wow, so much has happened in the past few weeks -- sorry we haven't been able to update as regularly.
so, previously on the adventures of min and mike, min had just returned from a girls' trip down to austin, tx...
here's a very brief breakdown of events since then:
1. big decision
after much reflection, prayer, discussion and discernment, min and i have made the big decision to re-locate to northern virginia. many things went into that decision, but we personally feel much peace about the decision and folks in our prayer communities have also supported our decision. after a short stint in california visiting my parents (see below), we will be back in virginia looking for work and finding a place to live. (ps. one of the perks of living in virginia is the close proximity to washington, dc, home of so many great places to visit including the national gallery of art where we saw the only painting by leonardo da vinci in north america)
2. (american) thanksgiving
one of the great american traditions... every year min's family goes to thanksgiving service and then comes back to receive extended family who come over to feast on korean and american cuisine. food, family, faith and football. very american.
3. cruisin'
something we'd wanted to do with both our parents for a while was take them on a cruise. though cruising isn't our favorite form of recreation and we are both fully aware of the injustices perpetrated by most cruiselines, for the sake of our parents we took the plunge and did a 7-day trip around the western caribbean. a good time was had by all. we were mostly relieved that both sets of parents got along well. as for the ship itself -- zip line, rock climbing wall, ice skating rink, endless entertainment and zillions of pounds of food. ironically, on sunday morning we dropped in on the "inter-denominational service" they made available and watched a joel osteen sermon. hearing a prosperity gospel sermon while sailing on the biggest cruiseship in the world was quite the experience.
4. the big move
shortly after our cruise, we headed back to vancouver to ship the rest of our stuff, take care of business and spend time with our friends. we were so blessed to share many meals with people who have meant so much to us in vancouver. it was obviously with a great sense of gratitude and sadness that we left vancouver.
one fun thing was dealing with our stuff. though it was a hassle packing things up and shipping it off, it was satisfying to great rid of junk we didn't need and donate stuff to folks who needed it more than us.
amazingly we fit the stuff we wanted to bring with us into one small cube. thanks to justin for helping on that big move day!
well, now we're in temecula, california spending time with my parents before settling down in virginia. i have to say, it's definitely not a bad place to spend part of your winter. lots of sun, a laid back atmosphere and a comfortable home to chill out in. as people who have done a fair bit of traveling in the past few months:
mad ups to alaska airlines who called us to let us know that we left a personal item in the seat pocket and then fed ex'd it to us.
mad downs to united airlines who just generally suck (ie. delayed flight leading to very late arrival in vancouver, absolutely no help from their "help" lines and a $25 baggage fee that they wouldn't refund). okay, enough complaining.
we promise to be better with our blogging habits. in the meantime, wishing everyone a wonderful christmas and a fantastic start to the new year!
