Henry & Alice's 2012 Year in Review

Thank for visiting our blogspot and viewing our Christmas e-newsletter (4th edition.) We'll try to keep it short and sweet.  For 2012, we are blessed to share the following highlights, and trials, of 2012:

• AAMDS Walk for Mom.  In April, we participated in a 5 mile run and fundraiser for the Aplastic Anemia (AA) Myelodysplactic Syndrome (MDS) International Foundation to support a cure and support families with loved ones suffering with AA or MDS.  We ran in memory of Henry's mom, Ruth C. Ting.

• Twentieth Anniversary and Henry's Big 5-O birthday.  Henry and Alice celebrated their 20th anniversary.  Wow, time flies. Still happily married after 20 years.  Throughout their marriages ups and downs, they still thank God to have brought them together.  They are so compatible and they compliment each other in their differences.  Henry, Alice, Erin and Ryan also celebrated Henry's big milestone birthday at Wokcano's restaurant in Santa Monica.

NYC Surprise.  Henry surprised Alice by booking flights and hotel accommodations, with the help of family and friends.  Alice thought they were going to Vegas for a few days getaway, but later realized that Henry had planned a 6 days trip to Manhattan. Neighbors, Kitty and Grandpa Charles took care of all the school commutes for Erin and Ryan.  Henry and Alice's NYC highlights include Ground Zero, Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, MOMA, Natural History Museum, Metropolitan Museum, and special floor passes to the Stock Exchange floor.  Food highlights include Ippudo NY ramen house, NYC pizza, and the best macarons patisserie. Henry and Alice enjoyed watching 2 Broadway shows:  Spiderman and Mama Mia.  Ps. don't ride the pedicab - it's a rip-off.

• Thanksgiving Dinner.  Another fabulous dinner with Dad and Chunmei, Kitty and Ma. Henry "carefully and cautiously" deep fries his turkey, after an overnight brine, using a electric Butterball XL Turkey fryer.  The turkey was tender and juicy.  Thanks Henry for not burning the turkey this time!  The side dishes were delicious. Yums.  Dad and Chunmei are doing well.  Chunmei got her driver's license this year and is now taking English (ESL) classes.

Ashland House Renovation.  After a year of frustration with the original architect, hiring  new home design team and engineers and restarting the project as a "major renovation", not new construction, with the People's Republic of Santa Monica, the house plans were finally approved. Did you know that the City required Henry and Alice to build an infiltration pit to catch all rain and water runoff from the property, to divert water away from the alley, and pumping the runoff uphill to the front yard infiltration pit, which then spills over clean, strained water into the street's storm gutters?  So after the first bid from a general contractor, Alice and Henry were devastated to discover that the renovation was over-budget and that they may need to abandon the project - maybe even sell the house.

Thankfully, we remembered a GC named Blair, whose kids were in taekwondo with Erin and Ryan for 8 or 9 years, and who lives and knows how to deal with the City of Santa Monica!  Henry & Alice got the winning bid from him, which was within our budget.  He has not only won us over, but also won over the favor of our new and future neighbors. The estimated completion date is Nov. 12, 2013 (11-12-13), haha.

• 4 year milestone since Henry's accident.  It's been 4 years since Henry's accident.  Thank God he is able to still cycle and enjoy the outdoors.  See his cycling highlights below. However, no more hiking and skiing for him.
• Challenges at work.  Henry's agency continues to show slow, but steady growth, but a recent "upgrade"to a new agency management software program combined with the loss of 2 CSRs put a huge stress on the producers and staff.  It feels like the agency is going through "major house renovation" of its own and the entire family is stressing out.  Even Henry has been struggling to master the new software too.  He prays for stability and increased company morale during this transition, yet he is optimistic that 2013 will be a banner year.

