Flores Family Time

This winter break, I left Washington D.C. the capital to return home to Washington state (Seattle area) for a whole 10 days. This was my first time home in a year and I knew it would be drastically different from my life in DC surrounded by LDS YSA (see last blog post) because the rest of my family are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I decided this year that instead of having a self-pity party about not having gospel-centered traditions and trying in vain to convert my family, I would focus completely on enjoying quality time with them and loving them for who they are. This attitude adjustment made my visit home a wonderful one filled with cherished memories.

My winter vacation consisted of several major parts, the biggest being my brother Chris. He is the other main man in my life (Mike went home to Ohio with his family) and I love him more than life itself. Chris is 8 years younger than me and I have loved him since the moment he was born. It's amazing how much he has grown - my little brother who is now taller than me, has a 6-pack and a mustache, and is stomping the halls of my high school! I'm so proud of all the talents he's developing and the kind, funny, smart young man he is becoming. My favorite part of my break was getting to spend so much quality time with Chris...in the car...

He just got his license and can now drive me places!!

...wearing our high school gear...

...playing with his new iPod...

...eating out...

Lots of sibling love :)

Of course, it was wonderful to spend time with my parents too!! Aren't they cute? :)

It was a great change of pace and diet to sleep in everyday and eat so much good food. Mom likes cooking for me cuz I always show my appreciation enthusiastically (especially if it has garlic, onions, shrimp, and/or mushrooms in it). She made fried rice for breakfast and porridge when I was sick. Typical dinners by my Chinese mother -

Also got to eat at some of our family's favorite restaurants. My favorite order of shrimp pho at the restaurant we call our "2nd kitchen" -

Dim sum!

Asian buffet (1st plate). I almost left Mike for that seafood soup - sooo yummy!

I wore a different junior high/high school sweatshirt everyday from my gymnastics and jazz choir days. It was also nice to not have to do my hair & makeup everyday -

I was so happy to be reunited with my piano and enjoyed playing as much as I could from my 2 new piano books -

Our Christmas was most unconventional and untraditional. We usually spend it at my Auntie Josephine (dad's older sister) and Uncle Vince's house but they were going to Hawaii for his family reunion this year :( We got to visit them before they left. They're like my surrogate grandparents in the US.

With some of Uncle Vince's kids

On Christmas eve, we continued our little tradition of driving around the neighborhood of huge houses and tons of lights -

On Christmas day, we slept in, I gave my family gifts of GW clothes, and we met up with my niece and her boyfriend (visiting from Guam, where her and I played together as kids) to have brunch at IHOP.

Reunion with the girl I played house/school with and had lots of sleepovers with :)

Her and her boyfriend are so sweet

Then in the afternoon, I took my family to Les Miserables on opening day. We ran into my friend Rachel and her mom Nancy, who we hadn't seen in a few years!

After Christmas, my cold turned worse and I was stuck on the couch all day (tho it was awesome to finally catch up on The Next Food Network Star). I was silently wishing I could have a Priesthood blessing so I could get better and enjoy the rest of the break with my family. Lo and behold, the new missionaries from my home ward stopped by unannounced! Chris had taken the lessons before and they found his name in the record book. They gave me a blessing of healing and made an appointment to come back in a couple days. I'm so grateful the Lord prompted them to visit us (I was well enough to leave the house the next day) and that I got to sit in on 2 of the lessons they taught Chris while I was home :) *note Chris's BYU sweatshirt I got him years ago :D

They taught the Plan of Salvation with a colorful diagram :D

I tried to organize a high school reunion but only a few could make it. It was good to see them tho.

I had fun visiting our kind neighbors and my former piano teacher with Chris and my parents. I took piano lessons from Linda (we have fun sharing names) for 6 years so we've known each other 14 years now!

She had a cute energetic cavalier king charles spaniel and I took the opportunity to start getting over my caninephobia since my boyfriend is a huge dog person. Lucy was really well-trained and I realized I quite like dogs...that don't slobber, bite, scratch, or shed!

