Chansoda

Khmer Post Gala

by Chansoda on May 2, 2014

images coming soon

Erin and Chris are getting married, and the date keeps getting closer and closer! This past Sunday was Erin’s bridal shower, and what a lovely shower it was! Held at the Newtown Inn in Connecticut, the ladies of the bridal party did such an excellent job designing and crafting away with the decor! We had such a great time, and of course, I brought my camera along. Things I’m learning, how to place people in nice lighting to get a good picture, unfortunately I did hit a few fail moments. Placing some one in front of a wall sconce, makes it look like they are growing something out of their head. Next time I’ll know better!

Easter at the Rossi’s

by Chansoda on April 23, 2014

It was nice of Shirley and Angelo to host an Easter brunch for us on Sunday. Absolutely delicious and beautiful meal! Ending with a pretty sweet cake, and cigars. We had lots of fun, and came home even fuller than we need to be! Check out the Easter decor and pics.

Cambodian Community Meeting

by Chansoda on April 6, 2014

We have a large Cambodian community here in Danbury, and quite a bit dispersed throughout Connecticut, but aside from events at the temple, there isn’t a uniform community that meets and plans these events. As the previous generation ages, we are finding the need to be more organized and to preserve our culture so we can pass it on. It’s nice to see my brother getting involved, and working with the community to fill that need, and perhaps, this will help evolve the Khmer Collective project as well. This past weekend, my mother and brother hosted a community meeting at the house to develop some plans in forming this organization.

Landon’s First Birthday

by Chansoda on March 27, 2014

This little adorable guy turned one and little party was thrown for him. Of course, he probably won’t remember his birthday, but the pictures are here to embarrass him later in life and make others say “awwww…”

Snow!

by Chansoda on February 23, 2014

February dumped so much snow on us, creating a beautiful snow globe of a winter wonderland. It also meant a lot of shoveling as our place became covered in over 2 feet of snow. The lake is frozen and serene. Such a pretty time of year, but, I do look forward to being able to swimming in the water again, rather than treading on the frozen surface.

Savannah and Florida

by Chansoda on January 16, 2014

Karla and I decided to drive a car packed with goodies to our semi retired friends in Florida, who are pretty much family to us. They just built their new house in Kissimee, and are staying there for the winter, so if we delivered the car to them, they would host us and fly us back north. Win/Win situation for everyone, it’s an excuse to take a little break from this cold northeastern winter. Wish we could’ve stayed longer.

Got up and hit the road at 3 am, and drove straight through to Savannah, GA, where we spent a night in the Marshall House. It was a beautiful old hotel with charming decor, lots of history, and a few ghosts! Yikes. Very nice city, will definitely spend more time there in the future. After, we hit the road for Florida, and visited St. Augustine, the oldest city in America. Not as charming as Savannah, but learned a lot of history there too. Could have been warmer also!

All in all, we had a great time with Shirley and Angelo, and will head south again. If we didn’t have to rush back for work, we could have enjoyed a little more sun, and lived like retired folks!

Pajama Jam Party

by Chansoda on January 5, 2014

A year later in our new home, Karla and I decided to finally throw a party! A post holiday pajama jam, great times for all. There were games, music, and a mock “in-bed” Photo Booth, and breakfast foods (sort of). The last of the bunch left at 4 am, and didn’t leave much of a mess to clean up. Good company.

Holidays

by Chansoda on December 26, 2013

Started off our Christmas Eve trying to get Holly to sit still in front of the tree to do a little holiday pose. Christmas will be the one year anniversary of us adopting her, and it’s been quite the Holly Jolly year with this little monster.

We are joining Nancy and Skip for Christmas Eve dinner at the Mulranes’, it’s very nice of them to invite us. We had a great dinner, and it’s nice to see a family embracing the holiday spirit.

Christmas day I exchanged gifts with my partner then we headed to my mother’s to exchange gifts with the family and eat some Cambodian food. The holidays always puts me in a state of mind that isn’t too pleasant, but I enjoy giving gifts and spending time with loved ones. It just comes and goes so quickly and a new year is right around the corner. I have a lot to be thankful for, and really enjoy the life that Karla and I created for ourselves in our home and circle of loved ones. I just especially miss my dad, and what he wanted Christmas to be for us, a reflection of his hard work and good intentions to give us what he can, to help us fit in here even though this wasn’t his culture. As kids we weren’t always the most appreciative though, I miss him.

I was sort of dreading this Christmas before heading to my mom’s, but they surprised me this year. I appreciated how thoughtful my youngest brother was, he knows I’m trying to get in to running, so he bought me a new pair of running shoes which was a nice surprise. We also have a treadmill our friends are getting rid of that needs to be picked up and brought to our house so he offered to help pick it up and transport it over. It turned out to be a really nice Christmas because everyone was so pleasant to one another at my mom’s house. Afterwards Karla and I went over to Nancy and Skip’s to finish off Christmas over there.

Christmas Party 2013

by Chansoda on December 23, 2013

Our friend Kevin has an annual themed Christmas party every year. This year it was Breakin’- Electric Boogaloo. Meaning fun, colorful, 80’s club breakdancing clothes. Karla and I had a great time dressing up, and seeing the all out fabulousness that everyone else had on.

We played bingo, won an awesome bombox, and took our dancing to the streets. This December evening was freakishly warmer than usual, and we took full advantage of it.

Always a great time.