Tuesday, December 29, 2009

never a dull day.

this is my brother. he's kind of a large muscle-y booger but i rather like him.


today was quite an exhausting day. i am neither superstitious nor do i believe in numerology. but funny things happened today that i thought i'd document.

rule of 3's [i promise, no one dies]

1. i waited through 3 red lights before turning left into the arden fair/best buy parking lot. bonus: i also witnessed a 3rd finger wave as the guy in front of me couldn't make it past the yellow light. i shall like to mention that now is not a good time to venture near shopping centers.

2. i sat through 3 different free wifi locations before i finally went home with a dead laptop and unsteady hands. i've since realized that my small frame can only take so much coffee. fyi for future wifi expeditions: panera bread limits wifi access to 30 minutes during peak lunch time hours. and borders has unlimited access but no wall outlets - which is basically access dependent on the life of your battery.

3. i pulled up to 3 different gas pumps at ampm before i finally started pumping gas into my grandma-mobile. i kept getting disoriented and couldn't figure out where my gas tank was. luckily i only got out 2 out of the 3 times = ]

i happen to be a little more scatterbrained than most people.. which is why i get into messes like these. ie. leaving my keys in the lock on the wrong side of the door, finding a cereal box in the refrigerator, getting on the wrong freeway to places i've been to a hundred times, etc.. sometimes it's frustrating and a waste of time and gas.. but i thank god for these mini adventures. i love that i still find reasons to laugh at myself and even more reason to discover joy in life.


ps. to close the day, i drove around sac international airport terminal B 3 times before picking up a friend. god is good even when i leave my cell phone at home.


merry christmas my friends.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

fluffy & flaky

we are all a little weird and life's a little weird and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

i should be studying for my final.

i forgot to write what i'm thankful for during this season of.. thankfulness. wait. there's a name for that...

i'm loving my lord more and more everyday.

one year ago, i crashed my car. it was pretty freaking scary and to this day, i still get goosebumps thinking about it. a year ago, i was also pretty distraught with my life here in sac. after graduating, i never intended to stay in this city for very long.. always scouting career sites looking for a new job elsewhere. either that or trying to get away from nutrition and start fresh. radiology tech.. school teacher.. frozen yogurt cashier.. no church, no community, no work benefits, no staple chinese take-out restaurant.. i think the highlight of my life was a little bunny that kept my feet warm at night in cold, empty apartment. while i never gave up my complete reliance on god at that time and i never stopped acknowledging his presence, i also never fully trusted in his plan in my life.

today, i put my trust in god not because of where he's brought me but because of his grace and mercy for a little stinker like me. having a job, getting into a master's program (at davis of all places!), living in a house where i can wear shorts during the winter and driving an awesome rice rocket mom-car is amazing. but not as amazing as christ's love for me.


thanksgiving.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

reading and prayer

sometimes, i just really don't want to study. if it's a choice between reading pages and pages of research studies (where i'm constantly hitting myself for not paying more attention to metabolic pathways in undergrad) or cutting up paper into a puzzle of minuscule pieces and then gluing them all together, i choose sharp scissors and my new pack of glue stick. and then i wonder why i decided to study more nutrition instead of becoming an elementary school teacher = ]




something about prayer

sometimes prayers end
with a little word: amen.

that tiny word
holds a big meaning:

let it be so!

so, prayer is not passive.

prayer is never therapy
distraction,
catharsis
or wishful thinking.

it is inherently active
and productive.

..prayer accomplishes.
prayer is the ridiculous being born.

jwdf -d. everts


..and paper figurines of jesus are a little creepy. especially if he has a rotating head
:D but sO cool!



Kiva - loans that change lives


Kiva - Acacia Fellowship

Sunday, October 25, 2009

sometimes you just have to think about happy things..

why today was a great day:

- i woke up early enough to get to church on time.. sort of.

