2019 Ggratitude Log

12/31: safely traveling on new years Eve

12/30: having the day off work to deep clean my bathroom

12/29: finishing my flower bed project

12/28: soothing rain in the evening

12/27: lunch with family and a nap afterwards

12/26: first day off during company shutdown and spending the day cleaning up my home office

12/25: being called the hostess with the for the Christmas lunch I hosted!

12/24: spending the Eve with family

12/23: prepping my steaks!

12/22: pulling up directly to an empty gas pump at Costco and no line at checkout at the warehouse.

12/21: Trying the Popeyes spicy chicken sandwich without having to wait in line and napping

12/20: Actually being able to fall asleep before 10 pm and getting a good night’s sleep.

12/19: Even though I’m sick, super thankful it is not the nasty flu that is going around

12/18: getting work done while sick and logging off early to rest.

12/17: ability to work in bed on a chilly morning

12/16: Enjoying wrapping Christmas presents and having the mailman thank me for leaving snacks for him.

12/15: Decorating my first Christmas tree in my home with lights and ornaments that used to be my brothers. I’ve had them in my closet for so many years unused. He gave them to me so I could use in Houston with the intent of us celebrating as a family here. Very bittersweet that he isn’t here in person to celebrate.

12/14: Getting in the holiday spirit by watching The Nutcracker and going to look at holiday lights in the rich neighborhood.

12/13: Making home safely while flying on Friday the 13th and not being a total emotional wreck on my brother’s birthday.

12/12: An amazing, inspirational, educational experience attending the Massachusetts Conference for women

12/11: Eating and shopping in Downtown Boston. Attending the opening night of the Massachusetts Conference for Women

12/10: Arriving to Boston safely and having free internet on my flight so that I could work and stay caught up on the cross-country trip.

12/9: Amazing dinner at one of my favorite steakhouses with college friends, some of whom I haven’t seen in years.

12/8: Shopping and getting a bargain on Coach sunglasses!

12/7: Surprise visit from a couple friends and a ridiculous breakfast consisting of bloody Mary, dozen raw oysters, croissant breakfast sandwich, and seafood pan roast.

12/6: Getting to attend a different company’s holiday party! It’s been decades since Cisco hasn’t done it in forever.

12/5: actually enjoying zucchini, a vegetable I don’t like, because it was air fried

12/4: time for catching up on stranger things

12/3: Being healthy enough to work a long day at my job, which allows me to travel and live life large. Making a delicious dinner with some goodies brought home from Japan and foie gras/duck sausage from NY.

12/2: Having a job to come back to that funds my shopping/shoe/travel addictions! But also having my logical, more minimalistic mind to stop me from buying totally unneeded things that probably would not be used much, like the R2D2 instant pot, another pair of boots or cast iron dutch oven!

12/1: A full day of outlet shopping and finding some really great deals, while getting my steps in.

11/30: Lounging in bed most of the day and being able to really relax.

11/29: Sleeping most of the day then waking up energized to do a few hours of outlet black Friday shopping to snag some super discounted items.

11/28: a relaxing Thanksgiving day, a delicious dinner, and some online shopping. I feel truly blessed to be able to hop on a plane to spend quality time with some of my favorite people. To have the technology to buy more technological things online and to curl up in a warm bed with a roof over my head surrounded by people who love me as much as I love them.

11/27: Getting off work early so I could actually have some free time to work and publish a blog post

11/26: Seeing one of my friend’s dog and getting tons of kisses

11/25: Knowing it is going to be a short work week and I have good food and company to celebrate Thanksgiving with.

11/24: Getting over 8 hours of sleep, waking up feeling rested and even remembering some of my dreams since I only got 3 hours of sleep the night before. Appreciating the flowers my dear friend gave me to cheer me up since 4 years ago this day, I buried my brother.

11/23: feeling energized to get all my errands done despite only getting 3 hours of sleep and ordering EVERYTHING available on the olive garden pasta pass menu!

11/22: ending the work week knowing I put everything I had towards getting my job done well!

11/21: ability, drive and stamina to work over 12 hours today

11/20: bun bo hue with a friend and my sister then chocolate lava cake made from scratch afterward as a belated birthday celebration.

11/19: time after work to do some house cleaning and reorganizing

11/18: Working from home and being able to meet a friend who has been traveling a lot like me because we both ended up in Houston at the same time!

11/17: Food coma from Olive Garden and jet lag combined makes for an amazing afternoon nap

11/16: Back home in my own bed!

11/15: Another safe flight back home, getting my luggage with all my bday presents from my favorite long lost cousin home safely and In-n-Out before the flight.

11/14: Safe flight from Japan back to the U.S., eating a classic American meal – burger! and getting a good night’s rest without jet lag getting in the way.

