I found out my dad had a stutter when he was young, and because of that it was a feat to deliver his high school graduation speech. It wasn't until my mom told me about it that I realized my dad still does, on rare occasion, stutter. But to me it has always been the way he talked... I honestly didn't notice. There is a sweetness in Dr. Foth's voice that reminds me of my dad and that just... choked me up a little :)

Mom and Dad in DC

I had a GREAT visit with Mom and Dad last weekend-- it's so fun to have them experience my life here in DC. With California so far away, it's hard to keep them involved and updated with my friends, job, church, etc.

I picked up my NEW CAR (!!!!!!) on Saturday morning (Thank you Brennan for dragging yourself out of bed and taking me to Manassas wayyyy early on a weekend morning) and picked Mom and Dad up from Dulles on Saturday night. We went to church at Ebenezers then off to an amazing meal at 1789 - a restaurant I hadn't been to before, but Mom and Dad went to when they lived here in the 70s. It was very fancy :)

Sunday went to the National Cathedral (neat tour I hadn't done before) and walked the Monuments then had a super fun dinner at Filomena with BW, Brennan, and Paul. But then, there's no such thing as a NOT fun dinner with BW, Brennan, and Paul.

Monday was State of the Union! We had all our "R" and SOME semi-indifferent "D" friends over for David and my 3rd Annual SOTU Tex Mex and Watch Party.

Tuesday night I got to include Mom and Dad in a real Washington-style evening-- we went to the Denny Hastert Tribute Dinner at the Ronald Reagan WTC atrium. Newt Gingrich and Bob Michel hosted the event-- other big wigs included Boehner, Oxley, Blunt etc.



Denny hosted a staff reception after at Johnny's Half Shell... SO great to see the old Hastert crew and reconnect with some people I had lost track of. My short time in that office was nothing short of remarkable.



On Wednesday my parents got to meet my boss! Then Johnny treated David, myself, and M & D to lunch in the West Wing at the White House!! So exciting to be able to have that experience with them... and a very small way to say thank you for all their dedication to my education, career, and life in DC. I would have never gotten further in this city than my 8th grade class trip if not for their support! I'm a lucky girl.

BYE BYE BIG WIZ!!!!

Liz left for Denver last week... boooooooo!!!!!!! I'm sad to lose my american-idol-singing, office-watching, partner in crime and in life buddy, but she's definitely doing the right thing and made a great move for an exciting experience! I'm proud of you BW.

Ty and Mignon obviously knew the best way possible to send her off... with ice cream cake :)

In Memoriam

Adam Paul Kaplan
June 20, 1983 - Dec. 28, 2007

Resident of San Francisco Adam Paul Kaplan, beloved son of Ken and Christine and brother to Noah, passed away early in the morning of December 28 at the age of 24. Adam was born at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley. He grew up in Lafayette and graduated from Acalanes High School in 2002. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology last August from San Francisco State University, where he also minored in holistic health. Adam spoke often and with much interest about a graduate program he was hoping to attend called Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. He was also interested in working on an organic farm and was looking forward to travel abroad with his friend Ryan. He had an evolving passion for music and books and in the last few years had developed a great appreciation for reading. He loved basketball and nature and especially time spent playing and hiking in the hills and parks with our adorable and loving dog, Jenna. Adam loved his family, the most special of times being those spent with his big brother Noah, who never gave up in his efforts to counsel and guide him. He also enjoyed his many aunts, uncles, cousins and cherished friends. He will be remembered most fondly for his good heart, intelligence and sensitivity; sense of humor and ability to laugh at himself; the discipline and passion he had for the things that interested him; his individualistic nature, loyalty to family and friends, the twinkle in his Irish eyes -- and finally, for the long, difficult and heroic battle he waged against his illness. Adam is also survived by his loving grandmother, Bette Kaplan, and his many adored uncles, aunts and cousins: Marc, Marilyn and Matthew Kaplan; Danny Boyle and his partner Harvey Berman; Tom, Michael and Katie Lynn, Richard, Joanie, Loretta Jr., and Jim, Pam and Jillian -- all Boyles. He also leaves behind a very caring and loving extended family. We are greatly comforted in the belief that Adam is now reunited with his much loved grandparents, Dan and Loretta Boyle and Bernard Kaplan, and his dear friend and former teammate, John. A Celebration of Adam's Life will be announced in late spring. Memorial donations can be made to Stanford University's Bipolar Disorders Clinic by contacting Lorraine Alexander, Office of Medical Development, 2700 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94205, telephone 650.234.0613. Adam had a unique and refreshing way of looking at the world and we will miss him and carry him with us each and every day.

