Life after Leaving Mayo Clinc

I left Mayo Clinic for about a month now. There are so many things that I miss when I worked there. I do believe the patient cares at Mayo are exceptional, and the passion of the employees toward patient are the things that I miss the most. I read this article that summarized what I felt after I left Mayo. I agree that Mayo may pay a little lower; however, the work life-balance and the the holidays are definitely good when one wants to enjoy family life. I don't mind one day that I will go back to work for Mayo.

Anyway, I decided to take this challenge to leave Mayo to explore the business world. During this time, I often question myself about my decision; often, I did feel regret for a little bit. Nevertheless, thank you for my wife for her support and understanding, especially she has been going through a tough time lately too. Lately, all the changes and trials happen in our lives draw us closer to God. We once again remind ourselves the principles of humble and faith. We both are grateful to have the gospel in our lives, and I am especially grateful for my wife in my life.

Yellowstone National Park

So....As you may have noticed, Andy has been doing much of the posting lately. You can say he has "hijacked" my blog. :) Anyway, I am glad he has posted some updates on what we have been doing because I have been very busy. Anyway, here are some pics from our trip to Yellowstone National Park. It was a crazy trip but I had tons of fun! We never expected to drive there anytime soon because it is like an 18 hour drive. However, Andy's co-worker Praveen said that him and his wife were going during Labor Day weekend so Andy decided we would go along. I have never been to Yellowstone before so I was way excited! We left Friday night and drove half-way. The next morning, Andy and I went to visit Mount Rushmore. It was pretty neat and much bigger than I thought it would be. Then we drove the rest of the way to Yellowstone. We saw different types of animals and the scenery was beautiful. The only thing we didn't get to see was a bear. Oh well...we still enjoyed ourselves and the weather was actually pretty nice. Anyway, here are some pics from our trip.

Why should we learn from Warren Buffert ?

Warren Buffet has always been the person whom people look up to when it comes to stock selections. Back in the 1980s, the purchase of the Coca-cola, Wells Fargo, and the American Express proved that he had a sixth sense in choosing stocks. In the last two years, Warren Buffet again proved that his sharp instinct in investment. I still remembered that he sold off all his stakes in China Oil in the peak of year 2007. Then, many people questioned about his action and mocked at him. As the history proved that he was doing the right thing, the stock price of China Oil has dropped significantly since Buffet sold his stakes. Lately, Warren Buffet once again proves himself the unique way in term of investment. With the large amount of cash on hand, he bought many sweet and bargain stocks in Goldman Sachs, GE, Morgan Stanley, and many others. I need to learn from him in my financial investment in the future.

Ready for Great Depression

Tanya and I have been discussing about the rescue plan lately. Although we are not favor for the 700 billion "bail-out" plan, we don't see any other options or measures to prevent this financially disaster happening except to support this plan. Anyway, the House just rejected the plan, and the Dow drops 600 points. So, I guess many American need to be ready for the upcoming job cuts and foreclosures.

Life Update

Usually, Tanya is the one to update about our life in the blog. However, she has been busy with some misc stuff that I don't know what she is doing sometimes.(j/k). So, I decide to help her to update this blog about our lives. Apparently, Tanya's blog has more traffic than my blog. I think people interested about our lives more than my own techie blog.

Both of Tanya's and mine school start in September. Tanya is taking two MBA classes. One is leadership and another one is her MBA core class. I am taking only one quality assurance class for my Master of Software Engineering degree. I hope that I can finish my degree by next June, and Tanya will finish her MBA by the end of next year.

August is a very interesting month. After my mom and brother spent 6 weeks with us for the summer, we were exhaust to entertain them. We thought everything would go back to the normal simple that we used to have. However, things have changed a lot. Apparently, I got couple good job opportunities that extend to me. I took my time and energy to interview couple jobs, and I got couple job offers too. The difficulty part was to decide which jobs that I should take because all of them are pretty good. Finally, we decide that I will take the job at Medtronic located in Minneapolis, and Tanya will still work for Mayo Clinic. Changing job means relocation. We are in the process of finding a home near the Twin cities. At the same time, since we own a townhome, we need to sell our townhome. As everyone knows, the market nowadays is not a good time to sell a property.

