Here We Go Again!!!

Its about that time again....I'm finishing our last minute Christmas shopping today & we should be all done! I hope, cause I keep feeling like I'm forgetting someone or something but I really think its just that it feels weird not to be home decorating a tree, fighting 71st street and cozyin up to fire. But we'll get there soon enough. Being here, however has made me appreciate who I am, my beliefs, values and traditions. I love the fact that in Singapore everyone celebrates pretty much every holiday. There is no, my child shouldn't have to do this or that at school cause we dont believe that, crap! I think Christmas here in Singapore could be bigger than it is back home(sad, I know, but true). They have transformed the tropics into a tropical Christmas wonderland at every corner, its truly amazing. It feels very surreal, I cant even explain.

This weekend we did tons of Christmas shopping & also took in a night at the ballet to see The Nutcracker. Matt was confused, but so cute, when he asked why nobody was talking :) It was defintely a great treat!!

Matt and I are VERY excited about coming home. We are so excited to get to see everyone at Christmas & feel so blessed we have such wonderful people to spend it with. We are absolutely thrilled about getting married! We have LOVED our engagement so much & have really been focusing on preparing for the best marriage we can possibly have. We have enjoyed spending so much time together & really love the bond we share & the growth that has come with it! There is definitely nothing else like it in the world!

Please pray for us and everyone else traveling for the upcoming holidays, that everyone be kept safe! And pray that everyone across the world, at some point, find the warmth of Christ at Christmas in their hearts!

Off to shop,clean, do laundry and pack for the next couple of days! See you all when we get home!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

After a wonderful Thanksgiving and after patiently waiting until it was ok with Matt, I asked to watch Christmas Vacation. With that in mind, I could not resist finding this song and picture to go with it.

Happy Holidays!

感恩节

有谁想再吃点馅饼吗?

晚餐;正餐

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM SINGAPORE!

Christmas in Singapore

At Least We're Safe

Ahhh it is good to be back in Singapore!! FINALLY!
Thanks to Untied Airlines, sorry I mean United, Matt & I are safe & back in Singapore.(He loves calling United by the name Untied & always giggles a bit). Had a little difficulty in LA & ended up spending the night there. But I can say we are back and we are safe...don't like those mechanical problems or rain leaking in the door behind you(the rain happened on the trip in to the US).
Anyways, we had a wonderful time being back in the States. We had a great time seeing all of our family & friends that we could.
I had a wonderful bridal/wedding shower Saturday & got to see lots of people & meet new people(future family) as well, which was so fun. I had so much fun showing Matt all the awesome things we got. Everyone was so generous!
So, now its back to the bump & grind...loads of laundry, grocery shopping and a little cleaning have already been done. Matt set off to work for half the day...easing back into the ol' routine :)
Just another month and we will be back for Christmas & wedding. We are so excited, we can hardly wait! And yes, I can speak for both of us on that one!
A special thanks to my Mom for helping me so much with everything! She is one great gal & I love her so much! She truly is my best friend! And of course thanks to my wonderful Father who will never know how much I truly look up to him-he really is the greatest man(but doesnt every daughter think that about her ol' daddy-o ?) Enough mushies for now!
Everything & everywhere in Singapore is decked out for Christmas. Hopefully this weekend I'll have a chance to snap a few photos to post! Its beautiful! The Spirit & Cheer have already put even more pep in my step!
More to come later!

There is nothing like.....

1. Getting home from the airport to find a bunch of wasps in your house.
2. Panera coffee(I'm partial to the hazelnut)
3. Running at Riverside
4. The Oklahoma wind!
5. Driving a car(on the wrong side of the road....sorry Mrs Dill! Glad that heart is working good!)
6. A stolen motorcycle in driveway(actually the cop thinks the owner was loaded, parked it in our driveway & then couldn't remember where he left it).
7. Getting hit on by 2 men on the same day, in front of your future mother-in-law after telling these "Adonis-like men" about your fiance & this is his mother with you!!!(and when I say Adonis, I actually mean the farthest thing from it)
8. Kilkenny's Reuben rolls
9. Target, walmart and Lowes
10. Seeing friends & family

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to everyone! I am a little sad we won't be passing out candy to all the cute kids this year or even dressing up and going to a party ourselves. But, thats ok! We'll be in the air & on our way home instead!! We just cant wait to see everybody! We have alot going on, but definitely more time to do it all! Matt & I were just planning our first dinner back home & he's already talking about Umbertos...and I really cant say that I disagree with him.(mmmm garlic knots). We are also looking forward to that extra hour of sleep...man are we gonna wacked out on the time issue. Haha!

