Christmas Celebrations at the Sanga Home

While the weekend before Christmas was spent with Henry relatives, Christmas Eve was with the Sanga's. Here are a few pictures from that day:

Presentssss!!

Cousin baby Ethan walks now 

Lewis

We wrapped one of Lewis' treats in wrapping paper and he smelled it out. This is him climbing presents to try to reach his wrapped treat at the top of the stack.

My family :) 

Merry Christmas from the Henrys

Annual Henry Christmas Party

This year, the Annual Henry Christmas Party took place in Uncle Jim's house.

Carson City, NV

The Henry Christmas Party consists of lots of Settler's of Catan, lots of food, and lots of laughter. Most Henrys also bring their pet dogs so even the dogs hang out with other Henry dogs.

Russell and I with three of the dogs: Kona, Bailey, and Zuri

It was 18 people in Uncle Jim's house. It was joyous and loud and all the proper ways a family Christmas should be. On Saturday, we ate lots of food and played white elephant. Russ and I managed to strategically steal the painting his dad did of the ocean view in Mexico. Woo! On Sunday morning, I woke up in the middle of a nerf gun war held by the kids. The weekend was too short and went by too fast.

Meet Wyatt, Jett, and Ky -- masters of nerf gun wars

Strategic game of white elephant

And of course, the big family meal. Excuse my I'm-so-stuffed face.

Another thing I love about the Annual Christmas Party is the view and the snow in wintertime! Here are some images captured on my Nikon:

View of Carson City from Uncle Jim's house

Jett and his slinky

Snow :) 

Road tripping with two Henry brothers

Lake

The Henrys :)

People don’t like love, they like that flittery flirty feeling. They don’t love love - love is sacrificial, love is ferocious, it’s not emotive. Our culture doesn’t love love, it loves the idea of love. It wants the emotion without paying anything for it. It’s ridiculous.

--Matt Chandler

December Happenings

December has been coming at Russ and I at full speed. We haven’t recovered from Thanksgiving yet and all of a sudden Christmas is around the corner. December is a full, tiring, yet joyful month. I’m excited for a lot of the December happenings we have planned.

At the start of this month, we were able to go to a Chargers football game. We went with a few friends and it was a great first-time experience. In mid-December, Russell and I get to double date with my brother and his girlfriend to watch Lion King in LA. Then the weekend before Christmas, Russell, me and Lewis, will drive up to Reno for the Annual Henry Christmas Party (So. Excited). Then it's back to Orange County for Christmas Eve and Christmas with my family. Then, on the 26th, we're flying to Jordan to see Jonathan and his future bride-to-be. I mean, how exciting is this month?! Just writing all of that down has gotten me pretty pumped up.

We're tired but in all the good ways. We'll be hitting off the New Year's in Amman, Jordan and I can't think of a better place. Celebrating 2014 with an engaged couple while saying goodbye to 2013, the year where several new beginnings began. It fits perfectly. One chapter ending while new stories are being born.

Baking and Blogging

Is this suppose to be fun, Russell??

Russ is still working on his work project so I've been finding ways to try to distract him and/or keep myself busy. Needless to say, I've been baking a lot.

Earl Grey Cookies

Blueberry Muffins

Our apartment gets so cold. Having the oven on helps which is why I start baking once I get home from work. At least the place smells good...and it's warm :)

Six Months of Marriage

This post is a bit overdue but on October 27, Russell and I celebrated six months of being married! Yeah yeah, it's only six months but at the same time it's been SIX MONTHS. Can't believe we're already halfway to a year.

In celebration, Russ and I did a weekend trip to San Diego. We stayed at a little hotel close to downtown SD. At night, we went to a nice sushi dinner. We didn't realize that it was Halloween weekend on the 26th/27th and Gaslamp was having a Halloween costume contest. As a result, it was way more crowded than we expected. We were able to avoid the crowds and loud jostling since we ended up going to a well-hidden speakeasy where there were only a few other people hanging around. 