Henry's Cycling highlights

• New Cervelo R5 bike with Shimano Dura-ace components.
• Tour de Palm Springs 2012 Century ride, February 11th.  The first 8.5 miles were complete with winds 30-40mph with gusts up to 60mph and at time during uphill climbs!  Yet, on the backside of the mountain, Henry hit over 40mph going downhill and downwind. 
• Angeles Crest Hwy and Glendora Hills training rides.  Henry nicknamed himself "SBS" which stands for "slow but steady."  That's because he takes him time to ride up the 17 miles twisty, curvy road up total ascent of 3,776.25 ft.
• VW City of Angels Ride, April 22nd.  This Henry's 4th year riding the 32 mile "fun ride course" throughout LA landmarks, but it was more frustrating than fun due to too many stops by the LAPD.   Maybe Henry will ride the 42 mile Advance course next year.
• Levi's Gran Fondo in Santa Rosa, CA, September 29th.  7,000 riders, amateur to world class, participated in this popular ride.  Henry, Morris Tien, Ken Wong and Rick Cook rode the Medio course, which was a 59.8 mi ride starting in Santa Rosa, CA. The ride had a total ascent of 2,772 ft.

• 17 Mile Drive, Monterey, CA:  September 30th.  The day following the 60 mile Gran Fondo ride, Henry, Morris, Ken and Rick decide to ride the entire scenic 17 Mile Drive.  They struggled because they did not know there was so much climbing on the backside of 17 Mile Drive, with some climbs up to 14% grade!
• San Gabriel River Trail from Rosemead to Long Beach and back.  Ryan and Henry rode a total of 60 miles with the HarvestLA Young Adult group.  

• Henry hopes to do some fishing next year.  This is the first year that he did not go fishing.

Alice's highlights

Glorified chauffeur.  Erin and Ryan go to two different high schools.  We got Erin into SAMOHI by purchasing the Ashland house.  Ryan got into Palisades Charter HS via Revere Middle School through the lottery.  Ryan has a nice group of friends and loves his marching band.  Therefore, Alice is constantly driving Erin and Ryan back and forth.  Even though Erin has a driver's license, she still prefers Alice to pick her up.  Whereas Alice has to drive PCH to get to Palisades HS.  She loves her Prius and has over 82,000 miles on it.

Ma's back surgery.  Upon returning from Henry & Alice's NYC trip, they were shocked to hear that Alice's mom, Kee Lan, was in pain and unable to walk.  Her Kaiser doctor soon discovered that she was suffering from a lumbar spinal stenenosis (bone chips in her vertebrae.)  She was immediately sent into surgery at the Kaiser Sunset facility to decompress her vertebrae.  Thankfully, Alice's cousin from Shanghai, Weiming and artist husband, Tang Liang, came to the rescue: Thank God for his perfect timing and planning because they were planning to stay for a month and helped care for her.

Alice the Macaron-Hunter.  Since her trip to NYC, she has been buying taste-testing macarons whenever she encounters one.  Now, with the purchase of her new Kitchenmaid mixer and Youtube, our family (and friends) will be the beneficiaries of her newfound confection.

Alice's Dream Trip to NYC.  Henry surprised Alice by planning a trip to New York City.  Alice is a big city girl and she always wanted to visit NYC.  Henry got good deals on both airline tickets and hotel stays. Most of all, she enjoyed visiting all the sights and museums that she's dreamed about.

Overall, the year end is a time to give thanks for his blessings as well as trials.  Not all of life is as easy and perfect as a Christmas card or newsletter may appear.  But overall we are joyful and blessed this holiday season.  We are thankful for your love and friendship.

2012 Year in Review

Video: "Where was God in CT Shootings" 

Tragedies:  CT elementary school shootings. Super Storm Sandy & Hurricane Isaac. 

Political:  Obama vs Romney. Middle East unrest. 

Law & Justice:  Zimmerman Treyvon MartinItalian Cruise Ship runs aground

Financial: Facebook goes public, low interest rates

Fall from Grace:  Sandusky Penn State, General Petraeus, Sen.John Edwards, Lance Armstrong, KONY 2012.

Across the Pond: Olympics, Queen's Royal Jubilee, Royal baby on the way. 

Celebrities gone. Whitney Houston, Andy Griffith, Sherman Helmsley, Davy Jones, Neil Armstrong, Sally Ride, Dick Clark, Don Cornelius, Etta James, Nike Wallace.

Fond remembrance:  Sister Frances, Grandmother Chang, and parents of close friends.

Fond rememberance of loved ones:  Sister Frances, Grandmother Chang, and parents of close friends.