- dinner at work = chicken marsala, 2 root beer floats and a bag of cheetos yuM

- helped an old mandarin speaking guy pick out foods he likes when the RN couldn't figure out why he never ate anything ..for the last 10 days >_< (unfortunately i was at a loss for words, both english and chinese, when he told me he had no idea what his doctor ever tells him)

- pulled out 3 white hairs from the back of my head and decided i might as well start my crown of splendor early

- playing old school stream of praise songs in my car

- old books and fall trees






Thursday, October 22, 2009

good morning.


he watches over you
he is your shade at your right hand
the sun will not harm you by day
nor the moon at night
he will keep you from all harm
he will watch over your life
he will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore
p121


i've had tons of blog worthy thoughts these last few weeks.. days.. just didn't have time to convert them into comprehensible thought pieces in digital form. even now i'm simultaneously untangling my hair, pulling on socks, and trying to find something that matches to wear for work (need to be out the door asap!!) but regardless of what i write or what pseudo-thought provoking ideas i have, the answer (like in all bible study discussions = ] ) is always god. and so this is my prayer for today..

god i don't always understand the things that go on in this world, in this country, in my circle of friends, in my life... but i believe that you are merciful, that you are just, and above all else, that you love us so much. so i pray for wisdom to acknowledge you in all things and a heart that longs to serve you and others in a way that glorifies your name.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009



dear lord,

my desire is to wake up with praises on my lips.
my desire is to be overwhelmed by your creation.
my desire is to pray consistently for the ones i love.
my desire is to talk with you as if you were always by my side.
my desire is to have a heart full of joy and thankfulness for your mercy and grace.
my desire is to cherish this brief time i have on earth with my family and friends.
my desire is to be satisfied with only you alone.
my desire is to convey the passion i feel in my soul through my actions.
my desire is to go to sleep whispering your name.

lord, you put these things in my heart and with your help, make them happen.
i love you. amen.

Monday, October 5, 2009

oil change in 200 more miles.

my parents came to visit me this weekend.. yay! it's becoming harder and harder to find time to go home and visit these days..

after they left, my entire neighborhood lost power for about an hour. no big deal.. i just turned off my laptop, lit a few candles and decided i was gonna do what the amish do and go to sleep early. i also started thinking a little bit more than usual because that's what happens when i'm not staring at a glowing screen all day = ]

i love being with my parents. i don't really notice it but there's a lot of things to think about when i'm living on my own - whether my refrigerator's stocked with things i can easily grab on my way out to work, if my bills are all paid on time, that my car gets an oil change every 5000 miles, i'm scheduled for dentist appointments every 6 months... it seems like at least for a moment, all that load is taken off when i'm with my parents. i guess that's just the mentality i've gotten used to growing up.. as long as my mom and dad are around, i have nothing to worry about.

before they drove up, my mom called to ask me if i still had enough toothpaste.. shampoo.. spaghetti sauce.. socks.. warm sweaters.. hehee

but jesus says, if you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him. i definitely think that my parents fall pretty low on the evil scale but in comparison, christ is infinitely more loving and caring than they could ever be. how crazy is that!? that his love is more deep and more wide than the love of these two people who would do anything for me. my prayer today is that i learn to put even more trust in my god..


things that i love today:
freshly ground coffee
vanilla torani syrup
pandora -playing music like yiruma
spiral bound notebooks

what do you love today?

Sunday, September 27, 2009

queen helene is coming to visit tonight.

it's nearly 8pm right now and it seems like the day should start winding down from here on out but i can't help but feel more stressed than i did when i woke up this morning. i have about a million more chapters of reading to get through before the end of the week, my room is a mess and my parents are coming to visit this weekend (yay!!), i have emails to reply that are long overdue, and just about 349857209 more things on my mind than i have room for. ahhh!!! what happened to the days when i could watch house marathons all night on the usa channel and spend hours working on a paint project?! meh.

..thank god for speaking through pandora amidst ringing phonelines and crashing pots and pans ^_< hahaa just kidding. i haven't heard this song in long time and was just reminded of how much i like it:


Find Me Here
Speak To Me
I want to feel you
I need to hear you
You are the light
That's leading me
To the place where I find peace again.

You are the strength, that keeps me walking.
You are the hope, that keeps me trusting.
You are the light to my soul.
You are my purpose...you're everything.