The next day, Russell and I rented a GOcar for an hour. It's basically a go kart that goes up to 40 mph that you drive around the streets of San Diego. The first thing that went through my mind was "How safe is this thing?" For an answer, one of the workers handed us one helmet each. At first I was scared as normal cars zoomed past us but if you had seen the look on Russell's face and how much fun he was having, you'd also think it was worth the safety risk. 

Small GOcar

Near the end of our one hour rental, we veered off the mapped course and drove around a neighborhood. There we found a neat little bridge that connected two hills.

We explored a bit and tried to get a feel of San Diego. Since our lease is ending next year, we are narrowing our choices of cities we can see ourselves settling in...and San Diego is one of the places we are looking into. We still don't know yet :)

"What Can I Say" by Mary Oliver

What can I say that I have not said before?
So I’ll say it again.
The leaf has a song in it.
Stone is the face of patience.
Inside the river there is an unfinishable story
and you are somewhere in it
and it will never end until all ends.

Take your busy heart to the art museum and the
chamber of commerce
but take it also to the forest.
The song you heard singing in the leaf when you
were a child
is singing still.
I am of years lived, so far, seventy-four,
and the leaf is singing still.

Mini Adventures For Now

These next few months are filled with so much activity and travel. I'm so excited to see where all the places Russ and I might end up going to (so stay tuned -- I'll share more as we solidify our plans).

Last week, Russ and I had a simple day trip to LA. We took a half day on Friday, drove up to beautiful Los Angeles and visited a bunch of cool places. One of which was THE LAST BOOKSTORE.

For all book lovers, this is a must-visit. I heard about this place from my friend Stephanie (hi!) and told Russ about it. He then told me he already had this place on his list of "Places to take Katrina on dates". We were in LA to originally submit some government documents but since that appointment went by faster than we expected, we searched to see how close this bookstore would be to where we were at. It turned out it was just around the block. So we didn't even have to pay more for parking. Yay!

It's easily now one of my favorite places to visit. There's even books arranged by color:

The place is so pretty.

Afterwards we went to an ice cream store, a mall, and Santa Monica pier. None of which I took pictures of but all were equally as fun. But come on, a giant bookstore will of course have more pictures and take a majority of this post.

That's all for now. Till next time!

Introducing, The Henry Pets

Russell's feet, Lewis, and Tiki the Turtle (right of the white fence)

Hey there! Here's a picture of Lewis and Tiki meeting for the first time. Both our dog and our turtle are curious creatures. While Tiki likes to stay in his cave during the afternoon (Interesting fact: desert tortoises survive hot weather by hiding from it), he came quickly to the white fence when he saw Lewis peeking through. I don't think Tiki has seen may dogs up close since he kept trying to stick his face through the hole in the fence. Lewis was less calm about meeting a new creature and kept trying to lick Tiki's head every time our tortoise stuck his head through the fence hole. Eventually Lewis got tired of not being able to reach Tiki that he lifted his leg, and...peed on Tiki.

Cuddle buddies

The man Lewis was named after!

We've also got our saltwater fish tank set up. Russell has slowly been adding fish into the tank and just this weekend we were able to get some free coral from our new friends down in San Diego. And somewhere in that tank should be a baby starfish.

One of our clearer fish tank pictures. Here's one of our fish (upper right hand),
a cleaner shrimp (mid-lower left hand), and a bunch of hermit crabs (the shells on sand).

Our family is already growing. It's been a happy home.

Selfie family portrait

Uncertain Hopeful Possibilities

I've never been so excited yet nervous of the future as I have been lately. There are so many possibilities yet I do not know if I have the courage to take the leap of faith into any of them. But I am still giddy by the thought of possibilities.

Life has been slow yet fast all at once. We've been married FIVE MONTHS, can you believe it? I know in the big scheme of things, that is a blink of an eye and that is exactly my point. I feel like I've been married forever and at the same time I feel like a fumbling newlywed.