11/13: A wonderful last day in Japan, with good sights and great food! Thankful have this wonderful trip to celebrate my birthday and also get through my brother’s death anniversary today.

11/12: Randomly finding lemon ramen after trying to go to one that recently closed down, then finding it again for dinner and making new friends at the Hawaiian bar that was serving it.

11/11: My dear friend, Howard, who lives in Tokyo and always takes time out of his busy schedule to help me find everything on my “to buy from Japan shopping list”

11/10: Finally going to the matcha store I’ve been buying cakes from for years now.

11/9: Eating legit Kobe steak. Surviving eating blowfish.

11/8: Spacious apartment that has a tub that I could soak my achy feet and legs after sightseeing and eating.

11/7: After seeing a video about a popular dipping noodle ramen located inside Tokyo train station ~2 years ago, finally got to try it for breakfast this morning

11/6: Having my first omakase meal in Japan to celebrate my birthday

11/5: After discovering flight was going be delayed to the point of missing connection, able to get re booked to a similar flight out of SFO and meeting some cool fellow passengers who bought me a birthday shot on the flight to Japan.

11/4: Trying a Thai shampoo service with massage and having honey toast with a friend who will have her first baby any day now.

11/3: getting 90 minute massages with my friends to end the pre-birthday weekend celebration.

11/2: Making and having breakfast with friends and family, ATV and horseback riding, making whole tray of pancit and steak, foie gras, rotisserie chicken meal with egg nog cake. Bonfire!

11/1: Dressing up with friends and family for Halloween as Tron and Stitch. Eating air fried food (wings) for the first time and loving it!

10/31: Steak dinner in costume at a strip club with friends.

10/30: Having my first set of friends flying in for an early birthday celebration.

10/29: Finding a groupon for $63 for a 90 min massage with CBD gel, a back scrub and hot stones.

10/28: A productive day both at work and personally.

10/27: Safe travels from one destination to another

10/26: Gifted 90 minute massage that was very much needed.

10/25: Safe flight to visit my boss so we could celebrate our birthdays early together. And getting lots of kisses from her adorable pup.

7/17: Making it to the gym to do water dance class and feeling good afterwards.

7/16: Enjoying cheap fried chicken with my sister and finally watching the season finale of Dexter.

7/15: Good Filipino dinner and conversation with a friend

7/14: Having a productive yet also restful day at home

7/13: Feeling handy grouting tile for the first time – surprisingly very easy!

7/12: Discovering a random hole in the wall Vietnamese place and enjoying new dishes with a friend.

7/10: Making it to the gym

7/9: Feeling rested after getting some much needed sleep.

7/8: Getting to bed early.

7/7: As a non-coffee drinker, actually enjoyed a Whole Lotta Love Latte which was nice and sweet. Wishful dreaming of having a $9M house after seeing one at Mt. Bonnel. Safe drive back to Houston and eating more fried chicken with friends.

7/6: Experiencing the best chicharron taco I’ve ever had in my life. Great Chinese BBQ dinner.

7/5: Having delicious food truck food (Shrimp Po Boy and Pad See Eew). Taking the State Capitol tour. Trying and loving vegan NadaMoo Ice Cream. Discovering white clam pizza.

7/4: Safe drive to Austin, TX. A fun stop at Bucees to get snacks. Having fried chicken twice in one day. Jaws Movie Party. Gordoughs donut. Enjoying fireworks.

7/3: Snuggling in for a quick nap to recharge.

7/2: My ability to easily focus so I can get things done.

7/1: Magic eraser to remove scuffs off my luggage and my awesome Away Minion luggage too

6/30: Lazy Sundays to binge watch Dexter

6/29: Waking up later than normal, being able to kill 2 birds with one stone – Costco shopping and catching up with a friend, getting things done around the house and relaxing.

6/28: Time to watch one of my favorite movies, The Matrix

6/27: Getting healthy quickly from a cold I had.

6/26: Receiving a text from a friend.

6/25: A good night’s sleep!

6/24: Having dim sum lunch with my KDPhi sisters.

6/23: Spa day and dinner at the Boathouse to celebrate 25 years of sisterhood!

6/22: A full fun day exploring Manhattan including walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.

6/21: Outlet shopping at my favorite outlet center-Woodbury Commons with my sorority sisters.

6/20: Arriving safely despite numerous delays to the east coast

6/19: Time to get everything done before I left for my next trip to NY

6/18: Waking up on the right side of the bed so I was ready to tackle the day!

6/17: Focus to get caught up on all work email!

6/16: Eating one of the best burgers I ever had at the Guatemala airport! With bad weather causing several hours of delays, still made it home safe while maintaining a good attitude through it all!