How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

You calm the storms, and you give me rest.
You hold me in your hands, you won't let me fall.
You steal my heart, and you take my breath away.
Would you take me in? Take me deeper now?

How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

Cause you're all I want, You're all I need
You're everything,everything
You're all I want your all I need
You're everything, everything.
You're all I want you're all I need.
You're everything, everything
You're all I want you're all I need, you're everything, everything.

(lifehouse)


despite having to work on weekends, i'm thankful for my job.
despite living away from family, i'm thankful for fellowship.
despite emerging stress pimples, i'm thankful for his love that says .every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.



and if you've never tried queen helene's mint julep face mask, it does great things for pimples :D

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

the beginning of the rest of my lif.. 2 years

first day of [grad] school tomorrow!!

maybe i'm way too old for this but i miss the years when my mom would have to wake me up several times in the morning to get ready for school.. sometimes she'd lay out my clothes on my bed so i wouldn't even have to think about what i'm pulling over my head - or whether my top and bottom matched. in elementary school, me and my sister would pick out hair ties for my mom to put in our hair while we ate breakfast. and then, if we weren't being sent off to the bus stop, we'd be rolling into the minivan on our way to school. of course, if it were the beginning of the school year, our new backpacks would be filled with folders, notebooks, binder paper and sharpened pencils and a new box of crayons to stock my desk with. oh yes, and lunch. my mom always made my lunch for me :D

fast forward 15 years. first day of school.. i scrounged around my room for a blank notebook unused because i slept through most of the psych 1 class i'd originally intended it for. found a few pens and pencils and stuffed them into the front pocket of my backpack. lunch? ehh. i'll probably just stop at in n out before class. no back to school clothes shopping. no cute folders with smiley pikachus on the cover. no ride to school....

don't get me wrong - i'm sUper excited about going back to school.. in davis of all places! all the events that led to me getting the (emailed) acceptance letter to grad school has been a crazy god blessing in every single aspect. i really can't be any more happy = ] a part of me just misses being a stinky kid at home.. coming in and out of the house knowing my mom's always gonna be there.

rats. i believe this is what people call .homesickness.

nevertheless, SUPER excited for tomorrow!!!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

faith and salmon

i think this is an appropriate follow-up post to my (lack of) exercising entry:

last night after work, i decided to go pick up some salmon roulettes (sUper delicious with a great price) for dinner at trader joe's. (luckily i was able to find parking at the folsom blvd location before the slough of vehicles that followed closely behind me)

after entering the store, i made a straight beeline towards the frozen seafood section and grabbed 2 packs of salmon. ..not that they ever run out of anything, because that is the awesomeness that is TJs ^_< afterwards, i went to check out what frozen desserts i could potentially fortify my evening meal with when i was approached by this big beefy looking dude. at first i thought he was just gonna grab a box of mochi ice cream but instead he looked at me a little surprised and said, "heyy weren't you just at gold's gym??" oh mann.. i nearly died with surprise first of all because going to the gym is not something i would subject myself to. ever. and second, do i look like i go to the gym?! i have a coworker who calls me .veal. purely because of my lack of muscle tone. hahaa so instead of raising one eyebrow and saying ::what?! you kidding me?!!:: i laughed politely and mentioned that he'd mistaken me for someone else.

walking away, my first thought was dang, that was weird. later i decided it was probably the best compliment i could ever receive.. someone thinks i work out!! as ironic as that sounds, i like it. unfortunately, logic set in pretty quickly and realized that he probably just saw another asian girl and decided we were all the same person.

excellent.

haha i guess i should also mention that due to craziness of schedule and other sorts of things i do, i haven't turned on my wii fit in about a month. >_<


another reason why i have no time for physical activity is due to the following:


people keep telling me to put these up for sale, which honestly doesn't sound too bad at this moment with tuition and all >_< but i think one of the reasons why i love making these little monster dudes is because i love giving them away.. i really wouldn't know how to put a price on them because the sum of all the materials is seriously less than $2. and for some people, relaxation and de-stressing means working out (HA), reading, doing laundry.. for me, it's making yards of fleece come alive = ] so... instead of setting up an etsy shop or self advertising, i think i'll just keep them for myself until someone worthy of monster possession comes along.

