Thank you for your congratulatories! And I'm sorry for the lack of updates/responses/etc. for the last few months.

So after a week of what I thought was food poisoning, I found out I was pregnant! I found out at about 6-7 weeks. It was a complete surprise! I took the test like 5 times.

Unconventionally, I told family and some friends right away. Poor them, they were probably dying to tell people, especially our parents.

My first trimester has been indescribably horrible! I had morning sickness from the moment I woke up till it was time for bed again. Morning sickness is so wrongly worded. I threw up multiple times daily. I lost 10 lbs! I retired early quit my job because I couldn't go through a procedure without having to run to the toilet. This feeling of complete physical inability is so foreign to me. I've always been healthy, if not superhumanly strong.

Currently, I am almost 15 weeks pregnant and I'm feeling a loooot better. The nausea is still with me all day long, but I haven't thrown up in almost a week. I think Dan's been feeling more ill than I have lately... My favorite food is cumcumbers and gochujang. I can't stand anything too seasoned, especially with garlic, which is funny because normally I LOVE garlic. I haven't cooked properly in the last month and a half.

Even though I've been miserable lately, I'm so thankful and amazed that there is something so little growing inside myself. To know that in the end, there is something so good that comes out of this is so worth it and more. Mad props to you mothers out there. I don't know how you do this 2, 3, or 4+ times!

Blogging FAIL

I recognize that we have completely abandoned our blog for the last few months. Apparently, the other half of our blogging team doesn't even feel the slightest amount of remorse over this. I, on the other hand, carry a heavy burden of guilt. Not heavy enough to move me to blog more, but... ok, it's not a heavy burden. I feel slightly bad about it. Well, if anybody is still reading this blog, I will update you on the happenings of our lives here in the NW.

1. It's been a hot hot summer. Record highs, AC blasting, too hot to golf, etc. I thought I moved away from all this madness. Lately, you can tell that Fall is around the corner. It's still pretty hot during the day, but at night, it's crisp and cool. Just the way I like it. Last month, I played 36 holes of golf in +100 degree weather and had a headache for days. I'm not sure what a heatstroke is exactly, but I'm pretty sure I experienced one.

2. We're moving! First weekend of October. We found a condo in downtown. Esther's wish comes true. We'll be only a block away from Esther's favorite place in Portland, Powell's Books. And only two blocks away from my favorite place, 24 hour fitness. ahah! Now I really won't have an excuse to not go. Unfortunately, it's also right next to many restaurants filled with giant portions of unhealthy food. We'll call it a wash. Anyway, come visit us after October!

3. I've been sick. From last Friday until Monday (missed work). I pretty much laid in bed and slept for 4 days straight. I really knew I was sick because I totally lost my appetite. Now, I barely eat a bite and I feel full. My stomach shrunk (internally only)! I'm thinking of taking advantage of this natural gastric bypass that I performed on myself. If I just eat until I'm full, hopefully my stomach will never stretch back out again... until the next time I eat Korean BBQ. On Thursday night, I had the bright idea of going to Hometown Buffet. I don't know why, but once a year I get this urge. I must say, that is the most depressing place to eat. Ever. It seems that you must either be over 75 or be accompanied by somebody over 75, unless you are in a wheelchair or hooked up to an oxygen tank. Then, you can gain entrance regardless of age. Wearing extra wide diabetic shoes is a plus. I mean, I don't mean to sound heartless, but it is quite depressing. I was standing in line for some ribs, and one of the patrons asked the meat cutting guy, for "a rib with some meat on it." 5 minutes of sifting later, they found one. Even the mac and cheese was disappointing! I'm pretty sure that's what made me sick. I swear I will never go back to that place, until next year.

4. It's been 3 months now since I bought my own practice. I must say, it's nice to be self-employed. At first I thought that it was a lot easier than being an associate. Nobody telling me what to do. Everything was going pretty smoothly. I even fired my first employee and hired my first employee stress free. But I've found that the stress of owning a practice is a silent monster that follows you home after work and keeps you up at night. It doesn't help that I'm a worrier. It seems the more I learn about owning a practice, the more there is to worry about. That being said, I'm still thrilled to have taken this step and I'm excited for where this road will lead. I can't help but wonder at all the times I've worried about things only to look back and see God's providing and comforting hand at work the entire time. We are both very grateful.

