It’s that time of the year again, when the year is about to wrap up and I’m sitting here wondering
Where has the time gone?
As much work as it is, I actually love writing our year end post, because it gives me a chance to deeply reflect on all that has happened throughout the year,
2023 has been a truly remarkable year in so many ways. Bridgette reached her 50th (!!) country for her Worldschooling, we trekked the Himalayas, served the children in rural Cambodia, bungee jumped (Bridgette only ofcourse) in Japan, walked in Jesus’ footsteps in Israel (with the amazing Bob Goff, no less!), and made some incredible lifelong friendships along the way.
One of the most unexpected gifts of 2023 though, was that God led Brianne to leave her much loved school in Hong Kong to join us in our Worldschooling adventures for the next 2 years. The girls have been best friends since birth, so getting to spend the last 2 years of their high school traveling the world together is a dream come true. This gift came with a new learning curve for me as I take on another teenager in our Worldschooling journey, but I do believe that God is helping me to grow in new ways through this journey. In just 6 months of traveling together, the 3 of us have already created a ton of shared stories that I will cherish very deeply in my heart. Every single day, it is not lost on me that the clock is ticking more quickly than ever, and the girls will be turning 18 in just a little over a year. I am more keenly aware that each day I get with them is a gift that I cannot take for granted.
I can go on and on about the highs of our year, but it wouldn’t be an honest reflection if I also didn’t recognize the difficult parts of 2023. Alan lost the contract to one of his more stable clients, we witnessed a number of family and friends struggle immensely with health issues, and a dear uncle lost his battle with cancer right around Thanksgiving. Life can really beat you down if you allow it to. I’ve learned though, that joy and grief can coexist. It is possible to find pockets of joy amidst sorrow and sadness. I’ve woken up with tears streaming down my face as I anticipate the inevitable day of Bridgette leaving the nest, which really is right around the corner. But then I find myself in so much joy and gratitude just thinking about the strong, loving bond we’ve cultivated with one another, and the millions of memories made together. Joy and grief can coexist. I’ve found myself mourning deeply about my uncle’s passing and the impact of it on my cousins. But then I think about the beauty of life itself and how each day we have on earth is truly a gift from God and I’m filled with gratitude. Joy and grief can coexist.
And with that, here’s a month by month summary of our 2023!
January 2023– We kickstarted 2023 with some cozy family gatherings. My cousin Steven stopped by to visit as he made his big move from Dayton, Ohio to Portland, Oregon and we loved getting to spend some quality time with him in his transition. Shortly after that, Bridge and I packed our bags and embarked on our very first trip of the year to our most favorite place on the planet– Japan. We met up with my parents and the Chuangs in Tokyo for a week of fun and food, while also pre-celebrating Brianne and Bridgette’s sweet 16. Coincidentally, our friends the Mui’s were also there for Chinese New Year and it was wonderful to get to see them again. After our family flew back to Hong Kong, Bridge and I continued our journey in Japan to Hokkaido. We spent 2 weeks in Sapporo, Otaru, Niseko, and Hakodate, fulfilling a long time dream of ours to ski in Japan. Oh, and I finally got some proper prescription glasses since I knew there would be a lot of international driving this year!
February 2023– I celebrated a memorable birthday in Niseko, where Bridge and I indulged in a tempura feast at a Michelin star restaurant after a freezing day on the slopes. We continued our journey with a few relaxing days in the quiet seaside town of Hakodate, filling our tummies with the freshest seafood bowls. We ended our Japan trip with a couple days back in Tokyo before flying home. We spent the rest of the month at home, or “almost” at home. Bridgette left for a service trip to Chico with her Church youth group over her birthday weekend, which became the very first birthday that I didn’t get to be with her! I couldn’t let her sweet 16 go by without some fanfare though so I conspired with her youth group leader to plan a little surprise birthday cake and service for her in Chico. After she returned, there were a number of belated celebrations for Bridge amongst family and friends, with the most memorable one being a wonderful Italian dinner with my cousin Celine…in the dark, due to an unexpected power outage in the neighborhood. Happy sweet 16 to my forever babycake!!
March 2023– The beginning of this month was quite exciting, as the reality tv show that we participated in back in 2022 finally aired. Our friends threw us an impromptu watch party and it was both exciting and nerve wrecking to finally watch it with others. We celebrated Alan’s birthday in a pretty low key way, with lunch at his favorite ramen restaurant and a mahjong night with our friends. By the second week of March, Bridge and I were packed up and ready to take off again, this time to Portugal and Morocco. We spent the first week of our trip in Lisbon learning to paint tiles, eating all the pasteis de nada that we could handle, and exploring much of the city by foot. We then flew to Morocco and spent the first part in colorful Marrakech living the riad life, learning all about Moroccan history and culture, experiencing a hamman for the very first time, followed by a few days in the Agafay desert. We ended the last part of our trip in Porto, Portugal.
