My Life
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Saturday, January 17th, 2009This week we got some really happy news! I was checking my email Wednesday morning and there was a message from CRIS, so I opened it and it said that my petition for the K-1 Fiancee Visa had been approved! It was such a huge relief to see that. I called Sharon immediately but her phone was just in the other room, so I had to wait til she got home to tell her the good news. She was so happy, and we both jumped up and down and danced around the kitchen for a while haha. It is really nice to get an update and know what is happening after such a long period of uncertainty. This makes it so much easier to wait. The long part of the process is now over. The next step is to fax the approval letter to the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur so that they can open a file for our case and we can start sending in the required documents so that when they receive the approval notice from USCIS we will have a head start. Then we need to go in for an interview there before we can get the Visa. We have been thinking more and more about a good date for the Wedding, and the place as well. We are thinking (tentatively) somewhere between April 12 and April 17, but maybe the following week instead.
Anyways, aside from that our week was good. It really flew by. Just one more week until it is Chinese New Year, which is a really big thing here in Asia. Sharon will have a week off so we are going to Sibu to be with her relatives there. Usually for Chinese New Year, they have TONS of fireworks and it is also customary to buy a weeks’ worth of new clothes before hand so that every day of Chinese New Year you can wear something new. So anyways, that is going to be fun.
We are still alive and well. We went out to eat at Soho’s last night, my new favorite restaurant here in Miri. They have really good food, a good atmosphere, and the price is right.
Work this week has been a bit busy, but it’s also been satisfying. I have a lot of new ideas floating around in my head, just have to find the time to chase them down and make them a reality. I have also been working on my new business website, which is not done yet but I will post the link here when it is (hopefully by next post).
I love all my family and friends (you people that are reading this). Until next week… Bye bye^^
Random Pics for this week:
From my days in Florida with Paul
Miri’s First District Conference
Saturday, January 10th, 2009Well, another week has gone by and I am still writing! Sharon says she doesn’t think I’ll last on this ‘write once a week’ gig, but I’ve heard statistics that once you’ve done something for 21 days, it becomes a habit. Well, this is 21 days now, so we’ll see what happens.
This week Sharon and I both were kept pretty busy with work, she at school and I at home on my laptop. We went to help the Elders teach a family one night, and another night we went out to eat with Sharon’s Mom’s friends. The rest of the time we stayed home. On the weekend, Sharon and I went out to eat at Hot Spot, and it was pretty good.
The exciting thing this week was the Miri District Conference. It is the first one ever, and many people from Bintulu came up for the Saturday and Sunday sessions. I was able to see lots of people I knew from Bintulu, among which were Bro Gibbison, Pres Lembang, Sis Pantai, Sis Amy, Moses, Rina, Roslan, Jerini, Bro Joseph and his wife and Sis Man. I also met (former) Elder Simon Baker-King, who I knew from my mission. He and two of his friends were in town from Australia. They are traveling around the world, stopping different places along the way. I also was able to speak with Pres and Sis Skelton after the conference. Pres Halstrom was the keynote speaker, and it was good to see him again as well. I still have a picture of me with him from when I was in Sri Lanka.
So that was our week. I just realized that Tyler gets home in a month and one week, so that’s coming up very fast. I remember the last month passes like a dream. He will be back in no time. I wish I could be there, but Sharon and I are still waiting on the Visa.
I have decided to post pictures on my blog every time I post, to spice it up a bit and also for my own memories (since I write this blog mostly for the benefit of my old self in 10-20 years). So here are some pics:
Me Before I bought my new laptop (thats 2600 Ringgit there!)
Eating Indian food at a local food court
One of my tricks: MAGIC!
Happy New Year!
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009Hey, I hope everyone had a really happy new year celebration! I know I did. Sharon and I spent some quiet time at home and then went outside to watch the fireworks. I made some Resolutions and have been trying my best to keep them. Last week we went to an Archery Range that was on the top floor of a mall here. I’ve been wanting to go for quite a while and Sharon finally relented and took me there. We ended up having a lot of fun, and resolved to come back more often. After Archery, we went to the Movie Theater there and watched Bolt. It was a good movie, and we really enjoyed it. Other than that, not much happened this week. Sharon was able to get the upgraded pay rate at her job as a School Teacher here, so that was a real blessing. We had been praying for that, so it’s nice it happened. We are still waiting on the Visa, but hopefully it will get here soon.