5. A few months ago, Esther sent me this picture in an email. The subject line read, "What does this mean?!"


6. Probably the worst kept secret in Earth's history. Esther is pregnant. This picture was taken at 8 weeks I believe. She is now 13 weeks. I'm told that our baby is the size of a nutter butter and can now suck his/her thumb.

Whitewater rafting/ picture dump.

We went whitewater rafting today with some church friends. I can't swim, so I was quite worried. However, I promised Esther last year that I would go, so I kept my word. Turns out, we all had a fantastic time. If any of you visit during the summer months, we'll take you. The scariest part was this waterfall called Husom (sp?) Fall. It's over a 10 ft. drop. Today happened to be the first day they've taken anybody on it because it hasn't been safe enough until today. What changed from yesterday, I don't know, but it didn't sound good. We had to practice over and over again ducking into the raft and holding on with our hands and feet in order to stay in. Our guide even went over how to pull people back into the boat once they fall out and what to do if she fell out! And right before we went over the fall, they gave people the chance to opt out and meet up with the group after the falls. I thought it would be smart to take them up on this offer, but the only other person who did was a 60 year old grandmother, so I had to act brave and risk my life. It's also a picture dump since we only bought one picture cd. So I'm posting the pictures here so they can get em. The most important thing is that I survived and am still alive.

Here we are charging towards the 10 ft. drop.

Oh.... S...

Eyes closed, holding on for dear life.

Uh oh...

At this point there might still be 6 of us in the raft.

At this point, there's only 2 of us left.

Eyes still closed, not sure where I am. Where's everybody else?

Oh, there they are! At least one of them. Irene spitting out water.

And gasping for air.

Esther and Irene. Where's David and Daren?!

See, Dan the pro whitewater rafter in the raft? Just the guide and me.

That's me saving Irene's life. Brent owes me big time. Brent as a single man again... Not good.

The Korean David Hasselhoff, without the chest hair (and the ability to swim). I may have to consider a second career in lifeguarding. Irene is so light, I pulled her into the raft with one arm.

David and Daren were not so lucky. They had to grab the rescue lines.

Note the concern on David's face for Daren's life as Daren can't see the rescue rope. So sweet. Daren was busy trying to clear his glasses so he could see.

Our raft floating on without David and Daren. Esther and Irene safely back aboard.

David and Daren still being rescued.

After they were saved, they had to do the walk of shame and walk around to meet us to get back on the boat. In their defense, they were sitting in the front and took the brunt of the impact. Also, they are not as skilled at rafting as others who were able to hold on (see: Dan and the professional guide).

After we cleard all the drama, we had the bull ride. We're supposed to be throwing up the bull horns, but it seems that my fellow boaters are not familiar with what bull horns look like.

Overall, I'd say we all had a great time on this trip. I never thought I would say this, but I really enjoyed my time whitewater rafting. I guess I'm lucky to have married a girl who likes to do activities that require risking ones life.

Arizona Dreamin...

We took a mancation to Arizona a few weeks ago. Sometimes, a man needs to get away and do this thing. It's good for the body and soul.

This man's greatest fear... skin cancer. His golf nickname is the "Ghostface Killa."

Gerald, laughing at the Ghostface Killa. His golf nickname, "G-funk" or "Good Miss." Sometimes, "Great Miss." Also goes by, Frederick Jacobsen.

The younger folk on the trip.

Kev tee's off on Troon North. Kev's golf nickname "Big Slice." Sometimes, "The Hooker."

My first tee shot on Troon North Monument. Practice swing. My golf nickname, "Suck ballz."

Real swing. I believe I hit this fairway. You would think I would remember since, I hit very few.

This guy comes on the golf trip for the first time and kicks all of our butts.

This is why they call it Monument, I believe. This monument sits in the middle of the fairway.

