To the heart of the matter

Today was Alan's best day. Okay maybe not as good as his wedding, day but a close second. Today Alan saw a real live beating heart. In person. And it was amazing.

It all started because Alan's lab at the NIH began working with Georgetown University Hospital. GUH provides Alan with some cancer samples (AKA tumor just taken out of a person) that he analyzes and does all sorts of scientific things to in so he can help discover the cure for cancer. Anyway, this morning Alan had to go to the hospital to pick up a sample. Apparently the surgery was taking a little longer (shocking) than usual and Alan was escorted to the waiting room. After waiting for awhile, a nurse emerged and instead of a sample in her hand she had a stack of disposable operating room attire. She handed the clothes to Alan and told him that the doctor wanted to talk to him.

Alan quickly changed and followed the nurse into the OR. There lying on the table was a patient, chest open, heart exposed and beating. The doctor kicked over a stool, indicated that Alan should stand on the stool, then proceeded to give him a 5 minute anatomy lesson of the chest cavity and heart. And it was while Alan was watching a heart rhythmically roll and tirelessly pumping less than 2 feet away that he discovered Heaven on Earth.

When Alan got home, Ly was forced to listen as he recounted every single detail of the operating room/beating heart. And while she attempted to share in his enthusiasm, she couldn't help but wonder if a guy had ever run home to his wife as excited as Alan was after witnessing one of her many operations. Maybe just once.

Wall-E!!

As you are all well aware, Ly has a slight obsession with Wall-E and has been dreaming of owning a dancing wall-e toy for months. He dances. He talks. He is a source of endless laughs. Who in their right mind wouldn't want to own one? Apparently most people felt this way, because back in December Target on both coasts sold out and Ly's hopes of owning one for herself were washed down the drain. As Christmas came and went without a dancing wall-e, she felt that she might have to learn to live without one. What a sad life.

However, the universe felt otherwise.

Last night, Alan and Ly went on a late night excursion to Target and while aimlessly walking down every aisle, Ly discovered the last dancing wall-e toy for a mere 9 dollars!!! What a fantastic deal! She begged, pleaded and gave puppy dog eyes until Alan bought it for her (not really, he put it in the cart without having to be asked) and a few minutes later she was a proud owner of a dancing Wall-E.

Ly discovered this video to show you how cool Wall-E is...and also because it brings back some crazy memories - right Lil?



Someday she'll actually post pictures of her bonding with Wall-E. He has yet to leave her side since he was purchased last night, and, is, in fact sitting next to the keyboard as we speak (type?)

Holiday 2008 Recap (a bit late!!)

Ly + Alan spent 2 glorious weeks in San Diego for the holidays. The weather was not as sunny as Ly had hoped - it rained on Christmas but let's face it, anything above freezing is a welcome change. Highlights of the trip, in no particular order, include:

Finding and decorating our 8 ft Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve. Lily managed to convince Alan to help her with her yearly duty of putting on the lights:
The Bolig girls got a little sidetracked with putting on the lights and decided to put on a variety show instead:
Christmas morning started bright and early (6:30 am) and was full of tons of gifts, Christmas cookies/sticky buns, and Jesus Christ Superstar:
Opening presents for a few hours is very tiring so Lily and Ly took a nap on the couch:
Hotel Del...where there was ice skating on the beach and a huge vintage themed Christmas tree...and a yummy fudge shop:
The whole fam spent a day at the beach where Ly learned more about her awesome cannon camera and how to use all the functions and Lily educated everyone about the ocean and the animals that live there:
Alan and Ly on the beach at sunset the day after Christmas...the beach is Ly's happy place:

Some other non-photographed memories include: spending hours adding new music to Ly's ipod, playing mahjong on New Years Eve, Mother-Daughter shopping trips, Going to the movies with the family (7 Pounds, Frost/Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire) and starting a family book club.

Hope your holidays were as family filled and relaxing.

Christmas Tree Quest 2008

With the dawn of December, the Lee's annual Christmas Tree Quest 2008 began. At first there were a few inquiries into whether or not such a quest was plausible given the fact that in the middle of the month, Ly and Alan would leave the chilly east coast for a wonderfully delightful (and warm) Christmas on the west coast. After much thought (and with a lot of protesting from a certain Christmas-loving member of the family), Ly and Alan embarked on their journey anyway.

One blistery cold afternoon, the two bundled up and began their search. Luckily it did not take long before they settled on a lovely 7 foot tall Douglas Fir. With much excitement, they brought it home, decorated it with Christmas carols playing in the background, and the smell of homemade chocolate chip cookies filling the house. As they sat back to admire their work with the fire blazing, Alan noticed that it was snowing outside - the first snowfall of the year. What a perfect end to a perfect day.

Thanksgiving Extravaganza!

For the first time the Lees spent the thanksgiving holidays away from family...luckily they were able to share it with some very good friends. Scott and Nancy came over for our turkey cooking, pie eating, movie watching extravaganza. It was lots of fun. Ly cooked a turkey for the first time in her entire life and was overjoyed when she did not have to order takeout at the last minute.

It was so nice to have Scott and Nancy drive up from Hershey to hang out with us...we wish they were able to stay longer (like forever!) but alas real life called and they had to head back home. Hopefully they will get together more often and soon.

Lots of photos were taken so as soon soon as we manage to put them on our computer we'll post some.

After thanksgiving, Alan and Ly managed to brave the crazy crowds for a once in a lifetime shopping extravaganza on Friday morning. An experience they have decided they will never ever do again...too many people and some things are just not worth getting up at 3 am for. But it was still a fun memory...and we did get some pretty cool xmas stuff.

Sat was spent hanging out with Danielle and Brandon who drove down from Baltimore for the morning. We, along with the rest of the DC metro population, took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to the mall. We ended up at the Museum of Natural History - always a favorite with the dinosaur bones, diamonds and giant squid. In the afternoon we had a nice lunch of leftover turkey sandwiches with Rich...always nice to get to see some of your favorite people in the span of one weekend!

Anyway we are so grateful for our family and friends -- especially our friends who live relatively close they certainly have made the move out to the east coast much more enjoyable for the Lees. We love you! =)

A snapshot of fall

One of Alan's favorite past times is going on drives with Ly. They pack up the car with snacks, music, cameras, binoculars, blankets, pillows, and of course piou and panda (they have adventures) and then jump in the car. Sometimes Alan has a secret plan of where he wants to explore and sometimes he just drives wherever the road takes him.

Recent excursions have included drives to pumpkin patches, apple orchards and the local mountains to enjoy the colors of fall. Ly loves fall. The air is crisp, the trees change all sorts of beautiful colors, animals are out gathering food before the snowstorms hit...and it is perfect photo taking weather.