Merry Christmas!

Cindy and I would like to wish all of you a Happy Holiday season. We hope that you have enjoyed your it as we have. We also figured we'd give you all an update as we haven't written in this blog for a while.

Cindy has enjoyed her Part Time MBA program at USC Marshall's School of Business. She has done very well in her classes and has proven adept at mastering a wide variety of business skills. Most importantly, she's been highly motivated and has worked hard, studying well ahead of time to perform well on her exams. During her time between next quarter's classes, Cindy has taken up a Pilates class and is becoming quite strong. She can do quite a few pushups now. I've even adopted a couple of her ab exercises - they're pretty killer.

Fortunately, Cindy stills finds time for me despite her busy schedule. We're still exploring new restaurants in our corner of West LA and sometimes find something new we haven't tried before. Recently we ate at a gourmet cafeteria style restaurant called Lemonade that we enjoy quite a bit. The stews are excellent, as are the side dishes. And it's only a few miles a way, so we can go whenever we are feeling lazy after a workout.

I've enjoyed transitioning from student life to working life, as funny as that may sound. While sleeping in til 10 am can be nice, so too is having a direction and a goal for one's professional life. I have enjoyed rotational program at Toyota, and currently I analyze the long term product strategy of the company. It has proven rewarding and challenging, and a good use of the skills I honed both in Advertising and B-School. New rotations are in the offing, so I will have a new position to learn in March.

To keep myself occupied when Cindy is away at class, I have private lessons in Wing Tsun kung fu. The new techniques I am learning are challenging; I'm also taking the time to relearn some previous material to make sure I have it down pat. I haven't had the ability to take group classes as frequently as of late, so I have placed more of an emphasis on private lessons, personal practice and trying to get together with a training partner when schedules allow.

And of course, there are the things Cindy and I do to rot our brains when we're tired. Cindy just got a Kindle for Christmas and just used it to blast through another novel. I recently hacked and slashed my way through Dragon Age: Online and saved the kingdom of Ferelden from certain destruction at the hands of a mindless, monstrous horde.

We hope you've enjoyed our update, and have a Happy New Year!