Anyway, I think we have a lot of blessings and changes in our lives, especially in the last two months. Tanya and I won 4 free movie tickets, a free chiropractor visit, and an iPod too. We anticipate more changes in the upcoming months. We will keep you guys posted.

Free Debt Tool

I know that Debt is a big problem in US. Especially in the bad economy right now, many people struggle to pay off their debts. I came across an article that talked about an Excel file that can help people to see the different methods to pay off their debt. I think it's pretty cool.

Download the File here

This file contains two worksheets:

1. A debt reduction calculator, which allows you to list your debts, their balances, interest rates, and monthly payments.
2. A payment schedule telling you which bills to pay when.


Thank you for the website Get Rich Slowly for this article.

Financial Planning

After talking about the spending habit, I think it's a good time to talk about saving for retirement. We are not professional financial planner, however, we try to educate ourselves enough to learn the principal of saving. We save 12% of our income toward our 403(b) account, and we will try to max out our Roth IRA contribution limit. Based on our current trend, we should be able to have enough money for our retirement, unless the inflation is more than 10% per year for the next 60 years. Anyway, I found a good quick and easy article to remind some of the basic financial principles.

Quick Retirement Fact

Tool to calculate your current saving goal

Again, the most important thing to reach a financial goal is to develop a saving habit and control spending.

Magic Blanket Challenge

So, a while back, a friend of mine gave a challenge. You can read about the challenge here. She was one of my companions in the mission field and is definitely someone I look up to. She is awesome and a great friend!

Anyway, this post is way overdue. But, one of the things I've accomplished that I'm very proud of is our emergency plan. Our ward has been talking about being prepared for a while and at New Years, when I was home for Christmas, we had put together a 3 day emergency food storage. However, we still didn't have anything for emergency or have a plan. So, finally, I sat down and we bought an emergency pack that was made for 2 people and created our emergency plan. Basically, it just lists what each person is responsible for grabbing and where it is if we need to evacuate the house.

The next step in our emergency preparedness is gather all the important documents and contact information together. Hopefully I can get that done soon. You can never be too prepared.

Well, part of the challenge was suppose to take a before and after picture. However, I think it's okay if I don't post a before picture. Once I take some pictures of our emergency packs, I'll post it.

Thanks Suzanne for the great challenge! Also, it's definitely a fun challenge and you should all do it.

American Spending Habit

Many people probably knows a tradition of American spending habit - spend more than you earn. Church leaders often time remind us to mind our spending and save emergency fund. TV talk shows and books like, i.e. "Finance Dummy 101", try to encourage people to control their spending and the usage of credit card. I always puzzle about this idea and wonder how hard for a person to do this "best practice". I guess it's pretty hard because I think this is a tradition.

Just look at the recent report about the biggest ever deficit in the US government budget - 482 Billion. Also, the mortgage meltdown of the Fannie and Freddie are another good examples of how people like borrowing future money, and the Taxpayers end up paying this big fat, while the people of these two companies enjoying their luxury life and social gathering.

Anyway, I think it's very hard to teach people to control their spending and live within their means while the government doesn't set a good example. Imagine parents teach their kids to clean up their mess while parents themselves also created a mess.

In short, I think changing the American's spending habit like asking a Chinese not to eat rice for his/her lifetime.

July 4th

For July 4th, we went to Wisconsin Dells to meet up with some friends. German and Kitna were visiting Kitna's mom and stepdad there. Since it was only 2 1/2 hours away and they have the largest waterpark in America, we thought it would be fun to meet up. Luckily, Kitna's mom and stepdad were kind enough to let us stay with them. :)

Anyway, Friday night we had a BBQ. Tom (Kitna's stepdad) did a great job BBQing up some hamburgers and brats!

