Two Thousand Five

I can only think of very few other years that were as intense and life-altering, as this one. One of them is definitely 1987 when I first came to the US. That was the first time for me to gain independence by living away from my family. But more importantly, that's when I learned how to read, write, speak, and even start thinking in a new language; English. This opened up a new world for me. I gain the opportunity to meet and converse with wider range of people, I was introduced to new culture, and through it all, I was able to develop my own mind and identity that I have today. Without that year, 1987, and all the opportunties that became available to me, I would be far different from the person I am today.

This year, 2005, was definitely another one of those year. On January 3, 2005, I found out that I was 10 weeks pregnant. This was just 2 weeks after I started a new job, and one day after Patrick and I came back from a holiday with my family in Japan (pregnancy was originally planned for 2008). On July 9, 3 weeks earlier than expected, Terran was born. I am proud to say that I worked and partied til the night before he decided to come into our world. The following week, Patrick was invited for a job interview in Princeton, New Jersey. Since he still had some time before his graduation, he considered this interview as a trial run for more interviews to follow (Patrick's graduation was originally planned for June 2006). However, 3 weeks later, he accepted their offer and decided that it would be a good push for him to complete his dissertation. He worked very hard for the following 4 months. On November 14, he presented his oral defense in front of his committee members and peers and successfully completed his long academic career with a PhD in Biomedical Physics. The three of us left Los Angeles on December 8 and relocated to Lawrenceville, New Jersey. To add to this long list of major events, on December 12, we put in an offer to buy a townhouse in Lawrenceville. We are about to become first time home owners.

If I had put any thought into what was to happen in 2005, I would have been frightened with the amount of stuff that needed to be done. But luckily, there was no time to think about anything. We just tackled each task, and it feels like everything turned out alright.

I think 2006 will be a quiet year where we get to enjoy all the newness around us. New place, new people, new house, new job, and the new member in our family.