The year of 1998 is a big year for us.

1. First of all, we bought a house in April in Milpitas, California, a suburb of San Jose. This is a three-bedroom house with 1625 Square feet, two-story with a small backyard. We made one of our American dreams come true.

2. We made it to the top of Half Dome. Half Dome (Elevation 8842 feet) is a famous mountain in Yosemite National Park in California. The hike to the top is 18-mile round trip and 4800 feet elevation gain, plus, it involves a 400-feet climb on the cable (part of it might exceed 50 degree). It took us 12 hours for the hike including lots of rest on the trail and the top of the mountain. Many people consider climbing to the top of Half Dome a lifetime achievement. We definitely consider it one of our major achievements in 1998. Hiking Half Dome together makes our relationship a different one. Achieving this goal together makes the hike more adventurous. For so many years later, we can always share the exciting moment of being on the top of the world together.

3. We learned scuba diving and got certified in October. Joe made one of his American dreams come true again. Janet was afraid and not comfortable in the water before. But she just wanted to be Joe's company. She has put lots of efforts to overcome the fear under water. Now she really enjoys scuba diving and becomes more comfortable and confident in water. First time diving in the open water was very exciting. That is a wonderful world down there. We are so looking forward to diving in warm water.

4. We completed two backpacking trips this year. One was in Lassen National Park. The hike was around 11-mile loop trip with little elevation gain. We saw 11 lakes in this hike. Another one was in Yosemite National Park. The hike was around 13-mile round trip with 2000-feet elevation gain. They were not very difficult, but were very good training for beginning backpackers. We could only enjoy the solitude and beauty of wildness through backpacking trips. We could have done another trip if it were not raining. Now we are quite ready to complete a backpacking trip across the Grand Canyon sometime next year. This is especially on Janet's wish list. She makes it one of her lifetime achievements.

5. Janet had done Laser eye surgery on both of her eyes in early 1998. Now she can see things very clear without the hassles of eyeglasses and contacts and feels like a new woman again. She is very happy with the results.

6. We went back to Albany, New York in May for Janet's graduation ceremony. She has formally received her Ph.D. degree and done with school.

7. Janet has changed her job in February. Since then, she works in Corporate Marketing Department for PeopleSoft, an enterprise application software company. She started to commute 50 minutes each way at the beginning. This triggered us to move to Milpitas. Now her commute time is down to 30 minutes each way. But Joe's commute time varies from 15 minutes without any traffic to over one hour with heavy traffic.

8. Joe has moved to IS department, but remains working for Trimble Navigation which produces and distributes GPS (Global Position System) products.

9. We are going to Australia from Dec. 10 to Dec. 31. We are going to have two summers this year. We are very excited.

However, it was also a big lost for Janet in 1998. She lost her grandmother and father in the same month in January. She felt extremely sorrow for the lost of her father only in his 60s. He gave her so many moral supports all these years while she has been struggling in America. He had been the most important source of encouragement in her life. Janet appreciated her grandmother very much because grandma encouraged her to study hard and be a better person through education in her early childhood even though grandma doesn't even know how to read and write. She missed them very much. She had spent some valuable time with her mother in China and was very surprised to see how strong her mother is. Now Janet has become a stronger person. She becomes more positive toward her life and always encourages her friends to be positive too.

Life is such an experience. We have to try very hard to make the best out of it.

We have so many things to look forward to in 1999.

We wish you a very happy holiday!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!