Then Saturday we spent all day at Noah's Ark. It was a lot of fun! The rides were a lot of fun! In fact, Andy, Kenny (Andy's bro), German, and Nick (German's brother) went on a ride called Point of No Return. I was going to go on it too until I saw it. It looked like a straight drop and I knew there was no way I would go on that. However, the boys were brave enough to take it on. Here are a few pics of them: (Right: German and Kenny Left: Andy)

The boys after finishing the ride:

German, Andy, Keona (German and Kitna's daughter), and I:

That night, we went to watch the fireworks in a nearby town. They were really good! Almost as good as the Stadium of Fire in Provo UT. I say this because we were pretty close to the fireworks so it was loud and you could feel the vibration of the fireworks going off! Off course, I don't think anything tops watching Stadium of Fire at Helamen Halls. :)

Sunday we headed home. However, we did stop in Wabasha to visit the National Eagle Center. Last time we tried to go there with my parents when they were here but unfortunately it was closed. Luckily, they were open this time and we were able to go in. It was pretty cool and we actually saw two live Bald Eagles. They had been injured and could no longer fly so they are no part of the education system that is set up. At least they are now safe. :)

Anyway, that's basically how our holiday weekend went. It was a lot of fun and went way too fast! It was hard to go back to work on the following Monday. At least Andy's family had fun. :)

Best Places to live ?? - Minnesota

When people heard us about living in Minnesota. The first thing that comes to their mind is cold. Yes. Minnesota is pretty cold. However, I do agree that Minnesota is a pretty nice place to live. You don't believe me? Look at this list. Best places to live 2008 According to the survey, the best place to live is Plymouth, MN, which host our favorite Chinese restaurant. Also, there are three cities from Minnesota that sit on the top 25 list.

So, if you think you can bear the winter in Minnesota, you should come to live in Minnesota.

Fun Weekend

It's always fun to have family around. Here's a recap of our 1st weekend of fun with Andy's mom and brother:

Saturday:
Went to check out Rochesterfest and then stopped by the mall. Afterwards, we went to Willow Creek and checked out model townhome. Andy's mom really enjoyed seeing the lake with the greenery. She is always talking about how beautiful it is. She also enjoyed the townhome because she just likes to see people's homes. She does real estate back in Macao and that's why she finds it interesting.

Afterwards, we went to the Galaxy 14 theatre and watched Wall-E. It was really cute. The best part is we got to watch it on the Mega Screen...it is the largest screen in Rochester and it's high definition...and it only cost $4.50. The theatre has deemed the hours between 4 pm - 6 pm as rush hour and any movie during that time is only $4.50. Anyway, Wall-E was pretty good. Not a lot of talking so it was perfect for Andy's mom. I think she got the basic idea of what the movie was about.

Sunday:
After church, we had a BBQ for dinner. Our friends Craig and Jaclyn wanted to meet Andy's family so invited them over as well. Plus, we had taught them how to play Mahjohng and thought it would be fun to all play together. So, after eating, Craig, Jaclyn, Andy, and Kenny (Andy's brother) played a few games. I sat between Jaclyn and Craig to offer help if they needed it. However, they did a great job playing and actually one a majority of the games. Andy and Kenny each won a round and Jaclyn and Craig each one like 3 games. It was fun. Plus, I think Andy's mom enjoyed watching us play...she especially enjoyed listening to our friends speak chinese. :)

That's basically a re-cap of the weekend. Nothing too exciting but still fun. Oh...and here's a funny story with Andy's mom.....

Friday night, we made it to the asian store to buy a few items. Andy's mom decided to buy 3 haam daan (salty eggs).

Saturday morning, I go downstairs and she had cooked juk (rice porridge). She then tells me, "Don't ever buy the haam daan's from the asian store. I cooked two this morning and when I cut it open, they each had a baby bird in it. It scared me to death. The third one also had a baby bird in it. Don't every buy the haam daan's from the asian store!."

I just laughed and explained to Andy that it was probably the Filipino eggs that she bought. In the Philippines, I guess it's a specialty and its called Balut. Anyway, she was pretty shocked that people would actually eat that type of stuff. Which of course, Andy then stated that Chinese people eat things that Americans would never have thought to eat as well. In fact, she tried to show me the eggs as well...but I didn't dare look.

