Exhausted, but still so happy!
My flight to California was long and uncomfortable, but I was excited to find my family at the airport. Actually, I was a lil upset at first because I initially could’t find my family! haha Apparently Trav had to go get chips or something? 😛 Anyway, when I finally found them it was a warm welcome and a big hug from my little brother who is growing quickly and wont be so little anymore. Everyone was pretty up to date on my life, thanks to my handy dandy notebook, I mean, blog. So we just got to enjoy spending quality time together exactly like I remember it.
Christmas day was enjoyable and relaxing. I got to finally meet my baby niece and she’s is just adorable. Kaylee is a sweet and happy baby … my sister is very lucky! We opened presents, enjoyed lounging around the house together and a fantastic dinner of mom’s meatloaf. mmmmm…. meatloaf! That night I met up with Andrew and some of our friends that we used to work with at Magic Mountain. We had some drinks and played some games. Andrew keeps in close touch with them still, but it had been a long time since I’ve seen them and it was good times catching up.
The day after Christmas I got to meet up with nearly the eniter family. My wonderful boyfriend and I didn’t quite time things right and he wound up at the house before I was so Matthew got to meet everyone and get to know them well. haha I miss my family so much! One of the many things I loved about living in San Luis was that I got to be a little bit closer to my family and help take care of my grandma. I was really happy to see that grandma and everyone else are all doing well. People always send emails and updates about everyone doing well, but of course I still wonder and worry so my heart was put at ease. (Do I sound like an old woman there? jeez) My cousins are growing up soooo fast! And, believe this or not, we actually got a picture with five generations of women in my family…. my great grandma, my nana, my mom, my sister and me, and my niece. That’s so incredible! I’m very lucky to get to be close with my family and actually grow up with so many generations. It has really influenced my life I think. A lot of people comment on my sense of family value, but I think I’ve just learned to appreciate what I have is all.
Anyhow, that night I went to visit some old coworkers at Albertson’s which was nice. I did start to make a kind of family there so I was glad to see some people. Matthew and I hung out with my dear friend Cody for a bit and then we hit up some good ol’ In-n-Out Burger. Yum!
The 27th I met up with Brittany Tom who I miss like freakin crazy! She was with her family down at Disneyland so I drove out to have lunch with her in downtown Disney. The traffic sucked and I spent 4 hours in the car for a 2 hour visit, but it was totally worth it. That girl makes me laugh and we caught up on life. I don’t have a million friends, but the friends that I do have are the kinds of friends that I can meet with any place, any time and just have good ol’ fun together like nothing has ever changed. I love it! And on that note, Andrew and I got together that night (after I came home and kicked Trav’s butt on Batchi Ball hehe) and went out for a rockin sushi dinner. I had a leechy mojito and if you ever get the chance to have one, do it. It was delicious. I also got to see his family and the kids are growing up really quickly. I’m glad to say that they’re all doing well. His mom has always been really sweet and supported me a lot so I make it a point to always go back and visit. What a great family. I taught them some Korean games that I brought back and we played until midnight. Then I got locked out of my car and we had to call triple A and blah, blah, blah. I made it home! Yeah! haha
The 28th was a kind of lazy day. I spent some time playing with TJ and I taught him some new Korean games as well. I don’t know how often he’ll ever use these things, but I think he gets a little bit of exposure and that’s cool. I like to think he’ll at least remember getting to try different things that I bring home. It’s a good experience to see some of a different culture and I like to think that I’m using my opportunities to maybe give him some opportunities and stuff too. Besides, it’s also just fun to play. haha That’s what really matters! I took a wonderful bath thanks to many fantastic Christmas presents that spoiled me and made me beautiful for my boyfriend who came down that evening. I’m glad my family is getting to know him. We played some more batchi ball (yes, matt and I won against trav and tj… just gotta make that known). Mom made an awesome dinner, again. Spaghetti and meatballs. I looooove momma’s food! Then I took Matt to meet Andrew, who is now the only friend of mine outside of SLO that Matt has gotten to meet since I’ve been away so long. They got along really well and we enjoyed some good beer and Matthew’s first pizzuki! Delicious! Then Matthew and I killed time walking around the new courtyard area at the mall, dancing around, almost getting locked in the mall, and then it was time for HARRY POTTER!!!! It was awesome.
