I miss the sound of a lawn mower... mowing grass from a far distance. It's always bright in my room. The sky of course is always blue with clouds shaped like wooly sheeps. I can hear the TV on with the announcer shouting, "Come on down, you're the next contestant on the Price is Right...!" It's already 10am and I had just woken up from having the most marvelous dream I've ever had. Mom was at work. Dad was outside sitting in the patio sipping iced tea with the little sister. The little brothers were watching TV of course. The windows were up and the entire house smells like freshly cut grass.

Dad comes into the living room and starts setting up checkers. With a grin on his face he says to me, "I bet you won't win today." I've only won twice over playing hundreds of times with him. My brother and I would join forces and yet we've only come close to winning a few times. After an hour or two of playing, Dad would tell us to hook up the Nintendo because he was in the mood for "Contra". This is the reason why I LOVE video gaming. Mom gets home and makes dinner. Although I'm already 16, I only watch her cook, I didn't know how. After dinner, Dad is in the mood for some "Hmong poker"... Losers get to deal. It's getting dark but Mom have errands for us (Luger and I) to run. We'd be gone for several hours. Next thing we know, it's already close to midnight.

We would come home into a dark house. Dad comes out of his room to watch infomercials. Mom, of course, joins him. Luger and I find plates of food in the kitchen with our name written in Dad's handwriting... "Kodaks" is what he'd write on mine. He always thought of everything. Mom's the health freak. Dad's cooking was the comfort food. We retire to our rooms. I love closing the door to my very own room and listening to my kind of music. After a few minutes, my bedroom door opens and Dad pops his head in to make sure I'm safe.

That's how I spent most of the summer with my parents. No care or worries in the world. The leaves are changing and the weather's getting cool. Every year about this time, I think of the summers I have with my family. Every year before this year, I've always been depressed because fall meant winter's approuching fast and summer is long gone... There has always been a thought in my mind that "I'd rather be dead than see fall because it's too depressing!" but no, not this year. I'm a new woman now. I've never been more satisfied about life than ever. This is the first time since I've lived with my parents that I'm truly content and looking forward to fall and winter and the seasons to come. I feel so blessed.

I encourage each of you to take time to realize the beauty of life and those who you share it with. No matter how bad it's going to get, eventually everything will be okay. Take one day at a time because time is precious and time is something you can't get back so do the very best what you can with it. I pray for health and happiness for you and your love ones this autumn! Enjoy!

Where did my summer go... Boy, I've been busy and loving every moment of it.

Al broke his hand two months ago and has been a stay-at-home husband since (yay!) I get chauffered to and from work plus homemade lunches. He's going back to work next week :( His love language is "Quality Time" so I've been spending tons of time with him...

Just this summer alone we put put approximately 20,000 miles on his little CRV, haha. I don't know where we went but I have over 400 pictures to remind me what I was doing - I will have to share.

Other than that, pretty much I've been hiding in Facebook. I lost my PW to MySpace and could careless about going back :P

Currently, I'm remodeling the apartment... and trying to find a bigger place... House? Haven't found something that Al likes yet so we're chipping away at that yet. He already invited his parents to live with us, they declined. My parents-in-law said it's better that we live apart so they'll have an excuse to visit each other otherwise they would have moved to MN to live with the older brother.

Other than that, pretty much same ole same ole. Will share more later :)

So ladies, it's glad to bounce back and forth here, MySpace, and Facebook... Wow, these social network sites are definitely keeping me on my fingers :) Work has pretty much consume my life. It's that time of year again where I'm going to train people like crazy and working 50-60 hours a week *sighs* I'm ready for it, bring it on!

Anyway, I've been playing "The Biggest Loser" with the family and wow, I'm not doing very well, hehe. I'm a little under the weather. Every 10 minutes I'm hacking up green stuff and blowing my nose every 5 minutes. Exercising? Ah, when I get the chance. I think that would definitely boost me up though. Al says, "Babe, whether you lose one pound or ten, as long as you feel good about yourself. No matter what, you're worth over a million bucks to me." *smiles* Al has grown up so much, he's no longer clinging to me (thank goodness).