I'm getting everything ready today while Matt is at work, so hopefully everything he needs gets packed :) Honest moment here: He'll be over packed & so will I.

With that said, we are very much looking forward to this trip back & are so excited we could come back together(dont like being apart so much).

See you all soon!

Note: The picture above is a jack-o-lantern perched on top of the Singapore Flyer. So to answer your questions, yes they celebrate Halloween in Singapore.

Another monsoon season...rain, rain go away

And stay away FOREVER!!! Kidding. I think Singapore is embarking on yet another monsoon season and that inspired me to educate myself on the storm-system lingo...Just wanted to share with all of you. I know when I was working in Hematology, we often had discussions on cyclone, hurricanes, etc...and what the difference was. What a CBC had to do with it, I'll never forget, think it was sitting down doing diff's(manual white blood cell count differentials) listening to the radio above & hearing about cyclone this or hurricane so-and-so... So here is to you, wonderful ladies in hemo, our questions finally answered!
1. Tornado: violent, rotating column of air which is in contact with both surface of the earth & a cumulonimbus cloud & often, but not always visible as a funnel cloud.
2. Tropical cyclone(hurricane): Storm with low pressure center, numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds & flooding rain.
3. Monsoon: Seasonal prevailing wind that lasts for several months usually bring heavy rainfall
4. Typhoon(tropical storm): A tropical cyclone that forms in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The Basin is created within the Pacific Ocean in Asia, north of the Equator & west of the International Dateline. Storms crossing the east & central Pacific Ocean and crossing the Dateline are re-designated as typhoons. The above mentioned basin has the strongest cyclones on record. Typhoon season includes the entirety of the calendar year.
Here's to the rain waking us up at 4am!!

Deepavali

Here are a few pictures from Saturday when we went & walked around Little India. Its officially Deepavali, the Festival of Lights. The lights were beautiful & looked like they went on for miles. We definitely liked walking around but have had our share of Little India for awhile(we were tired & ready to eat at Lau Pa Sat). We were sad, however, because we were looking forward to the firewalking & found it happened last Monday. Oh well, maybe we can see it next year!!

Sunday we took in a wonderful brunch together at the Royal Plaza on Scotts. A very nice hotel. It was our first experience, but we are looking forward to many, many more!! Brunch is inclusive of free flow champagne, wine and beer and is served buffet style. It is a very big to-do here in Singapore. Most places require reservations ahead.

Its been a nice long weekend. Matt had today off & we have been bumming around the apartment, which is fine because its been overcast & rainy most of the day.

We are looking forward to being on a plane in a few days! And, as luck would have it, we are excited about the extra hour Sat night/Sun morning!

Hope to see many of you soon!

Cheers :)

Not a Marathon

In an effort to spend more time together & for our personal health, we have started waking up at 5am to run. So far this week, we've done 3 days of running ~30 minutes of running. Down to the bridge overlooking the river & back. Its not much...probably between 2 & 3 miles. But its definitely start! We are starting to feel a little more fit & love being able to spend that time together!! Its great. I would recommend it to anyone/any couple. Just make sure one of you is an early riser. Matt actually said in the middle of our run this morning, "You really ARE a morning person" like he didnt know that already.Anyways, if you have any running tips,stories or secrets feel free to share!

I have also prided myself in making dinner every night this week. Quite the accomplishment for the new cook. Which, I'm a little peeved at the Raffles Hotel, I was supposed to take my 2nd cooking class Wednesday but unfortunately due to low number of participants, they cancelled it! Suckers. Oh well, guess I'll have to find something in the late part of November to sign up for.

Not too much planned for this weekend...may go to the Tiger Beer Factory at Sentosa & then to Little India to look at the lights;apparently its beautiful to go to because its all lit up for Deepavali;Holiday for Festival of the Lights where parts of the streets are all lighted & decorated(see pic taken from wikipedia & its actually from right here in Singapore). Should be interesting. Hope we can remember the camera! Matt even gets off work Tuesday for it!!

Hope everyone is doing well.

More to come later.

We hit the GOLDMINE!

A picture is worth a thousand words....