also... i've been thinking a lot more about missions lately.. maybe because it's been such a huge point at dccc and acacia this summer ^_< but really thinking about the little talents that god's blessed me with and how that all works in the whole scheme of matthew 28:16. i'm beginning to really believe that this mentality i have of what life should be like has so much been bent by a culture that has gone so far from what god originally set out for us. i mean, when someone can't stand to throw away food because of .starving kids in africa. do you really believe that? that child slavery and human trafficking occur across the ocean and maybe even in your neighboring city? that water is a scarcity elsewhere and something as common as diarrhea after mcdonald's can mean death for millions of individuals? a lot of times when i think about it really hard, i get really cynical and frustrated over why these terrible things exist. i mean, using john 9 to explain suffering really doesn't do it for me when innocence is sacrificed so crudely. how will god's glory be revealed in all this?? and yet we are called to continually serve the weak, and the poor, and the orphans, and the hungry.. with the spirit of god and the strength of his love.. that's big!

so what about wanting to finish a master's program or working a full time job or wanting to raise a family in a home with a super awesome kitchen? i don't think these are necessarily dreams that come solely from the american culture rather than a desire that god's implanted in me. the difference is how i live this life to give him all the glory. and that's how i started thinking of how i can also contribute to this global operation carrying out god's love to others. mm.. i don't have any answers right now but i'm getting more and more excited to see how god would reveal his heart to me.



where a little faith's enough to see mountains lift and move.
how cool is that?!

Monday, August 31, 2009

so much good stuff!

crazies! i was featured on the front page of the sacramento bee today for my monster making skills.


FYIs for the DIYers

Published: Monday, Aug. 31, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 1D

Deborah Lee was a senior at the University of California, Davis, when she sewed a little monster doll and took photos to show friends how she did it.

She was going to use her brother-in-law's online photo album Web site – mixbook.com – when he asked whether she'd heard of Instructables.

She became hooked.

At www.instructables.com, do-it-yourselfers share their expertise on everything from making fresh mozzarella to making bookshelves from cardboard, from tapping a watermelon for its juice to making your own audio speakers.

That makes it the do-it-yourself counterpart to blogging, YouTube, Wikipedia and the many other parts of Web 2.0 that enable people to put their individual stamps on the broader consciousness.

Such efforts have changed all media as newspapers and TV embraced citizen participation in providing content. In a salute to average experts like Lee, The Bee is publishing her step-by-step instructions on how to make a monster friend.

Instructables is as much for sharing your own work as for picking up tips, said Instructables chief executive Eric Wilhelm, who co-founded the site in 2006 with a bunch of high-tech engineers in the Bay Area.

"I'm always on the (Instructables) Web site," said Lee, who works in the nutrition department at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento. "There are always really good ideas on there. Some people are really creative."

Lee is modest about her efforts, but she is among the creative. She contributed (under the screen name cuteaznprincesss) a simple way to make the monster dolls.

Instructables, which gets 4 million unique visits per month, featured her idea. More than 100 users complimented the project, and some showed photos of how they'd followed it.

"Someone made it out of a sock, which is kind of gross," Lee said.

She also provided instructions for making a decorated shoe rack from a fruit box because, she wrote, "not many of us own a Carrie Bradshaw-sized closet with walls devoted exclusively for our humble collection of footwear."

Lee has made three of them for her tiny east Sacramento apartment.

The uses for Instructables are myriad.

However, this report was not produced with the aid of the Instructables project titled, "Write a creative nonfiction article in 10 difficult steps."



so hilarious..

