Double holiday festivities + arcade night + cat visit

Hello hello, and happy Chinese New Year to those who are celebrating!

I had a pretty relaxed CNY this year. I cooked my favorite Chinese dish to Joe, Sam, and Christina (our friends we’re living with right now). The dish was a hit, and it was so nice to share a piece of my life with them. CNY is the biggest holiday for Chinese people, and I have memories of attending huge Chinese parties in my hometown, eating my mom’s handmade dumplings, and getting red envelopes full of cash as a kid…

I shared this with Sam and Christina while we ate dinner, and the next day, I woke up to these red envelopes! I was so surprised and filled with happiness. Just one of many instances of Sam and Christina being such amazing, thoughtful people. ❤

This was a double holiday week as it was also Martin Luther King day. Our crew invited another friend over for a barbecue. We got blessed with beautiful weather in the 70’s, and it was the perfect day to spend outdoors.

We lit a fire, grilled dinner, and chatted away. I love Sam and Christina’s property as it’s vast and isolated, and we can enjoy the peaceful nature. The whole day was rejuvenating.

Later in the week, Joe and I met up with his sister, Anna, for dinner and arcade fun! I hadn’t seen Anna since we left for our RV road trip in October, and it was so nice to catch up. We had a blast playing the different arcade games. We spent all our tokens on a whoopee cushion and used it to prank Sam. Worth every penny.

I also won a stuffed meerkat from one of those vending machines with a claw attached to a crane. It made my life.

We made a brief visit to Joe’s parents house where we saw our cats. They are both living with Joe’s parents at the moment since Sam is allergic to cats. I missed them like crazy, and it was so nice to give them a big squeeze.