UT Graduation

J had a chance to go to Austin to attend her cousin, Kevin's, graduation.  It was a special occasion because she felt like she played a small role in this event.  When her cousins came to the US in 2006, J was Kevin's school guardian while Lilian was Ricky's.  So, she felt like a proud 'parent' attending his graduation from her fellow alma mater.

 

Surprise NYC Visit

J's dear friend Lynda turns 40 this year.  Her awesome husband wanted to do something special for her 40th birthday and asked whether some of her close out of town friends would be able to fly into NYC to surprise her.  Being on crutches didn't stop J from flying up to NYC.  Lynda was definitely surprised and everyone had a very 'memorable' birthday weekend.

First stop after arriving, Emily's house for Lynda's birthday party.  She knew about the party, but didn't know J and her other friend Naomi was flying in to celebrate too.

The four girls at the top right, plus Joy, also spent the next day together, as we all treated Lynda to a Korean spa.  Let's just say we all 'bonded' and took our friendship to the next level. Korean spas have a way of forging these bonds. :)

Not only did J get to catch up with Lynda, she also got to hang out with the cute Todd kiddos.  They just get cuter each time she sees them.

Good Friday aka Surgery Friday

J's surgery was ironically scheduled on Good Friday.  We thought that would be a good omen for her.  The surgery went well, as J did not wake up in the middle of surgery.  However, when she did finally wake up in recovery, she kept saying "my knee hurts."  The nurse decided to give her more drugs, which made her very sleepy.  Apparently, she was so sleepy that she would periodically stop breathing.  D kept watching her oxygen levels fall and would frequently poke her to wake up and breathe.  Although she was half asleep, J remembered thinking, 'why are you saying that, of course I'm breathing!'

Once home, although she didn't feel too much pain, J had to take a lot of strong pain medications (hydrocodone).  That was the worst part of the whole surgery experience, as her body did not like it very much.  The medication made her nauseated (throwing up each time she took it) and very drowsy.  She quickly decided to ween herself off the meds and stick to tylenol and aspirin...good thing she has a higher tolerance for pain.

Before and After photos of J's right knee.  Good thing the doctor operated on the correct knee.

First post op visit, 5 days after surgery, the knee is a wrinkled mess

 Two weeks later, still swollen, and now comes the bruises.  The bruises are supposed to get worse before it gets better.

One month later, all the stitches are gone with some slight bruising remaining.  Just need to rebuild some more muscles.

J's first excursion a week after surgery, shopping at Costco.  She asked Dan for her crutches, and he shows up with a much better option.  Turns out these electric carts have weight sensors on them.  Joy finally figured it out after several stalls.  Dan was quite the pro at maneuvering the cart - forward and backwards.  Yes, it does beep (very loudly) when it's in reverse.

COTA Track Day

D had a once in a lifetime opportunity to drive the COTA (Circuit of the Americas) track with his dad.  Driving is his passion and he takes it very seriously.  He has driven on a few different tracks, but this one beats them all!  

 

 

 

Happy 3 year Anniversary to Us!

This year's anniversary kind of snuck up on us.  We can't believe we've been married for 3 years!  The last year really flew by and we've had a great 3rd year of marriage.   We celebrated by going to our favorite restaurant - Sushi King, and then watched our wedding video to reminisce the day.

 Flowers along with a lovely card from D

Reminiscing three years ago today

Exploring Houston

J has always wanted to find the location in the Heights that have large statues of US Presidents and the Beatles musicians.   Now that her Saturdays are not booked up with workouts, errands, and dance class; we have more time to enjoy our Saturdays together.  We decided to explore and try some new things around Houston.

Afterwards, we decided to went to Hubcap Grill in the Heights.  Apparently, their
specialty is a peanut butter burger.  Sounds gross, but D thought it was good.  

Valentine Treat

We didn't plan to do anything for V-day today, just take out.  But, J decided last minute that it would be fun to have a treat too.  Her first attempt at chocolate covered strawberries.

Wow, is this how I look from D's perspective?  I look so short!

 

Gong Xi Fa Cai

We celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year with a feast at Mama and Papa Kongs.

The Accident

While J is a newbie at skiing, she's really enjoyed it and hasn't had any concerns tagging along everyone during the ski runs.  She never knew to be scared.  So, when she was asked whether she wanted to try an "easy black", she thought "Why Not?"  The worst that could happen is that she'd fall and take a while to make it down the mountain.  Well, this turned out to be a long trip down the mountain!

The top of the last run - Emerald.

Halfway down and so far so good... until the crash.  Unfortunately, we don't have a picture of J crashing and sliding head first down the mountain - skis and googles all came off too.

After D helped put J's skis back on her feet, we decided to ski through the soft snow through the trees instead of the rest of the moguls.  But, that didn't last long because J's right knee just gave out.  

Ski Patrol came and bundled J for a 'fun' ride down the mountain.  It was SOOO embarrassing!

Well, that turned out to be the unexpected last run of the day. The nurse said J's right knee was very loose and advised us to get it checked out at urgent care.  The nurse was right, it was a torn ACL.  

Best Snow on Earth

We decided to go skiing earlier this year to avoid the Spring Break crowds and to enjoy what Utahns calls the 'best snow on earth'.  Although it is a little colder, skiing in January is definitely much more enjoyable than skiing in March.  We'll be hitting the slopes in January now on!

The highlight of the trip for J was to see her old roommates.  Karli, J, and Mika were randomly placed together as roommates their freshmen year at BYU (along with three other girls) at 1712 Carroll Hall.  They have been J's dearest friends throughout the years, and she's even been both of their bridesmaids.  So, it was such a treat to see them both and have D finally meet the girls she always talks about.  D was a great sport to join the girls for a night of reminiscing and catching up.  Until next ski season...

Oh, and we got some skiing in too...

Dad decided to 'seek revenge on the mountain' by skiing down Conviction, where he fell and hurt his shoulder a few years ago.

Seems the this is the only way to rest your feet with skis on

We decided to take a short cut through the trees, but didn't realize smaller people might have hard time getting through the soft snow.  No worries, Chief and Uncle D were able to get Rawson out of the powder!