Our second day at Eagle Mountain. This course was super long and it was into the wind all day long! The marshall asked us what tees and was said the tips. He said, "are you sure?"

G-funk

This man's golf nicknames, The Big EZ, Slow & Steady, or just "Old." =)

Bombed my first drive at Eagle Mountain. Downhill, par 5.

Every morning started with a trip to McDonald's. Just like last year.

Third day at TPC Stadium.

G at the par 3, 16th hole. The famous Stadium hole where Tiger Woods hit his hole in one.

Kev's tee shot at the 16th.

I pulled a Babe Ruth and called my hole in one on this hole starting before the trip. I reminded them every day that I was going to get a hole in one on this hole like Tiger. On this particular shot, I came up short in the front bunker. There is no sand in the bunkers here! I believe I double bogeyed this hole. The second time we played, I hit in the front left bunker, but got up and down for a par. So much for my Babe Ruth. I couldn't even hit the green!

This is the rock that Tiger had moved from his path by many members of the gallery on the way to winning this tournament in 1999. They have since changed the rules so only the caddy and the golfer can move the impediment. I saw this rock driving down the cart path and made Dave turn the cart around so I could get a picture of the rock. We got stuck and got caught by the cart girl while we were trying to push it back off the curb. But it was worth it!

Yup, I couldn't move it by myself. Something else I have in common with Tiger!

No pictures please!

1. I'm at work. it's s....l....o....w. Therefore, I blog. This means that I've probably made my rounds through espn.com, yahoo.com, facebook.com, golf.com, gmail.com, ebay.com, etc. The truth is, if other people would blog more often, than I wouldn't be so bored here that I have to actually blog myself! Shame on you people!

2. Esther's brother's been staying with us for awhile. He's moving out to Boston in September for Dental school and got bored, so he's staying with us. I've infected him with the golf virus. He's actually really good for somebody who just started and quite a bit more fluid and flexible than I imagined (for how big he is). On Sunday, I took him golfing and he's played pretty well the last couple times I took him, but not this time. He was struggling and I could see his anger building... and burning. Unfortunately for him, we were golfing with one of the elders from my church. AHAHA! I'm sure there were curse words muttered under his breath, but all I heard was silence. Poor guy. I could see the steam coming out of his ears. He was so tired from the golfing (emotional more than physical I think), he went to bed at like 9:30pm. AHAHAHA! But he's a trooper. Before he went to bed, he went to the range first. And the next day, he took a lesson. Golf is not for quitter. Only the strong survive. This is exactly the stage that Esther got to... and quit. Peter is not a quitter. When he got back from the range, he had a smile on his face. His only words, "Tiger's back." Gotta love this game. A friend of ours told Esther that golf is the only game that makes her want to cuss. =)

3. There's a lot of new stuff going on around here. My brother had his first baby. I'm a first time uncle. I thought seeing my brother have a baby would make Esther want to have a baby. I was wrong. We just bought our house two years ago, and now we're moving. The house is back on the market. If you've been keeping up with the real estate market (or just the economy in general), you know that things have taken a downturn. Which translates to us losing $$$ on our house. Two years ago, there were people who were telling me, "don't buy a house! Wait!" Now they're all thinking "i told you so." I wish I listened to other people more. Unfortunately, that's just not my style. =) The reason we're selling our house is because we're buying a dental office and it's far away from our house. I don't want to commute through traffic. I hate traffic. That's one of the main reasons we moved from SoCal. Anyway, I put in my two months notice in at my work at the beginning of April and now I'm suffering from major Senioritis at work. So, like I said, there's a lot of new stuff going on around here and I've been quite stressed and not sleeping well. The good news is that when my friend Kevin bought his practice, he lost 10 pounds. So, look at the bright side, all that stress should be making me lose some weight right? Not so much. In fact, not at all. Although, I did get a hair cut yesterday, so I think I lost about 3 lbs.

4. I hate moving. I can't say that it's because of all the packing and unpacking cuz Esther did all that last time. I hate moving because that means you have to find somebody else to cut your hair. Something about really straight, really black hair that people find really challenging. I went through about 6 months and about 8 bad haircuts before I finally found Reba at Great Clips. She doesn't know how much she means to me.