April 2023– Bridgette finally got Invisalign, a few of my uncles from Houston and Puerto Rico came to visit, and then Bridge and I embarked on a MUCH anticipated trip to Israel. In light of what’s happening there now, I find it so hard to believe we were actually there in April, and how normal it felt during our time there. Another profound reminder on how life can change in an instant for any of us. We got to walk the Holy Land with Bob Goff & friends, which really helped me to grow my faith in profound ways. Bridgette got a small cross tattoo in Jerusalem, we both got baptized again in the Galilee Sea, and we met so many wonderful new friends during our week there, many whom we’ve seen again since the trip because they’ve become family to us now. After our week in Israel, Bridge and I flew over to Jordan and got to spend a few awe-inspiring days at the magnificent Wadi Rum desert, walked back in time in one of the oldest cities of the world–Petra, and survived my driving in a country where traffic rules don’t really seem to exist. By the end of our week in Jordan, we looked and felt like castaways, but our trip did not end there. We spent another few days on the nearby island of Cyprus and enjoyed some much needed rest time by the pool and ocean, along with a few interesting artsy activities.
May 2023– This entire month was spent back at home and boy, was that a nice break that we desperately needed! We caught up with family and friends over a number of gatherings, celebrated Mother’s Day, and I finally got to attend to my poor, deprived garden. We really cherish our time at home these days, and do not take for granted all the comforts and conveniences that we have access to when we are back. I sleep, A LOT, and Bridgette’s social calendar gets filled up to the brim as she eagerly catches up with all her different friend groups. Best of all, I get to cook simple homemade dinner again and we get to eat as a family at our cozy little table!
June 2023– I really dislike traveling during peak season, but am willing to do so only if that means we get to meet up with people we love. For this month, I had agreed to going to Italy before Brianne decided that she would Worldschool with us, so Bridge and I flew over to Milan to meet her right when school got out for Bree. We spent the first week in Lake Como, which was absolutely blissful. We had a nice little apartment right on the lake, and I would spent my quiet mornings on our balcony doing my Bible devotions. The girls got to sleep in pretty much every day before we ventured out to different parts of the lake like Bellagio and Como. We even drove into Switzerland one day to meet up with some friends for lunch! After Como, we drove to Tuscany and spent another lovely week in that region exploring charming and picturesque villages. Our friends the Lees happened to be in Florence at the time, so we met up with them and spent a nice day together. After Italy, Bridge and I flew home while Brianne continued on her journey by flying to the East Coast to meet up with her mom for some college tours.
July 2023– We enjoyed a full house this month with Brianne, Mimi, and Brady all staying with us. It’s the time of year where I am willing to toss out all desire and expectations of a clean and tidy house to embrace a messy and chaotic house to be with the people I love most. 😊 Every morning, I am awakened by Brady’s voice and during times that I feel grumpy about that, I remind myself how BLESSED we are to get to be together again!! It was all I wished for when we were separated by COVID restrictions just a couple years ago, so I definitely do not want to take our time together for granted ever again! Bridge left for her big mission trip to Brazil with Menlo Church mid-month, while Mimi and I took Brianne and Brady to our childhood stomping grounds in Nampa, Idaho. My uncle James and his family joined us, and we even reunited with a dear childhood friend Mary and her family! When Bridgette returned, she and Brianne spent the remainder of the month hanging out with friends and fulfilling a long time dream of theirs…attending their first TAYLOR SWIFT concert! Along with Bridge’s bestie Anita, the 3 of them sang their hearts out at the Eras Tour in Santa Clara, and declared the night to be THE best night of their lives.
August 2023– We started the month off with a very special celebration. My dad’s eldest brother, my Uncle Jose who lives in Louisiana, flew here to celebrate his 90th birthday with an intimate lunch party. It had been awhile since our big extended family had any type of gathering, so it was definitely an event that we all cherished very much. Sadly, we now know that the event would be the last time many of us saw my Uncle Ronald. 😢 After Mimi and the kids went back to Hong Kong, we settled back into a quiet routine at home until the end of the month, when Bridge and I jetted off on our first Worldschooling trip for her junior year. We flew into Tokyo to meet Brianne, where we took a few days to get acclimated for the weeks ahead. It was a fun few days with the girls thrifting, eating, and taking a million pictures in our favorite city.
