no wine.

wedding in wine country minus the wine for me.

out

out with family watching movies!

numbers

EIGHT: dollars for six pairs of cute baby gloves!

ONE: more day of clinical rotations.

SIXTEEN+more: number of family I've been able to visit already.

TEN: the most I've peed in one day. annoying!


SEVENTY+: degrees is a norm around here. Where's the 90?!

FIFTY: dollars (+/-) spent so far. my family really takes good care of me!

FIFTEEN: patients I've met during my rotations so far all with IV treatments, injections, ozone treatment, etc. amazing!!


TWO+: or more hours I drive a day round trip to my rotations. ick!


FIVE: days left until returning back to sunny Chicago. sad...

ZERO: times that I've been to the beach...even more sad.

SEVENTEEN: weeks of pregnancy = bigger belly...mo' problems! ah the back pain.

THREE: my newest favorite number.

me + baby + baby daddy :) 

reunited. 

<3

busy

hello peeps. i had a jam packed day with three hours of walking in the sun...shopping...eating...driving...eating...eating...eating..oh and a hair cut.  so i am too pooped to write an elaborate post. tomorrow will be better. my ryan will be here. wooohooooo.

I love this kid.

Kalie is my 7 year old cousin that I've had the pleasure to spend a lot of time with. I was there when she was born, changed her diapers, played her "big sister" role, then boom my second Mom and her kids move away to California! 

I thought she would never remember me because she was so young but I told my Aunt Mac to always show her a picture of me and tell her who I was. I also called from time to time to let her hear my voice and talk to her as soon she was able to speak fully. 

Now she is 7 years old and reading bedtime stories to my baby. It's so amazing how time flies. 

Today I came home and we watched two whole movies together and just hung out. I love being able to have full conversations with her as she tells me about her best friends, how we share the same LOVE for math (so asian right?), and how much she loves going to school.

She impresses me so much. This girl comes home from school and finishes her homework right away...like immediately. Then she reads about 3-4 books out loud to keep up with her books...she is a bookworm. Then she will either help grandma cook (try to help) or pick out her outfit for the next day. She showers around 8:30p then puts herself to bed by 9pm...and she is knocked out. (I am actually sharing a room with her, writing this blog in the dark, while she is off away in dream land) Then the best part is she wakes herself up (without an alarm) at 6am promptly, goes into her parents room to wake them up, gets ready for school (brushes her teeth, washes her face, gets dressed), and makes herself breakfast and watches TV the rest of the time. She doesn't have to go to school until 7:40a but chooses to wake up THAT early so she can (in her own words) "relax and get ready for the day". 

She is so helpful, kind, and gentle in every way. And she's super smart...it only took her minutes to meet Ryan before she told me I should marry him! :) She loves him!

I hope if we have a baby girl, she turns out just as brillant as her. 

my grandmama

I love my grandma so much. She is the definition a supermom. She knew I was coming and that I've been craving Laos food...especially HER cooking..so she had a bunch of stuff already cooked! Then spent the whole day today making stuff from scratch including homemade noodles for a chicken noodle soup called "kow piek sen". Delicious! 

However I spent the day driving through mild traffic to my first day of clinicals with a Naturopathic doctor and had an awesome experience observing tons of IV therapy, injections, etc. Then when I came home, I couldn't help but fall asleep for about FOUR hours to the smell of homemade Laos food. It reminded me of when I was kid and my grandparents lived with us. I would run in the house after school with food already set on the table, warm rice in the microwave, and my grandma urging me to eat! 

I ate GOOD growing up. She is the reason I LOVE Laos food so much...for anyone that knows her, knows why. She is one of the best cooks...seriously. She is also the reason I have A LOVE for Laos food...that I appreciate the history, our culture deep rooted in it, and that I cook it for my husband (& yes, he is officially Asian..just really light skinned!) haha

So I can't wait to cook like this for our little baby. He/She will LOVE it just as much as me. The way I ate growing up has also expanded my palate. I live through someone's culture by their food. I would love to travel to every single country ever but instead, I seek out the mom/pop restaurants, eat their food, talk to the owners/cooks, and experience it through my taste buds.

That's what my grandma taught me. 

And I hope to teach my son/daughter one day. :)

california

we arrived safely in beautiful southern california. can't blog too much tonight because i have to brave the los angeles traffic tomorrow & i need sleep. will post pictures & what not tomorrow. muah.