Monday, July 27, 2009

it hurts.

ughh.. this is precisely the reason why i choose not to exert myself in strenuous physical activity. especially in public.

as i type, my biceps quiver. as i lift a forkful of tilapia to my mouth to re-stimulate ATP synthesis in my muscles, my arms falter. i turn my head up and down from keyboard to screen and i feel as though my nerves are being pinched in 7 different places down my spine. twelve hours from now, i'm going to be sitting stiff-necked at my desk thinking ::why on earth did you ever think working out was gonna be a good thing?!?:: ..at least when a patient tells me he has pains in his rear, i will be able to sympathize completely (give or take 50 years)

and get this. after the class, miss instructor bounces her way over to me, not to introduce herself (this was my first time attending) but to let me know that she was very amused watching my attempts at vsksasana and shirsasana. dkflgnlskdh.

nevertheless, paul says

you yourselves are god's temple and god's spirit live in you. if anyone destroys god's temple, god will destroy him! 1 cor 3:16

oooh yikes! so what is a girl like me to do when In n Out runs and custard buns strike!? i mean, i can still rely on the vestiges of my fast metabolism but nutrition nerds all know that peaks around the age of 21.... which i am not..... >_< and surely god would not call us to obey a command so biologically unattainable right?? no. he wouldn't. and that is why he created the nintendowii. or at least, created genius japanese men and women to create the wii :D what better way to stay in shape and thwart the settlement of adipose tissue in the nether-regions than doing yoga and playing tennis all in the confines of my own home?? i fully resolve to .work out. at least an hour a week (shut up, i'm taking small steps) and bring my wii age down at least to the 30s. whoo! so exciting. of course, i won't be able to start until after i recover from this horribly excruciating pain....... how glorious the day will be when

the lord jesus christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform [my] lowly body so that it will be like his glorious body! phil 3:20


whoa talk about taking scripture out of context! hehe :D in conclusion, no matter what method you choose, this body that we've been given is holy. both inside and out. i think it's just as important to sculpt the heart mind as it is to maintain a healthy exterior.

thank you for reading this philosophical thought piece by yours truly.

Friday, July 17, 2009

track 8

though i have not seen him
my heart knows him well


i love that! ..but how well does my heart really know him?
that's my prayer tonight. that while he has searched me and knows me, i might do the same for my christ.

Monday, May 25, 2009

the progression of my illness, as told by my medicine cabinet.

since the first bloom of the season and the first cut of newly sprouted grass, these allergens have been attacking my immune system like silent ninjas on the prowl for pokemon (or whatever else they prowl around for..) fortunately, it's never been as bad as what i've observed in some unlucky people. instead of prescriptions, i just make sure i have a roll of toilet paper at bedside to catch my morning flow of snot. lovely picture isn't it? :D

just about three days ago however, something flared up and i went home from work with a sudden onset of fever and other sorts of weird symptoms. since then, i've tried several different remedies but to no avail, my nose has still made itself unavailable to me and i sometimes feel like someone's giving me a really bad head massage. instinct tells me it will eventually go away but i'm starting to consider whether or not i should get myself checked out.

following is a short photojournalism piece i've put together detailing the journey of sickness:

at first, before any sort of real symptoms occured, i had just been taking my normal vitamins (like any good nutrition graduate would...) i've got my one a days for women, a multivitamin, the occasional vitamin e, and of course, vitamin c - as shown in the suspicious looking ziploc bag. every time i go home to visit, my mom always gives me another ziploc bag of vitamins. i do believe this is her way of saying .i love you. too bad vitamin c can only help you so much....

that's when my medicine cabinet really started to grow. over the last few days, i've been taking these items in a variety of combinations. i started out with allergy meds exclusively but after the fever scare, i purchased tylenol cold. seeing that nothing was improving, i found a benedryl that included allergy aNd cold medicine. amazing, right?! no. try taking that at the beginning of an 8-hour shift. oh man. i'm surprised i didn't get any screaming nurse/patient calls for missing meals >_< the worst part of all is sleeping. lying in a supine position completely renders my nose useless, making for very uncomfortable and sleepless nights...

i haven't yet, but i'm considering if it'd swim well with the benedry that's currently coursing through my veins. soo tempting... i'm also wondering what's more potent: one sleep-inducing gel cap, or a swig of keystone light. hrmm. just kidding. this was also a parting gift from my mom. except the six-pack was intended for cooking chicken. i can't stand the taste of beer.

i remember the last time i took these pills, i went straight to sleep. unlike dr. house, it doesn't make me irritable, cynical, genius, and hot - that already comes naturally. kidding.