I am going to be starting school this week, I am taking Online Courses from Dixie. It will be a nice change of pace, and even though they didn’t offer any computer-related courses online, I am still happy to get some electoral credits.
It was also nice to be able to talk to my mom and Tyler over the Holidays. Tyler is coming back on February 19th. That is pretty close! Anyways, I’ll keep everyone updated on the latest. Ciao!
New Traditions
Saturday, December 27th, 2008Well, since it has been such a long time since I have posted anything, and since New Year’s is coming up, I figured I’d get a head start and make a resolution now:
I am going to update my blog at least once a week, on Sunday, with an overview of my life for the past week. This will be a sort of journal for me. For all those wishing to know what I have been up to for the past few months of silence, I would suggest checking Sharon’s blog, since she updated it every time we did anything big.
This past week has been a bit busy for me. We got back from our trip to KK about a week and a half ago, and we’ve been Celebrating Christmas by going Christmas Caroling with the ward members. The way they do it here is kind of funny. They schedule it. They have a schedule that they will go to so and so’s house and that person knows beforehand so they prepare lots of snacks and treats. So we go there and we go inside the house and sing some christmas songs then eat and talk, then on to the next house. We do about 4 houses a night because each house takes at least 30-45 mins. We only did member’s houses, and since our group is so small (the chinese group) we did almos all the members. It was fun and took two days, but it was very different from American caroling, where the receiver is usually unaware beforehand, and treats are not expected, and we don’t usually go inside it seems. Anyways, that was an interesting experience.
Sharon and I went shopping for our primary kids (we have 5 regulars now) and it was fun. We bought them each two toys (some were really poor so we knew they would be getting nothing else this christmas) then we taught them a primary lesson about giving gifts, and how Jesus was God’s gift to the world, and how they can give to jesus by giving their love and service to those around them. Then we gave them their gifts. It was a good lesson. Sharon also gave a really good talk about Jesus’ love for us that Sunday.
Then on Tuesday we had a Ward Christmas Party, and it was a lot of fun to get together with the Iban members and have a good celebration, with lots of Songs and Food.
Christmas was also really enjoyable, I was able to sleep in and Sharon and I gave her mom our gift to her (two boxes of bird’s nests, a real delicacy here). Then we did something I’ve never done before on Christmas: We went Shopping. Apparently it is a tradition of sorts here, because the malls never close and so many people go shopping on holidays. I thought it was really funny because in the USA you couldn’t really go shopping even if you wanted to, because all of the stores are closed except maybe Wal-Mart or something.
Anyways, Sharon’s mom bought me a nice belt, which I needed, so that was good. Sharon gave me a lot of gifts this year: some shirts for Chinese New Year, a laptop bag and some laptop accessories, and a really really nice massage (the best gift was just being here with her^^).
Then yesterday Sharon’s old friend Doreen (she’s my friend too, from BYU-Hawaii) was back in town visiting her family for the holidays, so we spent a whole day with her (consisting mostly of them shopping and me following them around). I met Nguti ak Maja at the Mall surprisingly, I recognized her and she recognized me at the same time. I baptized her in Bintulu, and she is working in Miri now, so I had a nice talk with her for a minute before we exchanged phone numbers. I am planning on going back to bintulu tomorrow to visit some old friends. That night we went to eat at Soho’s with Doreen, so that was fun.
Merry Christmas!
Sunday, December 7th, 2008Sharon and I made this (well mostly Sharon but I helped) so I thought I’d post it here. Also, I apologize for not updating my blog recently. A lot has happened but if you want to hear about it you’re going to have to go to Sharon’s blog (which is highly recommended because there are MANY things there that you don’t want to miss about us).
Bangkok Trip Map
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008Well, Sharon has already written about the trip to Bangkok (also check out her ‘Bangok Day 2‘ blog post), so I figure why reinvent the wheel when I could do something different to compliment it (like inventing a steering wheel). Anyways, here is a map that I made of our trip, complete with text and pictures! (I’d suggest clicking on the ‘View Larger Map’ to see it better)
And Here are some captionated Photos!
