Love/Hate

I decided go with the theme of Jen's blog at Marathons & Dog Tags, and participate in a 10 Things I Love and 10 Things I hate post. 

I'm supposed to tag 10 other bloggers in it, but I'll just it open to all of you beautiful people!

10 Things I Love (with the exception of the obvious...Jesus, husband, & kids)

Working Out: I am extremely irritable and stressed out if I don't start my day off with my usual 2 hours at the gym.

Aggie Football: I grew up here in College Station, and Aggie football is just something that comes with the territory. I actually tried to "fight the Maroon and white" as a teenager trying to rebel, but my love for my hometown and hometown college won.

Going out to eat without the kids: I love those kids of mine, but I love eating in peace too.

Vacations: Nick and I just booked a vacation to Cancun on a whim for next month. We're celebrating his 32nd birthday and the end of summer session for college. Yay!

Apple products: Between our 2 Macbooks, our giant Mac desktop, ipads, Apple watch, and iPhones...I'm pretty sure the Romers keep Apple in business.

Painted toes: I can't remember the last time I haven't had polish on my toes.

Our current house: We have awesome neighbors, a giant deck outside for entertaining, and it's in an amazing neighborhood.

Kolaches: They're delicious pillows of bread with sausage or bacon or fruit....native to TX.

Pinot Grigio: Chilled, please...in a big wine glass.

Audiobooks: I listen to them while working out. Maybe it's a sign of growing older, but I prefer listening to books over music in the car and at the gym.

10 Things I Hate

Politics and Religion on Facebook: Although I've been guilty of it in my younger less formidable years, as a "grown up", I hate it. I love Facebook because I love seeing photos of my friends and their families. I love seeing pregnancy announcements, job promotions, milestones...I even don't mind people venting because they had a bad day on Facebook....I hate everything else.

Patriots football: Two things: Tom Brady & deflateagate. enough said.

Snow/cold: I've done enough complaining on this subject on this blog and on social media while living in New England. We'll leave it at that.

The world "moist": Huff Post did an entire article on the hatred of the word.

People who don't remove their shoes at my house: First of all, I am Asian. Asians take their shoes off when entering a home. EVERYONE knows this. I always feel all awkward asking people to remove their shoes, and I have painstakingly watched people trod through my house with shoes on because I wanted to be a "gracious host". 

Wal Mart: Wal Mart scares me, and I've only been there twice in the last 3 years....dead serious.

People who drag their feet: Must be the Marine in me. 

Kids with high and tights: Just why would you do this to your kid?!?!

Chain Restaurants: Living in Southern California turned me into a restaurant snob. Don't judge!

Road trips: Why drive when you can fly? That's my motto! I hate sitting in a car for long periods of time. HATE. I fly everywhere.

To be honest the "hate" list was hard to compile. 

I'm in a good place in my life, and happy.

When you're happy, it's hard to find much hate in your life.

Happy 4th of July Weekend, y'all!

A Hardworking American....That's a Korean.

I have always wanted to be in a position in my life where I could do something really really nice for my parents.

Like super nice.

My parents immigrated to the United States in the late 70's (early 80's).

They were poor...barely spoke English...and had no college educations.

My dad got a job as a foreman at a steel manufacturing plant called CAMCO, and my mom worked at a fast food Chinese place in a mall.

They didn't have much, but they loved each other.

When I was a kid, I remember going to work with my mom some days when she worked at a little sandwich shop and occupying myself at the tables in the shop with coloring books and toys.

My dad worked the swing shift at CAMCO, and I remember how excited I was when my mom let me stay up until late in the evening so that I could see him when he came home.

Eventually, my parents saved some money and moved our family from Houston to College Station to start a small business.

That small business became very successful, and it provided a more than comfortable life for my sister and me.

To be honest, I was spoiled and took all my parents' hard work for granted. 

I had a super rocky relationship with my parents from my teenage years until my mid 20's, and it wasn't until I married Nick and had children that our relationship was on the mend.

My super handsome dad turns 60 this year, and in Korean culture, 60 is a big deal.

I started getting pressure from my grandfather and other family members last Christmas about what "the oldest child" (me) was going to do for my dad.

They all expected me to throw this lavish and expensive party for him...all on my dime of course.

It really got under my skin that my family had such high expectations of me, and I grew extremely resentful.
I'm the FARTHEST thing from a traditional Korean daughter!
Hey now! I was born and raised in good ole Texas with good ole southern values...

I decided to ignore them, and I decided that my dad's 60th birthday would be special...on MY terms, and no one's terms but my own.

Nick and I got completely out of debt this year, and started saving.

We booked a trip to Cancun for Nick's 32nd birthday next month without even contemplating it.

And most importantly...

We were able to afford a Canadian cruise for my parents for my dad's 60th birthday.

We booked it without telling them, because we knew they would object to us paying for something so expensive for them.

I called my dad to tell him, and the shock and surprise in his voice was the highlight of my day.

I've always wanted to do something nice for my parents, and I figured the year amazing dad turned 60 would be it.

This cruise will never make up for all the headaches and heartaches I caused him...

It won't make up for the shiny red Mustang he bought me in high school that I crashed once and got SEVEN tickets in...

It won't make up for the times I rebelled against him and did crazy things (like join the Marine Corps without telling him)..

It won't make up for the times he cried FOR me...and WITH me...

Thanks for being an amazing father to Nick....

