Kansas

A few months ago Jamy had asked where I wanted to go for my annual birthday trip. Instantly, I responded with excitement, "Kansas!" A few months later, my family and I found ourselves in my sister's little cute apartment attempting to give her the surprise of a life time! Arriving at 1 AM, my brother-in-law had to go wake my sister up as we silently waited in one corner of her living room. As she walked towards her living area, I heard a loud gasp and then it hit her that it really is us! She was extremely shocked and surprised! We had a once in a life time opportunity and we took it. We flew to Kansas to see Pog and we all had an amazing time. Below are a few highlights that I want to remember forever.

+ This is the first time my family flew together on an airplane since we flew to America 28 years ago. As mom, dad, Yeng and I walked through the tunnel into the plane and out of the plane, three thoughts came to my mind:

1) I miss yawm. He was with us the last time we were all on the plane together.

2) As Yeng and I are no longer little children, my parents are also growing older. I get teary eyes thinking about this.

3) What a blessing to have more siblings, a nephew and a husband to do this trip with. I've always wanted to have a husband who's actively investing in my family as much as I in his. I'm happy to have been given this opportunity to travel with the people I love and the people that loves me for me.

+ As our plane accelerated for takeoff, I had Laura Daigle's "You Say" playing over my head phone as I held onto my husband's hand. As the plane started to take off, I looked around to each of my family member and a thought came over me. I am blessed! No matter how difficult and challenging life can get, this right here right now proves that life is good because God is so so good to me.

"I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I’m not enough
Every single lie that tells me I will never measure up
Am I more than just the sum of every high and every low
Remind me once again just who I am, because I need to know
You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
You say I am held when I am falling short
When I don’t belong, oh You say that I am Yours..."

+ We should take every opportunity to make more memories as our times together are limited. Limited because we all live apart and because someday we'll all go back home to Heaven, one by one. Memories are surely made for the living!

+ I love the fact that we were together, physically, mentally and emotionally.

+ Hanging out with Ian brought me so much joy. It's a joy of a different kind. It's pure. He was such a good baby through it all. In fact, he was only fussy two times that I can count. I miss him already.

+ We didn't do much, yet we did so much and that makes it all the grandeur. 

+ I loved our family bowling time. Mom was super hilarious with her bowls and dad was actually quite good. I was very impress.

+ The Big Biscuit was good. I loved their french toast! 

+ Jack Stack BBQ was really good too. I enjoyed it a lot and I especially enjoyed their beans. That was quite a treat!

+ 888 Int'l Market really surprised me. While it is not as big as some of the Asian markets here in the south, this store had everything we were looking for! They even had kaffir lime leaves! I have never found them in any of our big Asian markets. I'd like to go again if I ever find myself back in KS.

+ We actually went to Target + Walmart quite a few times. My infamous line is, "If you ever feel homesick, just go into a Walmart. You'll feel just like home!" because no matter where you go, all Walmarts are the same (for the most part). Olathe has one of the biggest Super Target I've ever seen in my entire life! It's the size of a regular Walmart Supercenter!

+ Living in the center of a shopping plaza does have its perks! We stood there for five days and did so much driving, yet we only got through half a tank of gas! Living near all the stores sure do have its perks.

+ We are not young anymore. We can't sleep late and can't stay up late. There was a few nights where we forced ourselves to stay up and hang. Yes, we couldn't do it. I think the latest we ever stood up was for one night which ended up being no later than midnight. Growing up sucks.

+ We even got to check out their nearby casino. It was a very bad idea. I literally died the next day as I was forced to take a nap. Yall know how much I hate naps!!!

+ We got the opportunity to join church with my sister and brother-in-law and attended a funeral for one of my mother's distant relative in which we met up with some old friends. It's always good to see old friends!

+ Kansas has some really beautiful sunsets. It's probably because the land is so flat and you can see forever over the horizon. When I see the sunrise and/or the sunsets, my heart, mind and soul are at peace with one another and for a split moment, the only thought in my head is that of what matters.

+ Baby Ian did so many grown up things with us, but it's too bad he'll never remember.

+ I realized this weekend that while my mind races at the speed of light with a gazillion thoughts per second, I have the power to control it. I have the power to stop my mind from allowing my body to "react" to these thoughts. A lot of the times, our bodies feel like we must do this and do that, but this weekend I found the power to exercise my brain and I told it to stop. I've never been more at peace than this weekend. I realized it may have a lot do with my surroundings making it easier for me to clear out the negatives while only keeping the positives, but I will continue to practice this power by surrounding myself with only positivities.

+ I had really wanted to wrap up the trip by watching the movie "Captain Marvel" but time was just not on our side. Instead, we got some girl times and my sister took us out to do our nails. Yayyy for girl times!

+ Lastly, the boys made us spring rolls for brunch before left town. I can always appreciate a man's cooking.

+ When Jamy and I got back to our comfortable bed, I promise you our bodies thanked us. LOL :) 

One thing is for sure. Leaving home for a few days does provide some perpective and clarity on my current life. This getaway was for me so Jamy was very patient and kind. I needed this to recharge. Not saying that I'm fully recharged but it did help quite a bit. I am a lot stronger than I give myself credit for so at least I can be real about that. On this trip, I've also learned to let go. Let go of the things I can't change. Change what I can and move on. There are just some things I can't change and that's just a-okay. With that said, Happy 34th Birthday to me! Thank you, Lord, for another year to see Your Kingdom come and Your's be done.