We all had a good laugh. :)

Andy's Family

Andy's mom and brother finally made it to Minnesota to visit us! Andy's mom has wanted to come visit for a while but we needed to have someone travel with her. Luckily, this summer, Andy's brother was able to come. I could tell Andy was pretty excited and nervous at the same time. He was worried they would have problems with the connecting flights and getting through customs. We got to the airport shortly after they landed and Andy was actually nervous because he didn't see his family. I told him that it took time for them to get off the plane. Anyway, a few minutes later, his mom and brother walked through the gates. It was great seeing them. Since it was pretty early, we took them downtown to show them Mayo Clinic and then after dinner, we walked on the Douglas Trail for a bit.

It's always nice having family around. I can tell Andy is excited to talk to his younger brother and mom. You can also tell that they are happy to be here and see him. I just hope they don't get too bored. They don't know how to drive so they will basically be "stuck" at home while Andy and I are at work. They will be here for about 6 weeks..which means busy weekends full of fun for us.

Seattle

Last weekend, Andy and I were able to take a trip out to Seattle for my cousin Justin's wedding. We almost didn't make it but luckily, things fell into place which allowed us to go. There were only 3 cousins that were not able to be there (Ada and Amy on missions. Lisa on a vacation that was planned before hand). It has been a LONG time since practically everyone had been together. It was just great to be able to see everyone. Especially my family. My nieces and nephews are growing fast! Too bad they can't stay little forever.

Anyway, the wedding was really nice. Justin and Jessica were so happy. My sister also did a great job of taking some of their pictures. The reception was a lot of fun as well...a lot of clean up to do afterwards, but the gym looked great! My nieces also did a great job with the chinese dance they did with their cousins. I wish I could see them dance more often. But for now, I guess the clips that my older sister posts will have to do.

P90X Graduate

Today, me, Andy, finally becomes the graduate of P90X. I am so glad that I finish it although it was two weeks longer than I planned. This workout program is pretty good. However, toward the end of the program, it gets pretty boring; especially with the nice and short nice weather outside in Minnesota, it was so tempting to give up the program and go out to enjoy the nature. Anyway, I am done, and I am happy with the result.

Beautiful Weather!

I am sooo excited!!! Spring/Summer is finally here and for the past week, the weather has been perfect. Since last week, during lunch hour, I have been walking on the Douglas Trail. Every time I walk to the trail, there is one area were a red-wing blackbird will start flying above me. I know he is guarding his territory because he is just chirping away and hovering over me. Hopefully he won't attack me. Anyway, it is so nice to be outside and to enjoy the sun. With the sun being out, hopefully I'll be able to get a nice tan. :)

Picture of Red-Wing Black bird.

Stay home Mom earns 6 figure

Have you thought about how much a stay-home mom earns? Let me tell you. A stay home Mom can earn $117,000 per year according to a survey conducted by Salary.com. This survey compares the "pay levels for 10 job titles with duties that a typical mom performs, ranging from housekeeper and day care center teacher to van driver, psychologist and chief executive officer."

So, we all know that stay-home mom duties are not easy. Although we can't put a price tag on the jobs that a Mom does at home, the price tag provides a way or clue to people how much a Mom sacrifice to stay at home.

You can read the full article here.

Fixing Car

Saturday was a good day. We finally could sleep in without worrying being late at school. I finally got the time to do some of the projects around the house. I have been wanting to change the wheel cylinder in my car's rear break. I have done my research and asked my people including my brother-in-laws (they are very good in fixing car). It shouldn't be a big project. It will take a professional mechanic an hour to do it. I was planning to do it in 4 hours. I guess things would never turn on the ways that you want. It took me a about two hours to replace the wheel cylinder in one side. That was not too bad. Until I needed to bleed the brake system, things just started to turn south.

The idea of bleeding the brake system was to pump your brake and drive out all the air in the brake system through the bleeding valve in the wheel cylinder. However, for some odd reason, the brake fluid was shooting out from the wheel cylinder inside. I didn't think it would do it. In fact, that was the reason why I replaced the old wheel cylinder. Anyway, it took me another 2 hours trying to figure out how to fix this mess. Since we only have one car, anything happened to this car would lead us not able to go anywhere. I started to think about a back out strategy and worst case scenario. I guess we could call someone to tow our car, rent a car, or ride the bike to go to work.

