2025 YEAR IN REVIEW

2025 FIRESTORMS

We started out "ON FIRE!" literally, as 100 mph winds swept through SoCal and devastated Pacific Palisades and the Alta Dena neighborhoods.  Ryan went to Palisades Charter HS and several of Ryan's friends lost their homes to the fires. Stories upon stories of heartbreak, tragedy and many of relief and thankfulness as their homes were spared.  A couple, who were staying at Henry's motel, was featured in a WSJ article.  Because Henry's motel housed a large number of displaced fire victims, World Central Kitchen would deliver free meals 2 or 3 times a week. Henry even made an exception to allow small dogs and cats during the declared state of emergency.  Henry and Alice were glad to offer shelter to old friends who were forced to evacuate from their Brentwood home.  The couple and their dog Pablo were excellent guests.  Moose was an excellent host and shared his house graciously and harmoniously with Pablo.  Henry called his house the Ashland Kennels. 

NORTHERN LIGHTS ADVENTURE

In March, Henry and Alice and some church friends flew to YELLOWKNIFE, CANADA to experience the Northern Lights. They also got to experience -13F Deg weather.  In fact they had to rent extreme weather gear (boots, pants, jackets, gloves, facemask) weighing ~40 lbs.  On the first full night, we got to see the lights.  With the naked eye, it simply looks like a wisp of clouds, but with your cellphone camera, all the skies light up with color!  The phone camera is able to pick up light frequencies that that the naked eye can not see.  And like a vapor, it's there for a minute or two, then gone.  My timelapse photos shows the rays hitting the earth atmosphere, then quickly disappearing.  We even got to capture the Northern Lights from my airplane flight home.  Beautiful.  LINK HERE. Another bucket list item checked.  ✅

VETERAN HOUSE RENOVATION

On April 7th, our general contractor began demolition of Alice's mom's Veteran Ave house.  Click HERE to see the full renovation photo album.  When Byron our GC said that he could have the house done by Christmas, we were skeptical.  How could he demo the existing house to the studs, add another 950 sqft and add a 320 sqft ADU in the back in under 9 months. The house was almost complete by Thanksgiving.  But what amazing is that 99% house was done by Christmas.  Erin and Gus gave their landlord's the 30 days notice to move out by December 1st, temporarily moved into Henry & Alice's house, then moved into their new house by Dec.31st. The entire house was completed in less than 9 months.  And my GC's price was $200K less than the 2 other bids.  Good, fast and cheap (inexpensive.) Maybe Henry can now get his dream sports car.  LOL.  Henry proudly did all the low-voltage wiring:  CCTV camera wiring, Cat6 and coax all with a patch panel and switch.  He and Gus would run cables on the weekends.  

ERIN & GUS   

In May, Erin and Gus celebrated their 5 year wedding anniversary plus their 30th birthdays together - their 5-Thirty party.  It was a blistering hot day, but we had shelter under the olive trees and outdoor mist machines of the winery.  Erin and Gus finally said their wedding vows, in front of their closest friends, coworkers, and immediate family; and Adelyn and  Henry were finally able to present the parent speeches.  It was nice to have this celebration despite their pandemic courthouse wedding.  The entire Schillaci family were in attendance for this milestone celebration. 

And in October, we got the great news that our family of 5 will be a family of 6 with baby Schillaci on the way in May 2026!  Yes, Alice and Henry will finally be grandparents; not just fur-grandparents.

Other highlights for 2025

Henry attended his 45th Venice HS Reunion (Class of 1980.)  He is looking forward to the big 50th reunion. Henry & Alice attended 3 Dodgers games, one LAFC and one Rams game.  Henry loves his local sports, especially when they are winning (aka Fair Weather Fan.) 

 Henry loves the box seats at SoFi.  He also took a group to the Pepperdine Worship Summit, an amazing event hosted every year in Malibu. 

It's always a special night.  

In 2025, they attended only 2 concerts, and both at the Hollywood Bowl:  Diana Ross and Yoyo Ma.  Did you know that Yoyo Ma and Henry were separated at birth? See the resemblance?  In fact, he's been asked by strangers in more than one occasion if he "played the cello."

Due to the Veteran house construction, Henry & Alice didn't take many vacations, as he needed to be onsite daily to make construction and design decisions.  Fortunately, he was able to take 2 small trips:  Seattle and Carmel By The Sea.  In Bellevue, Henry visited cousins Becky and Albert and their mother, aunt Mei-Hwa.  Alice and Henry were also able to visit good friends Faye & Dan in Bellevue, and Renita & Ed in Kent, WA.  One of their highlights was to meet their twin nieces born during the pandemic. The twin loved Alice because they could speak Cantonese with her.  The girls Cantonese was much better than Alice's.

Henry and Alice have 2, maybe 3 trips lined up for 2026 already:  One trip before the baby and another one or two in the last 2 quarters of 2026.  Henry is trying to finish off one last renovation at the motel and try to pass off most of his insurance clients to trusted account executives and managers.  Though the motel was down 15 to 20% due to the struggling economy, his insurance agency experienced record profits.  Henry and Alice thank the Lord for His blessings.  Henry served as Chairperson for 2025 and will serve again for 2026.  His plate is always full.  Whereas Alice is constant caregiver, the household CFO and manager, keeping the mothership straight and steady as Henry weathers the legal, client and staff storms and challenges.

DODGERS 2-TIME WORLD CHAMPIONS & ULTIMATE LEGO DEATH STAR

Henry went crazy when the Dodgers won game7 of the world series to become back-to-back world champions.  He wore his Ohtani jersey all throughout key playoff games.

Henry completed the Lego Ultimate Collectors Series Death Star set with aftermarket LED light kit

.  Please click the link and see the lights. It's really cool.  He order a custom acrylic case (arriving in January.)  It's his coolest LEGO set to date.  Now he plans to add LED lights on his favorite prized sets:  Millennium Falcon, AT-AT, Eiffel Tower and more.

RYAN TING

Ryan has been working at the VICEROY, a 4-star hotel on Ocean Ave in Santa Monica. He started as front desk clerk (union-job), then got promoted to the sales team where he assisted them in putting together proposals and hosting the small group events. Then he got promoted to small group sales. And in December, the hotel's revenue team took him out to celebrate his work achievements.  Basically, he got recognized as the MVP.  In today's slow economy, Ryan's small group bookings helped keep his hotel profitable.  And word is that he will be getting another promotion soon, as one of the long-time sales managers is quitting to become a full-time mom.  Opportunities upon opportunities for Ryan.  Alice and Henry credit his success to their prayers to God for him and Erin/Gus.

Thanks for visiting my annual review.  

"For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." Matt.24:27