Lately, my husband has been the "clingy" and "over-protective" lately... No idea why as he has no reason to be. Oh yes, I forgot to mention he saw this one Hmong movie made in the Twin Cities area about sex, love, lies, cheating... you know the usual stereotype of the people and things that happen there. *shakes head* He's so annoying *roll eyes* I'm to the point where I'm literally beating him down so he'll just back off an inch or two. "Where do you want to go?"... "What do you want to do today?"... "How should I talk to my brothers?"... blah blah blah. Why do I have to give him direction... why do I have to make the decision... why do I have to provide the ideas so he can execute. Ahhhhhhhhhh. He's to the point where I ask to be home alone, I ask to stay in the guestroom ALONE, I ask to take a drive without him... *sighs* And when I don't want to cuddle or go with him places, I'm "cheating" or I've "fallen out of love" with him is what Al says. My husband's smothering me and I'm to the point where I'm going to open a can of whoop-ass on him - honestly.

Moving on, I haven't been in contact my cousin in Ohio in ages. I don't want to go there (ewww) and her parents visits but they don't.... I would probably say the last time I saw her was during my father's funeral and I haven't truly spoke to her since I was 14-15. So why does she THINK she can judge me. "I can't believe you like country music!" she exclaimed when I said I wanted to see Rascal Flatts in concert "I thought you like rap?" she continued. She always thought of me as a thug (I know, LOL) or felt I was born to fail because I was "so rebelious" as a teenager *roll eyes* She was so surprised when I declined her offer to hang out at the club and go out past 10PM. I've had my fun already and now I'm just more serious with life, I have priorities, I've matured, I'm an adult... Fun to me is playing video games against my buddies, sharing life stories, cooking/baking, traveling. I'm allowed to transform aren't I? She's a total biatch anyway. I could careless about her. I could careless about her thoughts and judgement toward me, my family, and friends.

Okay enough - have to hop on over to the Twin Cities for the day (running errands for the in-laws)... Please take care all - God bless!

Here's what Biz wrote in my MySpace: "hey kodak! how's the x-mas shopping? i c u went to the black friday.....so wats up with things meaning like us and the past??? i don't understand....please e-mail me so i can e-mail back instead of in comments...."

Uh-oh. I'm going to ignore it. I just thought I'd share.

Talking about bumping into the past, I did run into Bor (Douajee's sister) at the UW-Stout New Year this past weekend. Al and his band played for their night party. Bor is still the same, minus the blue sweater hoody :)

I also saw that Addison Vang guy - he's from Eau Claire at the Stout New Year. Remember girls, the guy from our EIP trips? LOL.

This last month I also ran into Jack Chang - yes the one that we used to stalk. He's living in North Carolina right now actually. He doesn't "know - know" me but my friend Lee introduced Al and I to him, haha.

Whoo whoo.

Ah, my laptop was acting like a biatch on PMS... I throw it on the floor and literally kicked it several times. I broke a corner of the screen. I was just FED UP with it. So I donated it to Al's younger brother who was a little more patient with it than I was. I'm happy it found it a new home. That my dear was the reason why I couldn't come online as much as I wished. Al was a little greedy with his computer and gave me limited time on it because he had projects to complete. Grr.

So this past Black Friday, I got a new laptop. It was meant to be. His brothers and I stayed up until 3AM... Killing time with playing Guitar Hero World Tour and some board games. Crazy as it was, the 2 hour wait time outside of Best Buy didn't seem that long. I was bundled up in my cozy brown quilt and sippped coffee while chatting with the couple in front of us.

When the Best Buy employee came around to pass laptop purchase tickets, I grabbed the last one :) I was NOT going to let anyone get in my way... I did shove a few people to wave down the Best Buy employee to come toward my direction. Oh well.

Black Friday is always fun... I was a little impatient while in Walmart though. I had to park at a different lot because the stadium parking that Walmart has was not enough room for all those darn shoppers. After half a hour in Walmart, most of the time waiting in the que for check out, I hopped over to Target and grabbed a portal DVD player for my father in law (who had hinted to us earlier that day that he wanted one).

Ah, I'm just glad to be back.

(pictures later)

This past weekend after the Artistry Skin-Care party, Al and I went to the Dells. I like going to Tanger Outlet for the kitchen supplies, the close-out clothes, and especially for Coach purses!