6/15: Visiting Antigua, an amazing city that introduced me to cacao tea and 100% cacao bar!

6/14: an opportunity to really touch and make a difference in one family’s lives and for them to the same for me.

6/13: learning first hand how tortillas are made and appreciating those who do it so I can enjoy them. I will never take a handmade tortilla for granted again!

6/12: Simple yet delicious meals to fuel my body to accomplish all the physical work asked of me.

6/11: mosquito repellant! Physical strength to accomplish the work needed today. Friend safely delivering a healthy baby boy.

6/10: Real toilets that flush! The means to be in a position to help others.

6/9: safely arriving in Guatemala City and having a beautiful, modern hotel to stay in

6/8: opportunity to relax before my flight to Guatemala and actually being able to take this trip to be of service to a family in need.

6/7: focus and determination to get everything done before I need to leave for my volunteer trip in Guatemala.

6/5: Bacon Smores!

6/4: Steak and eggs through leftovers from yesterdays awesome dinner!

6/3: Having the money, time and skills to make an epic rib cap dinner and have matcha green tea cake from Kyoto, Japan after sweating doing yard work

6/2: Unexpectedly getting a good nap in when laying down to take a break from housework

6/1: Time to vacuum my house, try Bellaire Broiler burger, nap and watch Bohemian Rhapsody and Limitless TV series.

5/29: Sleeping in a little bit and tuna salad sandwich courtesy of my sister!

5/28: Life lessons; people who come into my life to help me to learn more about myself; accepting that pain is sometimes necessary to get the good out of life. Tumeric and Ginger tea time after work.

5/27: Holiday day off work so I can enjoy my freedom to do whatever I wanted for the day, which was some yard/housework and netflix binge watching.

5/26: Pool lounging time with a good friend!

5/25: Spontaneous fun with my sister getting body painted and getting my haircut and thinking it looks good!

5/24: A new friend posting a much needed letter on my facebook reminding me that I am incredible and to hang in there, for the wonderful that is coming my way.

5/23: Quality time with an old friend to listen to me rant about minor frustrations in life and allowing me to recognize that I am truly blessed and that my problems are technically minor and insignificant.

3/1: Safely arriving in Albuquerque, NM after a full day of driving from Las Vegas, with stops at Roadkill grill on Route 66 and Flagstaff for healthy juice and a sandwich, then finally enjoying green Chile stew and sopas for dinner upon arrival.

2/28: getting to bed early!

2/27: delicious katsu dinner from a friend, with enjoyable conversation and helping her de-clutter afterwards.

2/26: supporting a friend who just lost her mom to cancer.

2/25: Being able to visit a friend’s mother in hospice and offering comfort and support.

2/24: Safe flight to Vegas with a luggage full of things I sorted through to give away to friends who needed it.

2/23: productive day of getting a good morning workout in, running errands, and sorting, organizing and cleaning around my house.

2/21: Having a co-worker help me stay accountable to going to the gym, especially since I really didn’t want to go on this rainy day.

2/20: creative time, crossing off a couple things on my to do list, and taking care of me with a chiropractor appointment.

2/19: receiving a check in the mail and having my contractor notice and say my house looks cleaner

2/18: getting back to the gym after not going for a week due to back pain

2/17: that feeling when I see areas in my house where I finished de-cluttering.

2/16: time and perseverance to make progress on minimalism process

2/15: progress on repairs by my contractor

2/14: Friends and family who expressed their love.

2/13: Feeling the love by receiving beautiful flowers, which totally lifted me from my bad mood!

2/12: Despite working till 9pm, having to get up early for a 6:45 am meeting and working straight till 6 pm without a break, I truly appreciate working from home, having a good job where I can grow my skills and experiences, work with a great team and ultimately having the motivation to always give it my best even if I’m tired, frustrated and cranky!

2/11: Having the urge to pee during my drive home and stopping at a random gas station to discover a remarkable BBQ joint inside where I bought $40 worth of seasoned raw BBQ and their homemade jerky.

2/10: Austin eats and getting much more than 10k steps walking through various parts of the city to shop, where I got a good deal on something I was considering buying before and finding some things I was looking for.

2/9: Salt Lick BBQ to fuel myself for outlet shopping where I bought one item I had been looking for and realizing my KonMari process has helped with my shopping addiction greatly!

2/8: Testing a recipe found on Facebook to create healthy veggie cupcake tin breakfast while using up all my veggies before I leave for weekend business trip getaway.

2/7: forcing myself to go to the gym even though I was tired and didn’t want to!

2/5: My coworkers taking the time to listen to me vent about my house plumbing issue. Having eggplant from my cousin to make char-grilled eggplant egg scramble for breakfast that was delicious!