Pumpkin Patch

I have really been wanting to decorate for Fall/Halloween. Its been quite a tricky task over here. But finally I found the perfect thing at the store the other day. I was so excited to surprise Matt when he got home. I found an S$11 pumpkin decorating kit. What a bargain...5 pumpkins & the paint to go with it! I know, they are a little pathetic looking, but hey at least it something! Which is definitely better than nothing!!

Engagement Pictures

I just realized not everyone had the opportunity to see all of our engagement pictures. When I scanned them over I didnt realize the setting was in black & white. But I think they look good both ways. So I wanted to be able to share with all of you. The pictures were taken by Betsy Felton. We had so much fun doing this. She was great & according to Matt it was quick & easy & fun.

Tulsa-Oklahoma City Tour Nov 2008

We're coming home again. Both of us. Together. Hand-in-hand.

Thats right!! Originally the trip was just scheduled for myself(more wedding things to take care of). But it looks like Matt will be coming along, for business. We will be in town from the 1st through the 16th.

We are both very excited to come back & see friends and family. However, we are very upset because I just found out today that we will not be able to participate in any football activities as both OSU & TU are playing out of town games(according to their perspective websites). Yuck! But it should be another great trip for us! We are looking forward to it!

Hope to see you all soon.

Cheers!(cheers to less expensive beers!)

Its Official...

Thats right people. have a look & see what its all about. I cant decide if I should frame it or glue it to the fridge....

Watch out Chef Gary Choy!!

I am pleased to announce that I have officially enrolled in 2 cooking classes. They are being held at the beautiful Raffles Hotel(see pic above). I am so anxious & nervous...I feel like I'm going into the 4th grade all over again!

The title of my first class on Wednesday is "Hot and Sour Chinese" and the menu is:

Poached cold prawn salad with szechuan sesame dressing

Hot and spicy soup

"Mar Lak" Mud Crab with spices Glazed with white pepper sauce

Yummy! Luckily they are hands-on and do include lunch!

My next class isn't until the 22nd of October and its title "Fusion" the menu also looks very appetizing as well.

Matt helped calm my nerves this weekend by going and finding where the culinary academy is at the hotel. So at least I know where I'm going!

The website said the classes are introductory & recreational in nature...so it sounds like they should be right up my alley!

Raffles hotel is famous for the well-known Singapore Sling; it originated in 1915 when a bartender started making it for British women who were not supposed to be seen drinking in public.

Thanks to Mom & Dad for such a great birthday present!

More to come later!!

SURPRISE!

I was totally craving sushi after having some back home in OKC & went out yesterday to find some. There is a store close to the apt that sells sushi in little packages & they are reasonably priced. Anyway, I get home, sit down, have my wasabi-soy sauce concoction ready & SURPRISE! Guess who I found in one of my rolls. Yes, you are correct. This little fellow. A dead baby octopus. Ewww!!! Hahaha. I put him in a ziplock bag to give to Matt when he got home. He is totally grossed out by it. And, actually so am I. The scary part is that I almost ate it. I wasn't really looking until it was 1/2 way to my mouth. YUCKY! So, in honor of Hari Raya Puasa, the holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan & Children's Day here in Singapore, I thought I would share all of this with you.
Selamat Hari Raya (Happy Eid aka Happy End of Ramadan)

Home Again

It has been a VERY busy past 2 weeks. But everything & everyone is great!!

Mrs. Dill's surgery went very well. It took less time than the surgeon had originally planned & she recovered extremely well. She is back at home after a nice stay in Cleveland. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts & prayers. I cannot say enough about the Cleveland Clinic, what an amazing place! Makes me wish I was back at work in the hospital, but I'll take Matt Dill over anything any day!!

Wedding planning was wonderful. My Mom did an amazing job helping me plan a wedding in one week. It was so much fun. I am truly the luckiest girl in the world! I had a very easy, but fun time. Marrying Matt is a dream come true & everything else just seems to fall in its place.

Also, I have recently received some sad, bad news that a family member has very aggressive prostate cancer. He has 2 young sons, I think ages 2 & 4 and a wonderful wife Dawn. Please keep them in your prayers. I am unaware of his prognosis, but his recent email sounded very unpleasant. This is such a hard time for my family. Steve & Dawn were married just a few years ago before starting their family. They both waited to fall in love & get married until they were a bit older(think mid 40's?) They are very dear to my family. Any & all prayers are greatfully appreciated.