I haven't gone in about two years... Last time I walked in the Coach Factory Outlet store, there was a few customers in high-end clothes and the employees are so stuck-up in their ironed uniforms. I'd walk in wearing sandels and a tank top. My hair would be wet because I had just gone back from swimming, hehe. Of course, the employees say hello, look at me up and down then walk away. I would never get assistance but I'd buy one or two things and leave.

This past weekend, the store was jammed packed more than ever. I couldn't even walk around. I look one look and walked away. Coach purses aren't special anymore because every other person owns one. I love the purses because they go with every occasion, sniff sniff.

Now, I have to find a new brand that will fit my style.

I love the husband unconditionally. But quite frankly, I'm stick and tired of him... He's my best friend and I love hanging out with him, but I need to hang out with girls. Ever since his younger sister got married, I haven't been visiting my in-laws. I feel bad but oh well. His three little sisters (ages 5,6,7) are wonderful when I go over but it doesn't complete me.

I want to see my friends (if I still have any left)... I want to meet new people... I need to work in my 'people-skills'. Lately, I've been hanging out with his brothers and their wives, that's IT. My family's so far. Sam's preoccupied with her in-laws and son. She invites me to hang out with her friends, but it's not the same. I don't think drinking alcohol will solve anything.

There's a lot of ME, MY, and I in this post and YES, I need to take care of myself. *sighs* I need a girls night-day-weekend out. Ah!

I've spend the past three weeks looking at houses, going to home parades, and open houses. I've looked as so many houses I can't remember which house is which. Al's such in a rush to buy a house... he just wants to move out of this cramped apartment and work on starting a family. I, on the other hand, want the best for my buck so I'm carefully sifting through the good and bad. I'm taking my time... if we can't find something soon... I'm willing to wait for next year.

His parents wants a big basement (NO, they're NOT going to live with us...My FIL thinks it's uncool... He'll visit though) so if they have eating parties, it'll be held at our place. Since Al is techincally the eldest son, he feels it's his job to fulfill his parents wishes.

I will tell you that last night I saw a home approximately 20 years old and it was hidden in the woods a little... When I walked in, immediately I felt suffocated and heavy... The basement made me feel uneasy. The house isn't in bad shape but it just doesn't feel right. I only looked around for 15 minutes and went back to the car right away. I didn't want my agent to think of anything. I had a dream last night that house was haunted by a little boy with dark hair... he was looking for his parents. Eek!


Homeowners: How did you decide which one to buy? After moving in, how do you like it? Any advice? :)

Ah, I've been asking for a vacation... to go anywhere but here. The husband wants to go to Vegas but we're too poor *cries*. I'm so pathetic, but I'm going to vacation in Minnesota during the July 4th weekend (ha-ha, I know).

Today marks the first day of my "vacation"... and boy, do I need and deserve this time off. I haven't had more than 3 days off in a row since November... I know it's just Minnesota, but there's actually tons of activities to do besides going to the tournament or go shopping.

I hope to see everyone there (Call me)! I can't go clubbing because I'm babysitting my two underaged sisters - I might take them to see Xav Thoj if they have an OG party, hehe. I feel like I'm 40-years old, I swear :P

This past weekend Al and I finally went to Missouri :) 9.5 hours each way but it was worth it... Here are some photos:




Cha Houa with his daughter Karen and our niece Ariel. They're on the way to see Grandma at her garden.



Here's the creek that runs north of the corn field. It was a scorching 85 degrees and we were all spritzing ourselves with the creek water.



Chu Kou, Cha Houa, nephew Richard, Al, and Li Tong at Cabela's in Kansas City



There's a natural spring at the beginning of the creek. The brothers wanted my sisters and nieces to test how deep that area was... Then the rest of the kids doved in and swam :P



Missouri is weird. Everyone is overly friendly. Every car we pass wave at us. Every gas station we visit, we're greated with a smile and they always spark a small chat. Missouri isn't THAT down south but boy, I sure felt like everything was in slow motion. I spoke with a new client today over the phone. He said, "You're a Yankee, talk slower for us Southerners please" I've never realized I'm a damn Yankee, LOL.

I love the brothers' 100+ acre land... but I can't stand the location. As soon as I thought we arrived to their house, there were twists and turns... gravel roads before we got there. I felt like Mai See in the "Mai See and Lee Cheng" movie where she moves to the mountainside with him and as soon as they got off the bus, Lee Cheng says they still have to walk all the way up the mountain to get to his village. *roll eyes* It was hectic.