Mrs. Dalloway and The Kite Runner

My latest read was Mrs. Dalloway-- read it for the first time! Loved it. I'm glad it wasn't ruined for me by an awful high school English class' study questions and quizzes and regurgitated essays!

"...this figure, made of sky and branches as it is, had risen from the troubled sea... as a shape might but sucked up out of the waves to shower down from her magnificent hands compassion, comprehension, absolution."

"After that, how unbelievable death was! -- that it must end; and no one in the whole world would know how she had loved it all."



Saw The Kite Runner with Liz on Monday. It was good but... the book is just so much more emotional and thought provoking. The movie misses the mark on pulling out the full extent of emotion tied in with the story of the boys, Afghanistan's history and plight, the terror and horrors of the Taliban. I remember being so much more moved by it all from reading the book. Nonetheless, this story is important so making it more accessible for the public through film is not a bad thing. I just think a library card serves much better than a movie ticket for this one.

MLK Weekend

Largely uneventful save about 8 episodes of Entourage Season 3 and a new found addiction to The Tudors.

The Packers/NYG game last night was CRAZY! Great game to watch... and a hard one to root for since NYG is my east-coast adopted team but I would have loved to see a Packers/Pats Superbowl. We watched at Muffin/Sweeting's (Meetings or Deetings... Why haven't we thought of Dweetings yet? That's more fun). Best part of their house (aside from the inhabitants of course) is definitely the fireplace. After all too much coercion, we finally convinced Sweeting to let us but the pizza boxes in the fire despite his reservations that we would "dirty the flu." Seriously? Seriously. I have no idea why this was a highlight of my Sunday, but it was.

Three day weekends are the best things ever... tonight will be David and my 3rd Annual MLK Day Georgia Browns visit. Can't think of a better way to celebrate the man than by eating soul food. Really, what could be a better tribute? Ok I can think of a few things, but none taste as good as Georgia Browns.

James Taylor Tuesday

My boss and a lot of my office left for their international trip... leaving me alone in the front office! Boring.

Made oh-so-much-better with James Taylor. I semi-stole Muffin's "One Man Band" cd that just came out. It's awesome. The Frozen Man and Traveling Star... top notch.

"I know what it means to freeze to death
To lose a little life with every breath
To say goodbye to life on earth
To come around again
Lord have mercy on the frozen man"

"Watch my back and light my way
My traveling star, my traveling star
Watch over all of those born St. Christopher's Day
Old road dog, young runaway
They hunger for home but they cannot stay
They wait by the door
They stand and they stare
They're already out of there"

Nails and Colts

Last weekend was one of those good ol' DC weekends... busy, but low key. Caught up with Kate Anfuso on Friday night over a cup of tea and then stopped by Curran's birthday debacle at Cafe Japone. Had to say farewell to Brian Courteville at The Diner-- he's off to his post in Mexico as a FSO! Boooooo. Vamos a echarte de menos Brian!

Saturday I went to the Apple Store with D and Patrick... seriously that place must be always busy. It was nuts! Good thing D made an appointment for Patrick to get a replacement for his dummy iphone. That night I went to Ty and Mignon's to watch the Pats game and play some board games. Mignon had prizes and I won a mini-tiara. Perfect for me haha.

Sunday... nails with Caroline. How girly! More fabulous though was the big screen hdtv in the nail salon where I managed to catch the Colts game. LOVE IT! Bummed they lost though. My new vision for the superbowl (no matter how unlikely) is a Pats/Packers matchup and Brett Farve emerging in a victorious blaze of glory over Tom Brady. How monumental would that be!? Ugh. I'd love it. Looking forward to Brennan and Paul hosting their (my) superbowl party!

