Two Sixteen Ten

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to the first blog of the new year :) Happy 2010! Despite my attempts to update the blog more frequently, time to do so slips through my fingers like so many grains of sand.. can you believe it's the middle of February already? Anyway, lots has happened since the last update.. Follow along with the pics and you'll see..

We've been cooking more at home.. this is eggplant parmesan that Amy and I cooked up.. it turned out a little salty but it was fun.. I managed to salvage it and turn it into eggplant marinara sauce later..
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Amy ran the Big Sur Half Marathon.. she's still set on running the Boston Marathon at some point but training has been tough because of so many recent activities.. she did great in this halfer though..

Friends came over to Wei's for my birthday party..

Mid collapse Jenga action shot!

Wei has this ridiculous absinthe collection and all the slotted spoons and water drippers that go with it.. it does look pretty cool when it's all in action..

I also celebrated a second time with my birthday twin, Jennifer, who is also Amy's childhood friend.

Dinner with the Mission San Jose crew..

Of course the big event of the year was our wedding :) We had a pre-wedding BBQ at Lake Elizabeth in Fremont (where Amy used to play as a child) and then the wedding at Casa Real at Ruby Hill Winery in Livermore..


We did have an engagement photo session with our photographer.. this was down by cannery row in Monterey..

Our pre-wedding picnic.. it went really well.. thank goodness it was a sunny day!

Amy and her girl friends.. yes, that's a cross on the pinata suspended from the tree..

Matthew manned the grill.. he did an excellent job keeping everyone fed..

My brothers and I on the wedding day.. I'm glad they got my name on the board spelled correctly..

Standard treatment by Reddy.. I'm glad he didn't drop me that day :)

Amy and her dad walking down the aisle..

All the best dudes and girls..

A little black and white.. makes everything so elegant looking..

Amy and I during our first dance..

A little coordinated Vanilla Ice dance action..

The old indian Baghara is always good for spicing up the dance floor..

Matthew and Joe surprised us by singing a personalized version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for us during the wedding.. you can check out the video on youtube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu1oKdmkyGE

And we're off! on our honeymoon to Kaua'i..

When we first got there it was super rainy.. lucky we had directions printed out or we would have been lost for sure..

..but we made it to the Hyatt and checked it.. this is probably the most expensive hotel I've stayed in.. but it was for the once in a lifetime honeymoon, I suppose, so it was ok.. I still stole a lot of bath products to make up for it though :p

The next day it cleared up nicely.. this is a view from the convertible with the top down.. sweet..

Those Hawaiians like their direct signs.. and lack of grammar..

We went to see a luau.. was fun but a little too staged.. to

We also took a free scuba lesson at the Hyatt.. the OK sign means you're ok.. yep, you don't want to make things too complicated when you're 25 feet under..

A shot of the wind swept southern coast of Kauai..

They call me Wolverine..

A view from a lookout atop Waimea Canyon..

Jojo's many of our shave ice destinations.. who would have guessed taht I would find a girl who liked shave ice more than me?

Our romantic dinner at Gaylords.. yep, that's right.. but this was a Hawaiian plantation style place rather than the famous Indian restaurant.

One of the waterfalls alcoves you could swim under at the lagoons at the Hyatt Regency in Kaua'i.

A spectacular picture of Amy coming off the slide into the lagoon..

We also stayed two nights at the Surfboard House in Hanalei.. an old record exec retired out here and made his house into a high end Bed and Breakfast style place.. it was pretty cool..

Very nicely outfitted and romantic.. they called it the Love Shack..


We splurged on a helicopter ride to see the Na Pali coast.. it was our first time on a helicopter and pretty amazing.. the pilot gave us a shaka.. yeah..

A view of the Na Pali coast from the helicopter.. the water is so blue!

Look at those reefs.. that's amazing.. who wouldn't want to live here?!?

Fooling around on the beach.. it was a little chilly so we had the water to ourselves..

The most beautiful sunset ever.. seriously, I'm not kidding.. we were in Kaua'i and walking on the beach and dusk.. it was all dark and then we suddenly turn around and the sky looked like this! It was amazing..

Shave ice at Hawaiian Blizzard.. This guy sets up this little stand from his truck right outside the Big Save.. His was the best shave ice on the island.. Amy even got a T-shirt :)

A view from the Hanalei Lookout.. lots of poi down there..

Amy and I snokeling on the north shore..

I caught this picture of a moray eel.. sharp teeth and very cool..

The day we got back was Amy's Bday.. so we celebrated with cake and her family..

Viet and Dina arranged a little boat for us to go out on SF bay for New Year's.. we weren't sure how it would be but figured, heck, we've never been on a boat for NYE.. let's do it!

We met up and walked around Ghiradelli Square before the launch.. It's nice now that Siavosh is out in SF..

Lin, Jane and Ray at the docks.. We're all dressed up because we figured it would be super cold..

Here's the boat.. it's called Chucky's Pride.. yep, like the living killer doll.. it could have been a horror cruise..

Fireworks from the boat.. they were awesome because we were right under them..

This explosion looked like it was coming straight for us!

Merry New Year 2010!

We had our New Year's Party at Wei's place this year on the 2nd.. (we were on the boat for actual New Year's Eve.) We made a turkey for this and had lots of friends over.. it was great!

Amy and I along with Amy's friend Suzanne who is applying for residency in anesthesia now.. She came all the way from New Hampshire to visit our party...

Rock Band.. Lin intently focused on the drums, William on the bass and Matthew as lead singer..

We also took the chance to belatedly celebrate Viet's Bday..

Wei hanging out with Marvin, Jimmy and Veronica..

Viet and Dina fixin' some drinks..

I'll leave you with another picture of the most amazing sunset ever! We have it on our computer desktop.. a little reminder of paradise.

I hope everyone is well! If we haven't heard from you for a while drop me an email :) or call! Bye, everybody!