5. I watched SNL with Justin Timberlake this weekend. Ciara is a terrible singer. She simply can not sing. Simply terrible. But the "mother lover" song by Justin Timberlake had me dying! I don't remember if I laughed more during that song or "Junk in a box" but they are both classics. That shall remain on my DVR forever. Whenever I want a good laugh, I'll just turn it on and watch that song. It will be my new Happy Gilmore. My senior year in college, I'd watch that clip from Happy Gilmore almost every morning before class. "I eat pieces of S like you for breakfast." "You eat S for breakfast?" hehe hehe If you haven't seen the mother lover song, go find it on the internet!

Back to the homeland.

Long time no blog!

I haven't had much time, energy, or excitement in my life to blog about,
BUT

I did get to go to Korea with my family for about a week and a half earlier this month.

My mom and I at the airport.

Doing the captain at Samyook...is that wrong?

My dad and his brother.

My brother and I with our mom's friends daughter.

It was the aroma of the baking bread that made us try this place, and it was so so SO good!
.

I got to see one of my good friends in Korea. It was good catching up.

As you can see, I didn't take too many pictures on this trip, but here are some things that I enjoyed doing in Korea:

Food and drinks.
Seeing Eun-ae.

Seeing family.

Getting my hair done, although I paid $200 for a manicure...what exactly is a manicure?

Eating as late as I want.
Running into Pat and Kenny in Myungdong...what a small world!
Getting an hour foot massage for $20. Believe me, after walking all day long, it's heaven.
OH...my favorite, JJIM JIL BANG. I went almost every day.
Rotiboy.
Shopping

.

.

Things I did NOT enjoy:

.

Rude people.
Pushy people.
Feeling fat amongst anorexic pale faced girls.
Smog.
The small of cigarettes.
The flight to and fro.
Working the day after I return back home.

Hmm...I wonder when my next vacation is...

.

Bandon is bliss...

There is a small town on the coast in Southern Oregon. The nearest major airport is 4 1/2 hours away. Yet people from all over the world flock there. They come here for one reason and one reason only. Golf. To be more specific, world-class golf. 3 of the top public courses in the entire world in one small town in the middle of nowhere. We call it.... Bandon. 6 of us from Portland and two golf fanatic friends from SoCal made the 4 1/2 hour drive. We stopped on the way down at a Troon course called Sandpines in Florence, OR. It was a great way to start the trip. Here are some pictures from Sandpines. Please excuse the massive amounts of pictures. It's so my friends can download the pictures of themselves. Apprently, David brought everything on this 3 day trip in his immigration size suitcase, except for the kitchen sink (and a camera). In fact, if you're not a golfer, you might even just skip this entry. It's all golf.

Team Old and Over the Hill

Team Young and Vigorous (yes those pants are red)

Team Crazy (an army of one)

We woke up early to hit the range before hitting the course. The range balls are free and unlimited. James went extra early and hit I believe 400 golf balls before his round. His new nickname-"the machine." This is the most amazing range I've ever seen.

Right before our first tee shots on Pacific Dunes, my favorite!

We followed our round at Pacific Dunes with lunch at the Bandon Trails clubhouse. What a view!

Besides the course, the next best thing about Bandon- caddies! They carry your bag, find your ball, wipe your ball, tell you yardages, clean your clubs, and provide entertaining conversation. Kev's caddie happened to be a scratch golfer who is trying to become a golf pro and gave Kev complimentary lessons for 3 full rounds of golf. Kevin came *this* close to leaving his wife for his caddy (the dude with the beard). Luckily for Sonia, Kev's caddy was married to Dave's caddy (the lady on the left) and she kept a close eye on them.

Nothing like good food with good company following a great day of golf.

My ribeye. It was ok.

Before our last round of our trip. We played Bandon Dunes last.

My caddy. The laziest of the 4 caddies. How did they know?!

G-funk passed on on the way home, dreaming of his next visit to Bandon.