Here's To A New Decade

Happy birthday to my beautiful bride!!  Although life's been absolutely insane lately, I couldn't let this day pass without drawing some attention to you...my love.  I thank God for you daily and consider it a joy to be sharing this life together with you.  You complement me like no one else could and your bright and infectious personality is one of a kind.  I love you!!  Oh wait...you told me to keep it from getting mushy...  Oops.  My bad...

This past week, the wife and I were in Houston to celebrate with my oldest sister on her wedding day and to spend time with my dad as he continues his chemotherapy.  It was definitely a time of mixed emotions, but in the end, the opportunity to be with family (as brief as it was) was priceless.  This is actually the first time in years that my family has gotten together like this.  The final days leading up to the wedding were a bit stressful as we frantically tried to get last minute errands done, but somehow everything came together and the ceremony was a success.  (Sorry for the un-Savor the Rainbow-like pictures in this post.  This is what happens when I'm left in charge of the pictures ;).  All I had was my iPhone.)

The wedding was held at Ashton Gardens, the exact same venue that the wife and I got married at almost exactly 6 years ago.  A flood of memories rushed over me as I walked the grounds the day of the rehearsal.  Good times...  As much as we celebrated for my sister and her husband, we also celebrated for my father.  Up until a couple of weeks ago, we weren't even certain that he'd be able to make it to the wedding.  But by the grace of God and the determined spirit of my father, he had the strength to walk his first-born child down the aisle and even mustered up the energy to hit the dance floor at the reception.  It was a sight to behold...

The week's celebrations didn't stop there, though.  About a month ago, I got in touch with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law to plan a surprise party for my lady.  After a slew of text messages back and forth, we finally had things squared away......or so we thought.  Dinner reservation?  Check.  Birthday cake?  Check.  Presents?  Check.  Getting Min to the restaurant without her being suspicious?  Che....wait...Houston, we have a problem.  I concocted a plan with my family that she and I had to go out and pick up some food for my dad as there was no one else able to do so.  Well, I was able to get her in the car and halfway to the restaurant when the questions started to pour in.  "Why this restaurant of all places?  What does your dad want to eat?  Can't we just call in the order in advance?  What do you mean you need to look at the menu first?"  My stomach started to knot up with each question and my hands were as slick as a slip-n-slide.  I somehow managed to get us into the restaurant, and although the surprise portion didn't go as smoothly as we had planned, I think we got her nonetheless.

I considered getting in touch with some of Min's friends and going all out with the guest list, but I knew how much she'd appreciate an intimate dinner with her siblings and her darling nephew especially since we haven't been able to spend that much time with them lately.  We reserved one of the tatami rooms at Kaneyama, a favorite of the wife's, and feasted on an assortment of nigiri and rolls.  I can't remember the last time we went out for sushi so it was tough not to go overboard on the ordering.  After much deliberation, we settled on the Imperial Sushi Combination Plate, Spider Roll, Shaggy Roll, and Rainbow Roll...      

--Tim--