meh i hate being sick. i hardly ever get sick, but when i do it's like pirates taking over the ship. wait.. too soon? hehee anyways, i hope you'll join me in cheering for my immunoglobins for a successful win. here's probably a good place for me to insert an analogy to the recent rockets defeat but then i'd just be kidding myself in thinking i know anything about basketball >_<

does anyone know of a good general practice doctor in sacramento? ..and while i'm at it, i'm also looking for a dentist, an eye doctor, and a good chinese take-out restaurant. thanks!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

an evening bike ride in east sac.

this evening, i braved my seasonal allergies and nasal congestion and ventured for a bike ride down M street. after finding out about the death of 2 rats in the bike room of my house, i hadn't gone near my bike in months. luckily the rats were disposed of and i had someone else sanitize my bike before hopping on = ]

biking down M street is one of my favorite routes. M street happens to bisect the fabulous forties right through the middle, allowing me to create elaborate stories of the type of people who live in the houses and the kind of magical creatures they keep in their basements as i bike through. mm.. just kidding about the magical creatures. i thought it might add more to the storybook feel of my vignette...

starting at 36th street, i turn the corner onto the street that i frequently walk through on my way to work (that is, weather permitting. or rather, when i feel ambitious enough to save the earth 0.3 miles at a time) past 40th street is when things start to get exciting. on one corner on the right lies my absolute favorite house. watching disney movies and reading fairytales growing up, i've never envisioned myself living as a princess in a castle. i mean.. for one, my bunny would get lost in a second! as expansive and elaborate as it may seem, i think there's just something flat and rigid about them. don't get me wrong though.. if you were to give me a castle at your expense, i'd take it! hahaa i think i like the faraway cottages tucked within birch trees and rose gardens the best. that's exactly what this house on the corner reminds me of. even before i reach the front of the house, i can hear a bubbling water fountain behind the rustic wooden fence that guards the maze of vines. in the front, there's a turret type structure with a rusty weathervane on top and a rounded doorway leading into the foyer. sO cute! to make things even more whimsical, the house is a subtle shade of rose with dark wooden trims and shutters. i love it!

as i bike further, i see neighbors crossing the street to greet each other on perfectly manicured lawns. this is what i love in a neighborhood.. friendly people, kids kicking their balls out of bounds into the street, little puppies running too close to the spokes of my tires.. i especially love smiling and saying hi to the little grandmas and grandpas standing in their garden watering the same plant for what seems like hours.

two blocks down, there's another house on the corner where i swear, quasimodo must be hiding out in the attic. its tall slabs of grayness and melting window panes remind me of old byzantine cathedrals. hrmm.. come to think of it, did they even have cathedrals during the byzantine empire? i may very well be screwing up historical fact.. ehh that's what it looks like to me = ]

another block, another amazing house. this one in particular looks like it's thomas kinkade reincarnate. completely nestled in delicate trees and flower sprays, it's tOtally cute. amazingly, its next door neighbor seems too have been plucked from a hilltop in tuscany. not that i've ever been there before, but it totally seems like a house you'd see in a barilla pasta sauce commercial. in fact, i think andrea bocelli is singing in the backyard. wait, no. someone's just trying to pass me on their roller blades.

impressively, i finally made my way home without a single mosquito bite.. but a mind swirling with thoughts of the lives that go on behind those stained glass windows and wrought-iron fences. are the kiddies building a 3d puzzle in the living room? the parents sharing a glass of wine and the day's activities together? i'm definitely a little too idyllic for my own good, dreaming about the making of a princess in the upstairs room.. oh well >_<

i wonder, does having fairytale dreams just set someone up for disappointment? there's a fine line between optimism and idealistic expectations. obviously reality strikes and cinderella finds herself back in her disheveled rags, but the moral of the story is that patience and goodwill beats the striking clock and prince charming returns afterall! ; ]

..i believe this is what they call a hopeless romantic -___-"







Thursday, April 9, 2009

ninja bear.