DINO and Diets

I went to DINO in Cleveland Park last night for dinner with two family friends. Fun to catch up with them! We had some laughs and I now have an ally to float some travel ideas to my parents for family vacations :)

Speaking of dinner, I'm doing okay on the diet front. About a week into it and feeling pretty good. I'm trying a cleanse for the first couple of weeks- just a ton of non-processed foods... veggies, protein, water. Pretty boring, but okay if you plan ahead. I'm paying dues so that in my next life I can have the metabolism of a small child.

One funny and kind of gross thing to mention... so I'm taking supplements and as a caution/note on one of them it said "May cause unexpected bowel movements at night or in the morning." Um. WHAT? Like... couldn't they have added an adjective or something to explain exactly what they mean by "unexpected?" Unexpected like... hello! There it is! Or unexpected like... I will have some warning?? Just for the record, so far I've been okay.

New

For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
-TS Eliot-

I appreciate getting a new start every January 1st, but when the clock struck midnight welcoming in 2008, I couldn't help but be a little sad to say goodbye to 2007.

I began 2007 in a hotel room in Atlanta followed by a few days of Passion- always good to start a year off with a spiritual focus. I got to speak to Dr. John Piper in front of a few thousand others! Intimidating, but very exciting to have that opportunity.


I started a new job shortly after that-- and aside from being lucky to have a job as a Republican in this city at that point, I got luckier in finding friends like Erin... Shane... Kathryn. And coworkers like J-Lough, Anfuso, Jackie, Dee Dee. And bosses like Anne, Ben, and the boss.



One of the most memorable and special parts of 2007 was making the trek to Chicago in February and meeting up with Jono and Julie for a night downtown. We waited a good two or three hours for a deep dish pizza and then literally froze walking back up Michigan Ave to our hotel. The next day we drove to Sterling to surprise Dad and be there for his induction into the Sterling High School Hall of Fame. Just a really special time for our family to be together without kids and spouses (although we love them!) and connect with Mom and Dad's roots and our extended family in Sterling who we see so infrequently.


Meeting the President with Mom and Dad!


Shamrock Fest, St. Patrick's Day, and Cinco de Mayo at our house... good times with good friends. Except when Shane decides to push people through glass panes.


Patrick coming into my life thanks to David!! I was so nervous to meet him hahaha. Then after a few balcony chats, I knew we were kindred spirits. Couldn't resist this picture :)


New Orleans! My first real trip for no other purpose than just needing and wanting to go somewhere for me. Hand Grenades with some hilarious locals, jazz at that one bar on Bourbon where I just tapped my foot and smiled, the classic rock bar across the street from the jazz place with the great electric guitarist, and of course... Martin Sexton.


A new addition to the Shaffer family! Kyle David born in May (bad aunt for not remembering the exact date!!! May 18?)


Memorial Day weekend at Muffin's on Long Island. Overnight drives and Naps and books and that really good sandwich made by what's his face at the General Store. Whisky wind and bonfires.


St. John! Snorkeling, beaches, and discovering the Rhonda special: Peanut butter sandwiches and a beer. Guitar playing under the stars every night.


Saying goodbye to Michael James Haffner, which makes me tear up as I write this. I'm still confused and upset. You are so missed.

Monticello for my birthday!


Being so excited to be a part of and celebrate Brian and Joanne Parker's wedding in October!


Going to California for Mom's 60th and presenting her with a memory book I thought turned out so great :)



Hispanic Heritage Awards with Wayne... Halloween at Muffin and Sweeting's... Metro Cooking and Entertaining Show for Liz's Birthday... Thanksgiving at home... Army Navy... Christmas... Ringing in the New Year at Muffin's with good food and wine and great friends.

New Year's Resolutions for 2008:
1. Diet. Kathy Napoli Style.
2. Continue to learn the guitar
3. Take the LSAT
4. Become spiritually financial

Happy New Years! May 2008 overflow with family, friends, faith, and love.