Moro Rock

Wow, 105 windy miles and 400 steps later, we reached the top of Moro Rock, getting a birds-eye view of the Sequoias.

It was gorgeous, minus the pollution. The mountains behind us in this picture looked completely stunning with the clouds hovering so low, it was hard to separate the snow-capped mountains from the clouds. Absolutely heavenly.

On the way up, we also saw 1 doe that was shy, but curious, lots of lizards looking for mates, and free-roaming birds soaring in the wind.

It was a moment of freedom and appreciation for all things living.

This is J's son, proposing. We went on a "photo shoot" today. He wanted me to pay him a quarter per picture. When I told him "no deal", he asked if he could still be my model anyway. I'll sure miss it when he grows out of this sweet, innocent age.

Wolverine

I went to this movie as a second choice. We were planning to watch Star Trek at the Imax, but since the lil guy was with us, we couldn't (or at least I couldn't) justify spending $37.50 on theater tickets. So we went, instead, to the regular theater and saw Wolverine.

Oh, I was loathing the choice we'd had to make, but I was actually quite pleasantly surpised. Aside from all the good-looking people in the movie, it was action-packed, emotionally-charged, and fun to follow.

Go watch it - you won't regret it.

Good morning!

Darn it! so my new 'do just looks waaay cooler in person, but here it is anyway!

New 'do

Got my hair cut, colored, and styled today! It's been about 6+ months since I've seen my stylist because I've been trying to grow my hair out, but it was time to say goodbye to all the split-ends and damaged hair. I'll debut a pic soon, I promise!

whoaaa.....

Okay, so it's been about a full month since I've posted.

LoTs have happened in the interim. Let's see...in chronological order (to the best of my memory) I finally filed my taxes on the 15th and to my surprise, I got quite the return! (Thank you, School!).

So since my GPS & digicam were stolen, (I told you about that, right?) I decided to take 200 bucks of my return and replace my stolen items. J & I considered filing an insurance claim, but with a $500 deductible, decided against it for obvious reasons.

The weekend of the 25th, J & son & I went up to Sacramento/Yuba City to see family. It was Taylor's 6th birthday that Sunday - and she was just so precious, that darling girl! She's got curls that are just simply angelic. But before we went to her birthday bash, we went to see my parents and finalized the whole bride price thing and got officially "Hmong-married". Whatever that means.

I guess what I mean by that is that J & I both feel that the whole Hmong-style wedding just so un-special to us. There's no symbol of love At All. I think (...no, I'm pretty sure) I still harbor some degree of resentment over the whole ordeal, but ultimately, It's Just Money...right?

Anyway, without saying too much, it was a pretty dramatic weekend. But seeing Taylor and Nicholas and my family balanced it out alright.

Onto May...wow, this month was pretty much penniless. I remember being totally Ba-Roke with a wiped-out savings account and family demands coming left & right for gift contributions. Then there was Mother's day to consider and upcoming birthdays - all at least 120 miles out of town. On top of that, there were snags in receiving my unemployment check and - whewwww...I need to take a breath. I can't believe how documenting this is making my heart race in a heart-attack kind of way.

Then last Saturday, J & I drove back up to Sac to see my family in honor of my mother. We spent the day at an island and the weather was hot yet cool. Both J & I got mildly sunburnt (I know, I'm an esthetician and I didn't have any sunscreen on me). Although I didn't have a gift for her in hand, I ended up ordering a skin lightening cream for her from Amazon and she should be receiving it some time this week or early next. Asians and hyperpigmentation - sucks!

This week some time, a couple of nights ago, in fact, J & I got into a HUGE blow up. It was the worst one yet. We'd just been so stressed out, so unhappy, so far from God that things between us were just spiraling quickly down the road of no return. It was full of tears, fears, truths...so revealing, so honest, so hurtful, yet so absolutely necessary. But ultimately, as the night turned into early morning, we just ended up where we started - and that's a place of love and forgiveness. We love each other and know and believe that we are not only better together, but we are soul mates.

After a day of recovery from the emotional storm, he suggested we each take 10 bucks up to Chukchansi and bet it penny slot machines. And though my eyes were dried out and burning, I decided it'd be a good idea and we went. It turned out to be so much fun! After months and months of focusing on everything but us, being together last night with just the two of us ~ ah, now that's what's makes it all so very worth it.