i honestly don't think i'd ever purchase a minivan with dual tv screens in the back seat. the new 2010 lexus rx is boasting double screens that can be set to different programs so as to minimize the amount of fighting amongst the kiddies. granted, i'm not so sure i'd ever be driving such a vehicle, but i honestly think that these cutting edge technological innovations are what's screwing up our entire social conduct these days!

growing up in new york, my family used to make the 5 hour drive down to new york city to visit my grandparents and relatives. it was a long drive. in a time before seat belts were considered necessary under the law, my parents would take out the middle seats in our caravan so that us kiddies could take naps on the bed of the car. yet however long and tiresome the trip, i can still picture driving alongside the rocky ledges of the delaware water gap and whenever time wasn't a factor, my dad would take the scenic route home.. passing through upstate new york country where the tree leaves tell you exactly when the autumn season had arrived. we'd sing along with old taiwanese cassette tapes and make a card table out of the center seat.

there really wasn't anything unbelievably incredible about our little van.. i think we had automatic power seats up front but definitely nothing like dvd screens for the back seats. and for this, i'm glad. what a waste of scenery and lively experiences when your eyes are glued to an LCD projected hannah montana concert or another viewing of the incredibles?! (btw, i loved that movie) i guess if you're driving through rush hour traffic on I-80 there's not much to look at.. but the point is, so much is missed when your attention is fixed on something static.

the aforementioned lexus came out with a commercial featuring 2 kids sitting in the backseat arguing about everything under the sun. "keep your foot on your own side!" "pizza's better than hamburgers" "dinosaurs can't flyyyy" yeah. totally reminds me of my brother and i in the backseat.. even to this day. the commercial closes by implying that dual screens with separate controls will eliminate such triffles between siblings. right. let's numb the kiddies into a stupor, impairing all their physical and mental capabilities so that i can drive in silence up front. what the heck?!

i can't say that i have any experience with kids as i have none of my own, but observation tells me that kids can be a pain. i know i've purposely made it my mission to be one on several occasions throughout my childhood.. regardless, i think it's a tragedy when kids become the ones dictating what happens in a household. rather than inspiring them to appreciate what's going on outside the car or just having a silly conversation inside, it seems so much easier to pop in a movie. and also, regarding sibling rivalry, i really believe that supervised arguements can build relationships.. me and my brother used to fight in the car all the time. especially in the summer when the middle seat directly in front of the air conditioning vent becomes a hot commodity. but with my mom's mediation, we all learned to take turns. (all together now, "awwwww") no just in the car, but discipline at home should completely eliminate the need for separately controlled tvs in the car.

now before you think i'm going to turn into a sadistically irrational mother in my old age, let me just clarify that i have nothing against watching tv and playful hyperactivity. among other things, i follow way too many tv shows to mention truthfully, and i love love love video games, esp. ones where you get to slice off your opponent's appendages woohooo. my qualms with all these new gadgets is that it's hurting face time between parents and kids. and with that, pandora's box is unhinged.

..and that is why i think the toyota camry is the most awesome car ever. hahaaa ^_<

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

egad!

it's an amazing feeling to be completely humbled by the awesomeness of God's blessings :D

Saturday, February 21, 2009

another reason to love work.

"good morning mr. williams! i'm from nutrition, just checking to see how your breakfast was this morning."

"well i've been passing a lot of gas since before you came and i'm afraid the next one isn't gonna be gas."

"oh dear!! should i call in your nurse??"

"wait, you're not my nurse?"

"(thank goodness) no sir!"

(btw, mr. williams is a super cute old guy well into his 60s :D )


after the rain comes flowers like this one, completely saturating the trees with fuschiascity. yes.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

wicked awesome.

went to sf, saw the musical, came home happy.

holy cowseroni it was amAzing!
the entire musical was such a great adaptation of the book.. i daresay, it might even be better than the original publication. to say the least, i fell in love with the stage as well as the pit orchestra nestled underneath. sO impressed!

things have been busy, almost borderline chaotic around here but i have some crafty ideas coming this way so stay posted!