September 2023– After our few days in Tokyo, the girls and I flew over to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, where we met up with my parents, my Uncle James, Aunt Lydia, and my cousin Celine. We spent a few days exploring the old Saigon city and then took a guided tour to the Can Tho region of Vietnam where we got to take multiple boat rides along the Mekong River, experienced a local homestay, and learned how to make banh xeo, amongst other things. The girls and I parted ways with the rest of our group after Vietnam, and made our way towards Bridgette’s 50th country–Cambodia! We served the children of several different impoverished villages while there, and also got to see famous sites like Angkor Wat. Our next destination was Seoul, which provided a much needed break for us. We slept in, the girls caught up with schoolwork, and we had some proper beauty care! One of the most memorable part was the DMZ tour that we took, bringing us as close to North Korea as one could get right now. It felt so surreal to see North Korea with our naked eyes at the Dora Observatory! After Seoul, we went back to Japan and rented a car for another week long road trip through Fukushima and Ibaraki, which included some onsen time, village exploration, cycling tours, and learning to work on a lotus farm, just to name a few.
October 2023– It felt especially good to be home this month after 5 intense week of traveling around Asia, but things didn’t really slow down for us. Bridgette quickly got busy catching up with schoolwork and filling up her social calendar, as always. Our friend Kirk visited from Ecuador and spent a few days with us. We attended the wedding of one of Alan’s nephew whom none of us had ever met, lol. It turned out to be a wonderful opportunity to meet many extended family members from Alan’s side! They were incredibly warm and welcoming to us, and even seated us at the head table with the immediate families! Bridge and I flew down to Arizona the last weekend of October, for a fundraising dinner that our friends Carrie and Gary (whom we met in Israel back in April) were hosting at their farm. It was a wonderful mini reunion with some of our new friends from the Israel trip. We had a ton of fun together and also enjoyed many deep and meaningful conversations. We flew back home just in time for Bridgette to dress up and celebrate yet another Halloween with her friends while also hosting our good friend Bekah for a few days. We cycled across the Golden Gate Bridge, strolled along the water in Sausalito, and celebrated Menlo Church’s 150th birthday!
November 2023– Back on the road (and in the air!) this month, starting with Japan (again!!). This time, Alan came along and we spent several days eating our way around Tokyo with him, then flew to Osaka for 1 night, rented a car, and did a road trip in the Mie and Wakayama Prefectures. We had our very first Japanese farmstay in the mountains of Wakayama and it was an amazing experience! We also visited the oldest onsen in the world, cleaned up a beach with Ama divers, toured the famed Mikimoto Pearl Island, amongst many other cool activities. After that, we flew to Bangkok, Thailand where we regrouped with Brianne. We spent just a few days there getting our annual health check up, doing a little Christmas shopping, and finally getting to try out the famous Jay Fai street food restaurant. We parted ways with Alan after Thailand, with him flying to Hong Kong to see family and friends for a few days and me taking the girls to Nepal for our much anticipated Himalayas trek! We spent the first few days in the lakeside town of Pokhara, then trekked for 3 grueling days in the Himalayas before flying into Kathmandu. During our few days in the capital, Bob Goff’s Love Does team showed us the most gracious hospitality….taking us around different sites, sharing many delicious meals with us, and showing us the amazing work that they’re doing for the children of Nepal.
December 2023– We flew back to Japan from Nepal and did another road trip, this time in the Gunma prefecture. We spent one night in the charming town of Karuizawa where it was actually snowing (!!), and then made our way to Kusatsu, one of the top 3 onsen towns of Japan. Our last stop was another lovely farm stay with the cutest elderly couple who taught us forestry and mochi pounding! Bridge and I dropped Bree off at Narita to see her off to Hong Kong to be back with her family for the holidays while we stayed another week in Tokyo before flying home ourselves. We arrived home in time to decorate our house for Christmas and spent lots of time catching up with family and friends. This was probably the quietest Christmas we’ve had for a long time, but I think the rest and down time was definitely much needed after traveling so extensively this year. I especially cherished the night of Christmas when Bridge and I sat in front of our fireplace and chatted till 4am! We reunited with Bree again right before NYE and rang in the new year with our friends!
Thank you Lord, for a year filled with wonder, joy, peace, and sorrow. Thank you for the infinite amount of ways you’ve led us to grow to be more like Jesus. Thank you for the people you’ve placed in our lives, even the ones that we briefly cross paths with. Thank you for your never ending love, patience, and grace for us. We look forward to seeing how your plans unfold for our family in 2024.
“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days, when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you, says the Lord.” — Jeremiah 29:11-14