At this moment, Tanya happened to talk to her friend and learned that her friend's husband knew quite a bit of fixing car, and they said that they would come to help. Great. Although I believe my abilities to fix the car eventually, it's always good to someone know what they do to teach you.

Anyway, three hours later, we finally replaced both side wheel cylinders. Later, we went out to eat. I was glad that the Thompsons could help us in this, and Mike said that he had a good time to do it because he liked to fix car. One thing I forget, I need to thank my home teacher Andrew for giving me a ride to get some tool earlier on that day.

Fish Farm

Previously, I had posted about our fish multiplying...well, we officially have a fish farm. Wednesday, we came home from work and Andy was feeding our fish and I started cooking. Then I hear Andy say something like this: "What? There are more fish?" So, I look and sure enough, our female guppy had another batch of kids. I believe it was about another 10 baby guppies. Will it ever end? Now Andy wants to buy a bigger tank......I enjoy our fish but I don't know about getting a bigger tank. Anyone want any free guppies?

Florida Vacation

For Memorial Weekend, Andy and I took a vacation to Florida. We had tons of fun!! The weather was PERFECT....It is in the mid 80's with a slight cool breeze the whole time we were there. So, we got plenty of sun. :) Anyway, here is a re-cap of how our weekend was.

Saturday:

Arrived at the airport and picked up our rental car. To our surprise, we were able to choose our car..of course, it depended on what size you rented, but you had your choice among that size. So, we chose a Toyota Corrola. We decided to drive to Tampa to go to the beach, which was about an 1 1/2 hours away. Anyway, as we drove, we noticed the steering wheel shook pretty badly. So, we stopped by the same rental place in Tampa to exchange the car. Luckily, the company allowed us to do this. The lady who was helping us said we could choose from either the compact or midsize cars. At first, Andy chose a Toyota Yaris but then as we were going to pick the car up, we saw that there was a Prius in the midsize section. We grabbed the keys right away and I went to see if we could change the car. The lady didn't hestitate and changed the car for us. Of course, it took us a while to figure out how to drive the car, but we had a lot of fun. Definitely saved us a lot of money on gas. :)

After we got the car, we continued the rest of the way to Clearwater Beach. It was so beautiful! We LOVED laying on the beach, swimming in the ocean, and just enjoying being out in the sun. :) We were also able to meet up with some friends for dinner later that evening.

When we were done eating, we drove back to Orlando to check into our resort....courtesy of agreeing to listen to a presentation, we were able to stay at the Hilton Grand Vacation for really cheap. It was an awesome resort...we were really impressed.

Sunday:

We pre-gifted and picked up our Disney Tickets and headed off to Epcot Center. I had a lot of fun. We went on a few rides (Space Mission, Test Track, and a few others) and walked around the different countries. We were also able to meet up with our friends Daniel and Joanne. It was a lot of fun seeing them.

Monday:

In the morning we had our presentation...if the representative didn't talk so much, I think we would have been out really quick. By the time we got to the closing the deal portion, it only took 10 minutes to finish up. We told them right away that we were not interested and that they would not be able to do anything to change our mind. Well, actually, I said that if the package cost was like $2000, then I would consider it. We were really proud of ourselves.

After the presentation, we met up with friends at the Kennedy Space Center. That was a really neat place to visit. Especially seeing all the different aspects of the space center. The coolest part was that the Discovery Shuttle was on the launch pad ready to launch in 5 days. Because it was so close, we had a really good view of the crawler. The crawler is what moves the shuttle out to the pad. I guess it takes 8 hours for them to move the shuttle out because it moves at 1/2 a mile per hour.

For dinner, we went to eat at an all you can eat sushi place for $15. Andy was the only one who bought it and he ate a ton! He ordered 6 rolls and each roll was 8 pieces. So he basically ate 48 pieces...minus a few that I ate. :)

Tuesday:

This was our last day so we just shopped around the outlet mall, ate lunch, then headed to the airport. We were sad to leave.

Anyway, that's basically our trip in a nutshell. I'll have to add more pics later.