on a different note, i'm taking the amtrak home tomorrow and driving back in my new dream car.. aka. camry aka. mom car aka. 45-yr. old bachelor magnet. praise god! (for the car, i mean) i have no intention of attracting said men.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

a needle pulling thread

in december i hand-sewed nearly 30 strawberry pairs (about 60 individual..) to give to my friends and coworkers for christmas. despite mini blisters on my thumb and index finger, it was just about the funnest project i'd worked on in a lonnng time. ...i can feel my fingers starting to itch again seeing as valentine's day is just around the corner... >_< here's a simple idea i had.. they're attached to a piece of ribbon but i like how the lighting makes them look like floating hearts <3
(and thanks to alison, i finally figured out where to get my pictures poloroidized = ] )

i don't know about everywhere else, but this afternoon sacramento got some pretty awesome rain. i love the kind of rain that just pours down like no one's business. even though they're rather short-lived here in the valley, i love every minute of it. this time it actually me caught while i was in the bathroom... which happens to have a sky light window just above the ..well, you know. imagine my surprise when all of a sudden i thought i was being pelted by m&m's :D

story in a box



did you ever make dioramas in elementary school? i still remember my mom helping me make an underwater scene in an old shoebox with a blue cellophane backdrop and 3D tropical fishies hanging from the ceiling of the box. (note to self: dioramas = future classroom project)

this little :princess and the pea: scene comes from sugarcity's site. i lOve how it's a detour from the traditional diorama, bringing a simple fairytale scene come alive = ] sO cute!

now, who wants to start a discussion on the age-old question of why girls love fairytales? ^_<

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

did any one else know it was groundhog day yesterday?

ever since i bought my hp laptop about a year ago, i've been receiving email updates from them almost every week. i always delete them because really.. how many headphones and speaker sets do i need?! every now and then though, they have emails promoting their latest projects from their creative studio. for valentine's day they have a super cute and easy vintage card that you can print and assemble. a few days ago i saw cards like these at a french boutique shop down the street from my house selling for 8 bucks each! with a little glitter glue and scalloped edges these could look awesome = ]


my latest creations include about 27 pairs of pea pods, pattern found at mr. monkeysuit, and yet another pair of baby shoes for my sister's unborn child = ] it's amazing how much i can accomplish while watching House marathons on the USA channel.

oooh, and i just realized i'm going to see Wicked with Christina in exactly one week!!! yahoooo! :D

endless possibilities


unlike other people i know, fashion and style don't come easily to me. i can find singular items that i love love love, but as far as constructing an entire outfit that's all tied together from head to toe, i'm lost. thankfully, there's polyvore. you can select individual items to create ensembles at the click of the mouse. the best feature i think, is the option to sieve through the multitude of items by selecting a specific color scheme. whalaa!

i recently purchased this dress for a night out but unfortunately it never got to see the light of ..night. can yOu give me a reason to take it out for a spin?? as for the shoes, YSL will have to wait cuz my next $400 is going towards rent >_<

Monday, February 2, 2009

loving: purple flowers


i don't know if i would call myself creative. it's more like i feed off the creativity of others. i scroll through about 43982309 blogs a day (while sitting in my chair at work, of course) and frequently catch myself having a "holy cow!" moment where i'm absolutely floored by the creativity and inspiration of said blogger. on a few occasions, my ambitiousness would get the best of me and i'd end up with a sad version of an original seen online, and a kamikaze-run room full of paper scraps ..and glue in my hair, indefinitely.

nevertheless, nothing deters my from my affinity towards anything beautiful, inspired, and handmade. i'm hoping i can keep this new blog updated with interesting finds online, as well as some of my own creations. also, be prepared for some slightly off-topic anecdotes and narratives from time to time.

i like to think that this blog might be slightly representative of myself too. the name that i so cleverly came up with (with the help of thesaurus.com >_<) seems to help get that started = ] my chinese name, 百樂 pronounced bai le, literally means "hundred joy" or just lots of joy. if i had any say in it, i'd say this name actually suits me quite well =] but then, hundredjoy.blogspot.com didn't quite have the ring i was hoping for. so instead of sounding fob and grammerless, i settled with the more emo amaranthine. meaning never-ending, unfading ..and a little bit purple in color. i dO like purple quite a bit.