I'm grateful I had the opportunity to relax and goof off at home and spend so much quality time with my family. 2012 was a really blessed year for me (and I've documented most of it in this blog!), just like the Lord promised. Now I'm back in DC and have to be an adult again, transitioning back to work and school. I don't know what 2013 will bring but I know the future is as bright as our faith.

Christmas Celebrations: Mormon Style

One of the things that attracted me to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints back in 2005 was all wholesome social activities it organizes. And with all the YSA (young single adult) wards in the DC area, a Mormon need not be bored because your social calendar is practically planned for you! Between Mike and my wards, I went to a church activity everyday (except Saturday) for the last 10 days...

Last Monday - Wrapped and delivered the presents/gift baskets/gift cards that we bought with the $14,000+ raised from the ward auction!
Last Tuesday - Institute, the last class of the year! Also, I went to another barre yoga class at EpicYoga. I'm gonna try to document a new move I learn each time I go.

Wednesday - trip to the Washington, DC temple to do baptisms with Mike's ward.

Wonderful peaceful experience inside and gorgeous lights outside!!

Thursday - Relief Society dinner, catered by Cafe Rio :)

with a barbershop quartet!

The wives of the bishopric gave wonderful talks about angels and giving back to Christ during this celebration of His birth. Got to catch up with my visiting teaching girls! Overall, a fun evening of sisterhood :)

Friday - Mike's ward Christmas party, catered by Olive Garden :)

We did a white elephant gift exchange

Took some silly pictures in the photo area

Oh, did I mention we went ice skating beforehand?

I think I like the idea of ice skating much more than the actual activity, which is painful on the shins (good workout tho!). But there's something nostalgic and so romantic about it (especially with the fake snow they had coming down in the rink) that I just had to do it at least once.

After the ward party, Mike and I rode the metro into Columbia Heights in DC for a DC Casineros (salsa dance performance group) party at Dance Institute of Washington.

All the dancers were really advanced and it was really fun to watch and dance with them.

Mike and I danced too...he learns alot by watching and progresses alot each time we go :)

Saturday - Finally used the Newseum (a museum of history through media) tickets my sweet coworker Tigi gave me for my birthday. Great view of the capitol from the 6th floor.

A couple of American history nerds :)

Seeing relics from and about significant moments in American history brought a mix of emotions: awe, reverence, gratitude, grief, hope, excitement, pride, amusement, humor...
The original Uncle Sam poster - copied and parodied innumerable times since WWI

Buffalo Bill's ad

Titanic sunk

Women get the vote!

As always, the ones about African American history get to me the most. A sobering display...

Super unauthentic and overpriced jambalaya from the "Food Section", but tasty nonetheless

Karen, Jordan, and Mike had to leave early. Vanessa and I had fun in the gift shop, especially playing with all the stuff in the huge mustache section :D

Vanessa and I had a goofy fun time playing news reporters in front of their green screens.

Let's just say journalism is not a viable career path for me - ha!

Did some shopping then Mike picked me up for another foodie adventure at a nearby place called Urban Thai. We got some expertly grilled yellow curry chicken skewers with sweet peanut sauce that were well-balanced by a salad of cucumber ribbons.

Mike got the cashew chicken

I got the Panang curry, which turned out to be much more spicy than expected, so I ate more of his and vice versa :)

Then we went to watch his much anticipated movie, The Hobbit. It was one of his favorite books growing up and I'd never read it (or any fantasy book) but he heard bad reviews so we went in with low expectations. I found it rather entertaining...





Sunday - Had a great lunch at our home teacher's house then went to help out with our ward's big "Christmas Spectacular" because I'm on the Activities Committee. I made 4-5 of these meat platters...

We had a beautiful musical program (so much talent) then tons of hor d'oeuvres afterwards. I was so busy catching up with people that I completely forgot to take pictures! But we had fun cleaning-up in the kitchen afterwards!

Monday - Had a combined FHE activity caroling and bringing Christmas cheer around Crystal City :)
Tuesday - Institute Christmas Concert. Leslie and Mike's coworkers came!

Grateful for this season of light, cheer, generosity, and togetherness to celebrate our Savior's birth.

Merry CHRISTmas, everyone!