Seriously, it's something straight out of Texas Chain Saw Massacre... lifeless... ghost town-like feeling... abandoned... dark... and I felt like if zombies were to jumped on my car that morning (we got to Missouri at approximately 4AM) they would have eaten my brain and meat to the bone before someone found me. Hehe.

PS. Sorry Kat, I saw that you call me but as soon as I picked up... the signal was lost. My brother's place have HORRIBLE connection.

(Note: Ugh Pa Houa, no you didn't...*shakes head in disappointment*)

If I haven't mentioned this, I'm sorry... HIS younger sister is getting married. Her wedding was supposed to be last weekend but with the funeral, it was postponed until the first week of June. She's 16, thinks her life will end if she doesn't end up with him, and is tired of doing "everything" for her family. *shakes head in disappointment* This town is so backward I swear - the majority of the Hmong weddings are for teenagers. This year alone 5 couples who are still attending high school either did have their wedding or will be soon. I don't blame the kids though - the parents here are so narrow-minded and basically raise the girls to think that their purpose in life is to get married, have kids, make your parents-in-law happy, and be a good housewife. It's just hysterical that the parents, especially the mothers, would get so worked up when their daughter "elope" with the boyfriend when all they're doing is what's embedded in them since a very young age. Either that, or SEX plays a huge role in wanting to get married. I just feel real sad for Al that NONE of the sisters have graduated high school before marriage and ALL of his brother-in-laws are high school drop-outs.

The same week HIS sister "eloped" with her boyfriend... My little sister Choua went on her very first date with a Caucasian guy to the prom and had her very first slow dance. That's the difference between HIS side of the family and mine :P. Sometimes I truly feel I married a class down. I know it's so stuck-up of me to say so but I think the only thing that's holding us together is having chemistry other than that, we hardly see eye-to-eye.

*sigh* Kat, if you're reading this - show me pictures of your parents side of Missouri :) I'll be going on May 30th for the first time!

This morning we received bad news... One of Al's first cousins past away. He was only 29 and as healthy as a horse. According to the OGs, one of his blood vessels burst - He had a stroke. I feel so bad. He has 6 children and a loving wife who I don't know what's going to do. I spoke with some of the other sister-in-laws about the situation. Goodness - I can not imagine life without Al although I sometimes keep him at arm's lengths. It just makes you see life in a total different perspective when someone that young dies...

I contacted a realtor for a house showing today and she hasn't called me back. (Damn her!) From all the house I've seen, I like this one the most... but the location SUCKS. I don't want to drive 20+ minues just to get to work. He doesn't like it because it's too far from WalMart and BestBuy *roll eyes*. If this house isn't the one, it's going to be several more months of searching because the houses here are either too old or the location are out in the boonies.

Ugh, I hate Mondays...

Periodically the company give us discounts... 10% to 25%. Some discounts are available just for the employees... Here are some that caught my eye and I thought I'd share :)

Origins.Com
Receive a Free Deluxe 3.4oz. Incredible Spreadable Scrub Ginger body smoother plus, Free Standard Shipping with any Origins.com purchase
Enter code: 04081NJ at check out
Offer Ends: 5/11/2008

EcoBags.Com
(Does not apply to promotional or custom orders)
15% Off your purchase
Enter code: NJ08 at check out
Offer Ends on 5/15/2008

ShoeMall.Com
15% Off your purchase plus Free Shipping
Enter code: NEXJUMP at check out

OMG, I'm a quarter of a century old... And it's snowing - AGAIN. It's a end of APRIL damnit!

I celebrated my birthday this past Saturday. Just had a few people over and hung out. I got MarioKart for my WII and we challenged people from all over the World. My internet has been down because of the weather changes (my rent comes with satillite tv and internet). I feel like I've experienced a whole year worth of weather in a week. Due to the weather changes I know it's going to kill a ton of animals. There's a pair of ducks that walked (yes they didn't fly) from my workplace all the way to the edge of town to this area with ton of construction with a small water hole there. Each time I drive past, they're there... How did I know they walked? For a whole week I had to wait for those idiots to cross the road in different parts of town.


So before the internet goes out again, I wanted to wish everyone a wonderful day. I switched my schedule to help with the evening shift for two weeks. We've been bombarded at work, grrr!