Some Updates – Finally
Friday, September 5th, 2008Well, it has been a long time since I have written (3 weeks) and so I am way overdue. I have done so many things that it seems like there is just too much to write about, and I don’t really know where to start. Sharon is hounding me to write, and I know that I have promised a lot of people that I would, so here goes:
First, let me start with a brief summary of the past 3 weeks:
The Arrival
After the flight from LA to Taipei, I ended up in Kuala Lumpur, the capitol city of Malaysia. It was a sight for sore eyes, since it had been a couple of years since I had been there, and it really felt so good to be back. I love KL! The airport is really nice, but I didn’t get a lot of time to enjoy it because I had a flight to catch, so i quickly went to my connecting flight to Miri, Malaysia.
During the flight from West Malaysia to East Malaysia, I couldn’t help smiling to myself the entire way. The people around me probably thought I was either crazy or had attained the Buddhist goal of Nirvana, but in truth I was just thinking of how happy I was to be able to see my sweetheart Sharon again. I envisioned it in my mind at least a dozen times. I was so excited! When the plane landed, it was even better than I had imagined! Sharon was waiting for me at the terminal, and boy did she look gorgeous. She came up and hugged me big and I was the happiest man in Malaysia. She took me outside to her mom’s car, and I got to meet (for the first time) her wonderful mom. Judy Hii Ai Huong is one of the nicest women I have ever met, which is a big relief considering that I had been really scared of meeting her. She drove me to her house and showed me my new (and Ivy’s old) room. I settled in and fell asleep (the first I’d gotten for a long time).
The next couple of days were spent preparing things for the reception and running errands. One memorable and notable thing we did was have a photo-shoot. It was a lot of fun, but somewhat grueling (it lasted all day). Sharon had I think 7 dresses, so we took a lot of photos. I think that she has posted many of the pics, and she even has lots of them in a slide-show on her blog, here is the link: Slideshow
Anyways, the next big thing we did was drive down to Sibu for a reception with her family there.
Sibu Reception
Sharon has many relatives in Sibu, because that is where both her Mom and Dad are from, and it is where she grew up as a kid. Later she moved to Kota Kinabalu, then to Miri, but that is another story. There were so many relatives of hers there that I met. Her Dad’s Mom is there and she is a kind old lady, still healthy and strong despite her old age. She came from China a long time ago to Malaysia, so that is Sharon’s heritage. All of her Aunts and Uncles and Cousins were there, and so it was quite confusing at times since everyone spoke Chinese (and not even Mandarin, but FuChao, so I didn’t have much chance at comprehension). Speaking of Chinese, I am getting better slowly at Mandarin, and I can understand the gist of most sentences, so that is good. Anyways, in Sibu I was able to meet Sharon’s Dad for the first time. Jackson Ting is bluff-faced and seems kind of stern when you first meet him, but he is a really kind and nice guy, and the important thing is that I can tell he loves Sharon so much. She is his oldest daughter, and he wants to make sure she is taken care of. I love Sharon very much as well, and when he could see this, he liked me as well. I must admit that I was very scared to meet him the first time. Haha. Anyways, her family is all very nice and very Chinese, so it was a lot of fun. We had the reception at a Hotel there in Sibu, and it was very nice with lots of people. They had an MC who was very outspoken, and basically I made a fool of myself many times trying to get their customs right. Of note among the customs were the Yam Seng, where everyone stands toasts the bride and groom. I had a hard time of opening the ‘Champagne’ (sparkling cider, I’m Mormon, remember?) bottle, since it was my first time opening one. The idea is to shake it up and then pop the cork and spray it, then fill up a pyramid of glasses with it. I didn’t know there were three toasts, so after the first yam seng I totally drained the cup, and had to borrow some from Sharon for the other two, haha. Another custom is the giving of ‘ang pao’ or gift money to the bride and groom. We went around collecting little red envelopes with money inside, so that was a lot of fun. After we got home, Sharon immediately began counting the ang pao (she is very chinese, haha). Anyways, it was so much fun and I really wish my friends and family could have been there as well to enjoy it, but I guess all of you who weren’t able to come to this one still have a chance to redeem yourselves and come to my ‘real’ reception after we are married in the temple in Utah. Haha.