2/4: Finding the energy to go to two fitness classes at the gym and time to write 2 blog posts afterwards.

2/3: Getting to watch Superbowl with my cousin and being able to take full grocery bag fulls of fruits and veggies since my cousin is leaving town and not able to eat them all before they go bad.

2/2: 3 fitness classes at the gym and outlet shopping with a friend the afternoon with a healthy salad for dinner.

1/30: Having Pho delivered to my door for dinner when my workday consisted of back to back meetings most of the day.

1/29: Receiving my order of motion sensing light bulbs and installing them in my closets so I no longer have to pull a nasty string to turn on the light. It’s great simply opening the door and having the light automatically turn on!

1/28: Having the time to make more progress on folding and organizing my clothes in my drawers.

1/27: Starting the reorganization of my drawers and re-folding the KonMari way. Very satisfying to see all my shirts in my drawer!

1/26: Checking out Peter Lik’s latest release taken at my favorite place, arashiyama bamboo forest. Admiring it brought me back to the moment that I discovered a part of me I didn’t know existed.

1/25: Finally got a hold of the contractor who was supposed to fix my fascia and soffit last year and confirmed appt to start work the next morning.

1/24: Dinner with my cousins where we ate our custom built pizzas while talking about various other food that we also wanted to eat (ramen, pho, korean bbq)!

1/23: Time to work, blog, cook and have a healthy dinner with a friend.

1/21: MLK day and all he’s done for us! Appreciative of also having the day off, even though I did do some work today, so I could mostly veg out on my couch while spending hours on shutterfly to create a photo book, which by the way is no where near as fun as doing a real scrap book! I was mostly frustrated. I miss the days I’d spend 8 hours scrap booking which brought me so much joy!

1/20: Being gifted the invention of sous vide so I could cook the most moist flakey fish ever! Why have I not tried fish before?! Making more progress on my to do lists at home and relaxing too!

1/19: Time to get things done on my to do list around home, relax and spend time with a friend!

1/18: Homemade veggie breakfast taco to start my workday with energy to be productive. Getting a few small things done around the house, online and time to relax and finish binge watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

1/17: Doing one of my favorite things with a dear friend-Costco and grocery shopping! Cooking and eating a healthy dinner of roasted brussel sprouts with balsamic glaze, arugula kale tomato salad with butter tortillas.

1/16: Receiving my FREE Google Home Hub from CES and getting a lot of things on my to do list done.

1/15: Despite an hour delay, had a smooth flight home that I actually was able to sleep a little bit on.

1/14: Finishing Pandemic Legacy after starting it 6 months ago!

1/13: Playing my favorite board game Time Stories (under the mask expansion).

1/12: Being able to make pancakes from scratch. Double dinner-fried chicken soul food and Korean bbq.

1/11: Google ride at CES giving me a code for a free Google home hub! Seeing lots off cool gadgets too.

1/10: Having the focus and drive to be super productive at work all day, catching up on all my emails finishing most of my outstanding tasks/projects. But more so, having my manager asking me if I want to take tomorrow off so that I can go to CES on the last day! So excited I get to spend another day looking at up and coming gadgets!

1/9: Going to CES to see the latest tech! Soooo much fun! I LOVE gadgets!

1/8: Sleeping more than 4 hours and watching a movie I’ve been wanting to see “Welcome to Marwen”

1/7: Having the energy to work and being very productive despite getting less than 4 hours of sleep because my cough kept me up most of the night. Finding a good Chinese handmade noodle restaurant for lunch.

1/6: Sleeping in until 11:30 am and playing Pandemic Legacy.

1/5: Enjoying a backyard fire, jalapeno wings and playing Sherlock Holmes with friends.

1/4: Taking care of me time-doing a Korean peel mask (gifted to me) followed by a snail moisturizing mask (also gifted to me the year before! )

1/3: Having a creatively delicious brunch made for me, hot dog bun filled with scrambled egg, slow roasted beef and tendon, stir fried onion and mushrooms dressed with japanese mayo and furikake. Actually drinking enough water throughout the day, taking a 2 hour nap after work to rest, listening to an inspiring podcast and working my creative juices writing today’s blog post that has been in draft mode for months!

1/2: Getting a good night’s rest, waking up to tackle the first day back to work after a week and a half off and being able to focus on catching up on email without any meetings! Having a relaxing evening to play a tablet escape game and blogging!

1/1: Despite being sick, knowing I am still healthier than many other people and most importantly alive to experience this New Year! Sleeping in a warm bed, napping in the evening and doing something I enjoy-playing Mice & Mystics cooperative board game. Oh and getting doggie kisses!