Anyways, I talk about the cliched topic of "life" because that is what Russ and I have been trying to figure out lately--our life together. We're not exactly sure where we're going to live next year after our lease is up and because we don't have a set plan yet, we have so many...possibilities of where we're gonna end up. Do you feel my excitement/fear yet?

While we are still in the process of opening doors and having a few slam shut, I am excited/anxious to see what we'll be doing a year from now. There is so much uncertainty and hope right now that it makes me nervous.

So for now, I'll post this picture of Russ and I at our honeymoon because there are so many places I want to be but in all of them I know I want him there.

Puerta Vallarta

Busy Lives

We are a busy bunch, a lazy bunch, a tired bunch, a broken bunch.

We are busy working up a storm. We have no time for that one hour lunch--too long, too long--so we sit in our desks and eat our hastily made packed lunches or fast food sandwiches. We eat while we work, forgetting to taste our food and sometimes forgetting to chew. Instead of the sunshine outside we see the glow of the computers. Instead of the sound of birds or the rustle of the leaves, we hear mouse clickings and keyboard typings. And this goes on yet we do not catch on. We don't see what we can't see and we don't see what we do not want to see.

We're too lazy to do our chores. A clean house is a happy house but a productive you is a frustrated you. So we come home and we see the dishes and the laundry but we sit on the couches and surf on our laptops. This is our weeknights. Rest, we say. We are resting from a busy day by sitting and spending our days away.

Then before we know it, the sun has set and the hours have gone by too fast. Again. Our bones are weary, our minds are lazy, and our eyes are drowsy. The feet are dragged to the bedroom. The covers thrown aside. And all too fast sleep has come and another night has passed.

While this all happens our lives are going. We're spinning in circles, chasing our tails. We think we're going but we're exactly where we started. What we want is not there. What we want is not here. So what is it? What do we want? We waste our time pondering this and all the while lives are breaking. We work and we sleep and we hesitate but we ignore everything besides the work in front of us. We're a broken bunch and a needy bunch.

The conversations past, the vacations that were never rested, and the living that was never lived...it haunts us. We cover up the jagged edges of life yet still, we remain busy, and lazy, and tired, and above all, crumbling human beings.

Fetch!

Lewis learning how to play fetch.

The Sin of Omission by Margaret E. Sangster

It isn't the thing you do, dear;
It's the thing you leave undone,
Which gives you a bit of heartache
At the setting of the sun.
The tender word forgotten,
The letter you did not write,
The flower you might have sent, dear,
Are your haunting ghosts to-night.

The stone you might have lifted
Out of brother's way,
The bit of heartsome counsel
You were hurried too much to say;
The loving touch of the hand, dear,
The gentle and winsome tone,
That you had no time nor thought for,
With troubles enough of your own.

The little acts of kindness,
So easily out of mind;
Those chances to be angels
Which every one may find
They come in night and silence
Each chill, reproachful wraith
When hope is faint and flagging
And a blight has dropped on faith.

For life is all too short, dear,
And sorrow is all too great;
To suffer our great compassion
That tarries until too late;
And it's not the thing you do, dear,
It's the thing you leave undone,
Which gives you the bit of heartache
At the setting of the sun.

Puppy Love

Exciting news! Russell and I became parents this weekend...

WE ADOPTED A PUPPY!

Quick Blog Entry: Wedding Bells

Russell and I have been to two weddings in the last two weeks (one of which was my brother-in-laws)(!!!) and both were so beautiful in their own ways.