The 29th was my day with Matthew’s family. We left my house liesurely that afternoon and made it to Wasco just a little while before dinner. I got to catch up with his mom a bit. She is just one of the sweetest ladies ever! His sister and her new boyfriend joined us all for dinner. I enjoyed a great awkward moment where Matthew, his mom and his sister all left the table and the new boyfriend and I were left to make small talk with dad. Thank goodness the weather had actually been an interesting topic with all the rain and flooding lately cause that was my fall back topic of convo! Hurray for bonding with Matthew’s dad. hahaha The poor boyfriend just had no idea what to say, but the rain did me well for some chit chat. As I get to know his dad it’s actually not too hard to make small talk, but I’ll just have to keep up on weather and sports from now on before I go to their house. haha Anyhow, some of Matthew’s best friends came over after dinner and we enjoyed a lil present swapping (I got 4 stockings this Christmas!!! I love stockings!!) and had a nostalgic night of disney movies.
The 30th Matt and I drove up to his family’s cabin in… I don’t know where… the mountains. haha It was really pretty up there because it had just snowed a few days before, but also really cold. We spent the entire rest of the afternoon curled up on the couch in a large blanket while the house heated up. It wasn’t until after dinner that we could no longer see our breathe inside the house. It was another movie night for us.
The 31st Matt introduced me to some of the neighbors up there. We went to visit a close friend of his dad’s (apparently they’ve known each other since infancy! talk about good friends). They’re all really nice people. They had some kids at his dad’s friend’s house and they were adorable! A couple of really young, really talkative little boys who were just thrilled about the snow! Later we went on a little hike through the snow which was fun. I nailed him right in the head with some snow… I can’t say snow ball because it was so fluffy that it wouldn’t even make a ball. I’ve never seen snow like that. So, we a had a snow fight. That night we sat out on the porch with some champaigne and you could see all the lights in the valley from their porch, but also every single star in the sky it seemed. We could see so clearly that the milky way was actually visible! It was incredible and a very romantic new year’s eve. We went inside to watch the “rockin new year’s eve” in New York and smooched at midnight! (blush) It was a wonderful new year’s eve.
New Year’s day we cleaned up the cabin (it’s a lock of work because they only go up for vacation and weekend get-aways so we had to shut off all the water, protect the pipes from freezing, clean, vacuum, etc). It was a great little relaxing retreat from my crazy week. Then we went back to Wasco, had dinner with his family and then back to Santa Clarita to spend the night with my family. Whooh! One last night and goodbye with my family. I already miss them!
By the time I got on the plane back to Korea I was absolutely exhausted. Matthew drove me to the airport and we got some ice cream after I checked in to enjoy a little bit more time together. I teared up a bit while he watched me go all the way through security until we couldn’t see each other anymore. My flight back was not quite as cramped and I sat next to a nice old man. I slept for the majority of it. I had a lot of problems when I got to the airport in korea though. I had technical issues with my email and stuff before I left so I never printed my itinerary. I looked up my flight info and just took it with me without the official print out. I was put into a glass case thing because I didn’t have a ticket to leave China so I was a “threat” upon arriving. I didn’t realize that my “China Eastern” flight from China to Korea was “through Korean Air” …. I didn’t realize they could say stuff like that. I’m not sure how that works, but I thought I was flying China Eastern and people were sending me all over the airport telling I should go here, there and everywhere and every time I got somewhere they told me I didn’t belong there. Then someone told me I missed my flight and I almost freaked out! Finally someone told me to try Korean Air (at this poitn I was fighting back tears because Chinese people are just really not that friendly so I doubt they would care that I was crying and then they just wouldn’t be able to understand me. lol ugh!). The KoreanAir people were really sweet and got me right to where I needed to go and my flight was wonderful!! Koreans brag about being the best in a lot of things and most of the time I think they’re kind of silly, but I do think they are the best airline I’ve ever flown with. I will give them that. Anyhow…. I’m home now. Safe and sound and all is well.
I was greeted at midnight by 4 people from church who also brought me groceries for dinner and breakfast the next night. They are sooo thoughtful! After all the craziness I was glad to come back to the comfort of friends. I got a lot of sleep and even slept through the night here so I don’t think jet lag with be a problem. Hurray! I’m happy to be back, looking forward to my final adventures around Asia, but also counting down the days til I’m home again. 75 and counting!
Adventures of ms winright's Blog 
It was indeed good to see you again ma’am. I would just to let you know that you will NEVER defeat me again in bocce ball …. Never I say as I will practice day and night. The other day I took my revenge out on yiya and Tj by whooping them in that game in which you slap the bell.
Wonderful Blues Clues insert in the beginning there!