I hope everyone is doing well. We loved seeing all our family & friends & hope to see the rest of you soon! If not soon, then please keep in touch!
Cheers!

On the Road Again...well not 'til Thursday really

We're coming home!

Please pray for us & for Matt's family & his Mom as she prepares, undergoes & recovers from her heart surgery scheduled for next week. She has wonderful doctors & the Cleveland Clinic is an awesome facility. We are confident it will be very successful!

Updates to follow soon!

Not Betty Crocker

As some of you know, I am definitely not Betty Crocker. I learned on a date a long time ago that apparently I don't cook, I just heat stuff up. I felt a little ego bruising on that one(sorry I wasn't a short order cook for El Chico). But with all that said I really feel like I have gone & completely redeemed myself for my lack of culinary expertise....I made the best meal last night of our lives. That's right folks! I made chicken with stuffing. Yeah, stuffing. Like the Stove Top stuffing. Okay, okay it comes in a box, I know. But, do you know how hard that precious little red box was to find? It was the first time I had ever seen anything like that over here. It was so scrumptious my Hubby-to-be and I ate the whole 6 servings. Now I feel sick. Yucky. But I cannot tell you how unbelievably good it tasted. Western food, LOVE it. I think it curved our cravings for Umberto's, Senor Tequila & many other delicious places to eat until we get back to Tulsa. Which, I'm sure we will try to head straight for the Mexican as fast as we can.
And, in other news, sources have been heard saying that I am the unofficial queen of stir fry but we cannot confirm nor deny any of those rumors at this time.

Wanderers

I don't know if we feed off each other or what, but its great that we are so much alike. Its amazing to me how two people can wander around so aimlessly. Its almost crazy! I love the fact that we get along so easily with each other & compliment each other so well. Its just effortless & feels so natural. Love that!

So a couple weekends ago, we ventured out to the Singapore Turf Club, just in time to see the first horse race of the day. We loved watching the races & even managed to figure out the betting system & placed a couple bets. Matt usually looked at the odds & other stats to make his choices & of course I picked them by their name!! I won a race & he won a race, think we made ~$26 at the end of the day. Not too bad! The race track was so busy. There were a ton of people there. It made us laugh because there were so many Chinamen yelling & cheering for the horses. All I could make out was !Go! It was great though. Definitely going back again.

This past weekend we didn't do much at all. Just stayed around the homestead. We layed out at the pool Sat & Sun. We were so lazy. But it was good. Matt has been putting so much into work I think it was good to have a weekend where he wasn't going non-stop. Its good to be lazy sometimes, right? Sometimes it good to just do nothing, or at least that's what i kept telling him :)

We love going to new places to eat. Its one of our favorite things to do. Last night was our 9 monthery(9 month anniversary). Heck yeah! So we went to this rooftop bar. The view was cool. I cant even describe it. And of course I took Matt's camera, but we forgot to take a picture. So I'll allow you a few seconds to imagine a rooftop bar overlooking the city at night time.......................breath-taking isn't it?

It seems like almost every week there is something new going on here. A new tent, with different people, music, food, events, etc.. Its unbelievable. This is a very busy time of year. August was Hungry Ghost month, we've officially entered Ramadan, and from the end of August until Mid-September is the Mid-Autumn festival. Its like a circus every day! But we love it! We have no idea whats going on until Matt asks some of the guys at work.

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. More to come soon!

Hungry Ghost Month

And I couldn't figure out what these guys were doing!!

August is Hungry Ghost Month in Singapore. The legend is that every year at this time, the Gates of Hell are flung open and the spirits of the underworld are let loose to party and cause mischief. The Singaporeans burn ritual money, animals and incense to appease these potential poltergeists, and outdoor festivals and barbeques parties spring up all over. It is not uncommon to see a large party, with lots of tables and chairs, food and drink, laughter and music. One table is set especially for the ghosts, but no one is allowed to sit at it.

I LOVE FIREWORKS

These are from the Singapore Fireworks Celebration. This was part of the activities for National Day that was Aug 8th-9th, but for some reason it was scheduled for the 22nd. They were beautiful. We got to watch them on a bridge over looking the S'pore river walk area. It was a wonderful evening.

Langkawi

A few more pics from our weekend getaway in Langkawi