Dan and Kelsie's Wedding

Russ and I drove to Reno for one weekend to watch Dan marry his bride, Kelsie. They got married at our friend's massive and historic backyard. Here are a couple of pictures:

Backyard wedding, ceremony and reception

The fine, intricate details that are Pinterest-worthy

Joe and Kristin's Wedding

Last weekend, Russell's brother got married! It was a beach wedding and now I finally have a sister! Granted, Kristen already has two sisters of her own but now I can say that I have a Henry sister :)

Joe and Kristen's first dance

Hyperactive cousin Ky who was deliriously tired by the end of the night. Here he is on Russell's shoulders. Fun kid. Fun family. I love being a Henry. 

Wedding Pictures

My wedding pictures are finally here! Our photographer did such an amazing job and I would recommend her to anyone getting married near the Sacramento area.

Looking through these photos brought back so many little yet special moments. The wedding day goes by so fast. I tried taking mental snapshots of everything happening but I'm glad our photographer was there to take actual snapshots.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Friday Funday

This last Friday, Russell and I decided to take one full day and make it a celebration day. We dubbed it Friday Funday!

On Thursday night, we camped out in our living room. We dragged all our beddings from our bed and made a comfy little blanket-bed on our living room floor. Instead of waking up to our bedroom surroundings, we woke up to a nice view of our dining table on Friday morning. It's nice to have a change of scenery once in awhile. I didn't have work this week and Russell decided to take Friday off work so that we can spend a three day weekend together.

Our first stop on Friday morning was to grab brunch at one of my favorite breakfast places--the Original House of Pancakes.

I got my usual, the giant German Pancakes:

It's bigger than my head.

Afterwards, we decided to go bowling. Because, you know, who else goes bowling on a Friday workday? It was wonderfully empty except for a birthday party happening. Needless to say, Russell won all of the rounds.

Russell bowling.

Our day didn't end there. Nope. We then went to the movies where we watched The Great Gatsby.

At around 5 pm, we decided to grocery shop for our dinner. We were feeling pretty adventurous so we bought some mussels and shrimp to cook at home. Russell sautéed the shrimp (mmm) and we made baked mussels (yum). It was delicious and luckily, Russell took pictures before we gobbled it all up.

Appetizers:

Shrimp.

Salad. We needed some greens.

Main Course:

Baked mussels.

We also had some garlic bread.

It was a long and fun day. Our celebration weekend is still continuing. While I'm writing this blog, Russell is painting. We were out and about most of Friday so we decided Saturday would be a relaxing day in. We also painted our bookshelf yellow earlier this morning. Pictures soon to come.

Now reasons why we are having a celebration weekend...God has been so good. So many blessings have been pouring in, reminding us not to worry about anything but to pray about everything. God continues to supply all our needs.

This past week, Russell got a new title at his work: Director of Motion Graphics. Woo! Russell is a creative and innovative guy and it's absolutely awesome seeing him use his talents for a job he loves.

As for me, I start a new job on Monday. I'll be a Marketing Coordinator, and I'm excited for the new opportunities I get.  I was able to take a one week vacation in between switching jobs which allowed me to spend quality time with lots of different people.

It's an exciting period in our lives right now. There are just so many things to write about! We are now part of a new church where we get to live our lives with a new community group. The people we have been meeting are so encouraging and lively and...happy. It's the kind of joy that reminds you that God is good.

Alright, time for me to end this lengthy blog post and continue my celebration weekend with Russ.

Turning 23

This blog post is a bit late, but better late than never! On July 14, I turned 23. There's nothing special about that age I had thought, but Russell made sure I had a special birthday weekend. The reasons why I love this man increases infinitely everyday.

He surprised me my taking me up to Santa Barbara for my birthday weekend. We stayed in a cozy little Bed & Breakfast that was a block away from the beach and a couple blocks from the zoo. They even had bikes we can borrow for free and ride along the beach.

   

Look at the pretty scenery. And Russell.

Pretty Santa Barbara beach.

Making faces

 We also ate a lot of food and walked around little crafts stands. The zoo was one of our favorites. I'll always have a soft spot for elephants and turtles.

At the zoo

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. As for my presents, Russell got me a pink phone case and a pink bible. My sweet husband is the best.