Whew, this is really starting to be a long post, and I still have so much more to write about. Okay, I am going to have to do this in installments. Be sure to check back for my future posts about our adventures in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, Thailand, and our reception in Miri!
In the mean time, here are some pics from the Sibu Reception:
The Reunion
Monday, August 11th, 2008After a long and grueling 24 hour trip to Malaysia, I was reunited with the love of my life, Sharon. On the last leg of the trip from KL to Miri, I was smiling the whole way. People must have thought I was crazy, haha. But I couldn’t stop thinking about seeing Sharon again. I imagined the scene over and over again in my head. But when it finally came down to it, and I passed through immigration and collected my baggage, and saw her there waiting for me, it was the happiest I had been in months. Then I hugged her and twirled her around and gave her a quick little kiss. She was so embarrassed haha. But I couldn’t help it. She was even more beautiful than when I had last seen her 3 months ago, and that is VERY beautiful. I am sooo happy now to be with her again. We have a lot of things planned and it will be very stressful, but for now I am going to just enjoy being with her again.
At the Airport in LA
Saturday, August 9th, 2008Well, I am sitting in the LAX Airport now, waiting for my flight. I have about 5 hours of layover here, so i figure this is as good a time as any to blog. Actually, Sharon, my darling, told me to not be lazy and use my time to post. Haha. So here I am, the same place I was at 3 years ago going to Malaysia for my mission. Seriously, I am sitting in the exact same place I sat 3 years ago, at the McDonalds. Elder Mortensen and Sister Pike will remember. It brings back a lot of memories. I am traveling to Malaysia to see Sharon, FINALLY, and I am so excited! I really can’t wait to see her. I’ve been waiting for 3 months now. Much too long. I have about 18 hours of traveling ahead of me, so I am going to try and get some sleep on the plane. This plane to Taipei will be the longest one. Luckily, I don’t have to change planes in Taipei, just stay on the plane. Then after Taipei I am going to Kuala Lumpur, where I will catch a plane to Miri. I just came in from St George where my Mom and Kendall dropped me off earlier. My mom grew teary eyed. I love them both, and I will miss them. Earlier I gave my mom and Kendall blessings so that they will stay safe and prosper while I am gone. Kendall starts school on Tuesday, and he gets his license on Monday, so there are some big things coming up. I am really way excited to see Sharon. i can’t wait! I will also get to meet her family and we are having a wedding reception type of thing for her family on the 16th. It is going to be really big, so I am kinda nervous, but I am also excited for it. Then Sharon and I are going to Thailand for a few days, so that will be lots of fun. Anyways, that’s a small update for now, but I will keep the blog updated with the latest. Bye Bye!
Kendall’s Surprise Birthday Party
Saturday, August 9th, 2008Today is Kendall’s birthday, but we celebrated it yesterday. I went outside to play Tennis with Kendall for a little while, then invited him in to play Age of Empires 2 with me. We started when I started complaining that I was starving, and that we should go get Wendy’s or something. He was also hungry, so he offered to pay for me if I drove him there. I went to ask mom if we could borrow the car, and she agreed as long as we had it back by 8.
So off we went. We paused our game first. Then when we got there, I told him I would treat him but we had to go inside to sit down and eat. So we went in, ordered some Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers (my last Wendy’s I’ll have in a while) and some Frosty’s, then ate. When we were on our way back, I called mom to ask her if I should pick up some cereal. She said we had some already, so I told her we were almost home. Then when we got home, Kendall and I walked inside. The lights were all off and there was a cake on the counter. When Kendall was almost to the kitchen, tons of kids jumped out and dumped balloons and confetti on him while yelling ‘Surprise!’ You should have seen the look on Kendall’s face. He was totally shocked! He was like, what about Age of Empires? Haha. We had cake and ice-cream and sang to him and then he played outside with his friends. We also gave him his presents. I was the accomplice to get him out of the house so that his friends could come over. He fell right into the trap. Later, he asked me, “What if I didn’t want to go to Wendy’s, what would you have done?” Yeah right, he always is up for Wendy’s ahaha. We all had a lot of fun. Happy Birthday, Kendall!!