But I hope he can be proud of his one rebellious daughter (who is still slightly rebellious today).

I've dreamed of the day when I could do something extravagant for my dad...

(Half my Louis Vuitton and Gucci purse collection is all courtesy of my dad)

So...Happy early 60th Birthday, daddy!

You're the hardest working...

God loving...

Hardest working...

Prayerful...

Hardest working...

Wonderful...

Hardest working...

Loving...

Hardest working...

And passionate man I know.

You...

deserve this trip...

We love you!

My "birth"day!

Always a daddy's girl!

My dad has always wanted a son, and he got TWO (Nick and my brother in law!)

Castlegate Fishing Tournament

Did I ever mention how much we love our neighborhood?!

I think I have quite a few times since moving back to Texas.

It's not just our little house that we love, but we love the neighbors and the community of people we have been blessed with. 

Since moving here, Nick has gotten involved with our neighborhood's HOA with menial tasks.

He's become our HOA's official flag guy (putting the neighborhood's flags up and down when they go half mast).

When he found out about the neighborhood's annual fishing tournament, he jumped at the opportunity to volunteer for it.

Apparently, the HOA was having issues trying to find volunteers to coordinate it.

Nick's an avid fisherman, and it was right up his alley to volunteer his time to make our neighborhood's fishing tournament a memorable one. 

Every Marine that Nick has ever worked under has always given me "rave reviews" on Nick's ability to coordinate and plan events.

I've been told more than one time how reliable he is, and how his quality of work really shines in everything he does.

It's never been any surprise to me, since I'm married to the guy, and I see on a daily basis the amount of effort he puts into things.

The amount of time he put into our little neighborhood's fishing tournament was insurmountable.

He put as much effort and heart into making sure it was an awesome event as he did getting a platoon of Marines ready for a deployment. 

When he took on the responsibility of being in charge of the neighborhood's fishing tournament, he was determined to make it memorable and the best one yet.

He went right to work with the budget he was given.

He coordinated the prizes, catering, and judging.

He stayed up late making plans and spent lots of his own time driving around town buying the prizes.

 The thing that I admire most about my husband, and the quality about him that attracted me to him the most was his work ethic.

He puts 200% into everything he has ever done.

This is the reason for his success in the Marine Corps.

No matter how big or small (a fishing tournament or a combat deployment), he goes into with with everything he's got. 

He does it with minimal complaining (he's human after all...he complains a little bit...lol), and a LOT of heart.

So many people came up to him today at the fishing tournament to tell him how much better it was than the year before, and how much they appreciated it.

He even had several people give him their contact information, and offered to help out next year. 

It was an absolute blast and a success.

Everyone had a great time, and there were over 100 fish caught!

We are so excited for NEXT YEAR'S fishing tournament!

We were worried about how hot it was going to be.

Afterall, it is Texas, and we have had some scorchers lately.

But the skies were overcast with a cool breeze all morning, so it was a perfect day for fishing!

The rain held off!!

And a photo totally unrelated to fishing...

This is a photo Nick snapped of us praying before dinner. 

Mattis' "praying face" is awesome!

Thanks for an awesome event Nick!

Everyone is really looking forward to it next year!!

Brazos Valley Bombers

Do you like baseball?

I'm gonna be honest...

I'm not a HUGE fan of baseball, BUT...

I am a HUGE fan of baseball games.

I've never been to a baseball game and actually paid attention to the game.

I've always gone to them to hang out with friends, enjoy the atmosphere....

We were invited to a local baseball game by our sweet neighbors this week, and we jumped at the invitiation!

We watched the Brazos Valley Bombers CRUSH the McKinney Marshals...woo hoo!

We ended up watching very little of the game, but had an absolute blast hanging out with our neighbors.

This was actually Dannika's first ever baseball game.

She was infatuated with the game!

When we left, she declared, "I LOVE baseball!"

I'm pretty sure she actually watched more of the game than any of us.

Our neighbor Anna Beth in a BBQ sandwich eating contest!
SHE WON!

After every inning, they had games for the kids to play, and the winners got free ice cream!

We ended staying for all 9 innings because the game Dannika signed up for was at the 8th inning.
We were exhausted, but had such a blast!

We are so thankful for our neighbors who invited us!!!

Sweet Summer

It's almost July, and the Texas heat is ablazin'!

I love it though...even if I'm constantly in a state of sweat...stickiness...make up melting...

I'll take this over those Massachusetts winters any day.

The kids play outside late into the evenings when it "cools" off (a lil bit)...

The street is buzzing with the sounds of laughing kids and the smell of good ole Texas BBQ.

This is the first time I've felt like I've experienced a true summer in several years.

In past years, Nick has always been gone during a big bulk of the summer, so I've never been able to fully enjoy it. 

I love the street we live on.

Kids are literally in and out of my house, and my kids are in and out of the neighbors houses...without knocking of course.

We often have random little dinner guests pop up.

I love love love it here!

A few nights ago, we hosted some neighborhood kids for a backyard movie night at our house.

Our friend Emilee stopped in for a few days on her cross country tour of the U.S.

Our kids have been having a blast with her around.

Nick brought a projector home from school, and we've been getting some great use out of it!

After everyone left, Emilee and Dannika camped outside in our backyard.

Dannika loved it!

I feel like the summer is flying by so fast! 

I just need it to slow down a little!

Tonight, we were invited to a baseball game by our neighbors, so we're all heading to the ball park!

How is everyone else's summer going?!