Monday, December 31, 2012

Joys of living

These days I don't have much reason to go to costco other than to fill up my dino's belly. Since I don't eat much and can only afford novel electronic items once every fiscal year I generally just leave it to my brother to help rack up the cash back on our shared account.

However today I realized there's one particular item that can determine the sole reason why I would go to Costco.  Now that I pay a rent premium for my own bathroom, im also looking at having to purchase my own toilet paper - something I have not done for 5 years!  I'm currently going through the 4-pack I swiped from the big house before turning in my keys (I dare you to judge me), and I'm finding how spoiled I was to be treated to a never ending supply of the fluffiest version of Charmin.  Unfortunately this high end brand of toilet paper runs out really fast! All that fluffy means less squares per roll compared to your average joe roll.

What this means for me is a need to think creatively and efficiently about this toilet paper buying adventure that I am soon needing to embark on. Earlier this week I shared a TED video about efficient paper towel usage. By using only one sheet of paper towel, the presenter was able to thoroughly dry his hands aND save trees at the same time.

I do not believe the same can be done with toilet paper. I'm more likely to selfishly claim adequate amounts of paper per use than to be thinking about Saharan deforestation.. or where ever toilet paper pulp comes from.

Thus, my brilliant realization! Nothing will complete it's job more satisfactorily and efficiently than Kirkland Signature brand toilet paper from Costco! It's complete honesty that I'm so excited to go get my gigantic 10 pound pack of toilet paper!!!

Happy new year everyone! May this new year bring you as much joy as my imminent toilet paper purchase :)

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Christmas present for myself

Over Christmas my brother came home with the brand new Samsung Galaxy III.. didn't take long for me to decide I wanted it too ;) My trusty incredible had lasted me over 2 years but recently its been having storage issues that prevent me from accessing any of my apps. Ever since Verizon rolled out their new shared plan, I've been weary of upgrading and losing my unlimited data plan. Interestingly, the guy at the store looked up my data usage and I only average 0.8G per month. That's a long shot from the 2gig limit I now have for the same price! Time to watch more movies on my phone!

Cool features on the phone include front facing camera, lightening fast shutter speed that can catch my bunny in action, and whistling cat call whenever I receive an email :D

Unfortunately my long awaited internet connection is not so satisfactory.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Rules for dating

I debated for a long time whether I would share my wisdomous insight (HA) on this particular subject for a couple reasons. Mainly, I'm not exactly qualified to give advice seeing as no relationship I've ever been in has ever progressed to a permanent situation. Also, I'm weary that these things can be very abstract and dependent on specific circumstances/individuals to warrant a broad sweeping analysis. And finally, too close to home.. I finally decided that while I have no qualifying experience and my track record stands at 0 wins, by the grace of god I'm doing okay so maybe I.could.share a few reasons why.

1. Cover yourself completely in bubblewrap on your dates. You think I'm joking?? Hmm.. then you're right ;) What I mean is, hands (and everything else) off. Maybe I'm maniacally puritanistic but I believe physical relationships are so much easier to progress in compared to everything else - and if there is an imbalance in building the spiritual, emotional and physical deals, it's possible to have a false sense of intimacy that will inevitably lead to sad stuffs. If things don't pan out between the two, there's less debris to clean up, less baggage to bring into another friendlationship, and little regret.

2. Guys - don't tell the girl she's the one you want to marry soon after she accepts your interest in going out. This is just asking for super freak out and you're going to scare her away! By all means, think about and pray and stuff because its important that at least one of the two is thinking intentionally and all that. (In fact, its admirable that you do!) Just don't say it out loud just yet. Especially after date 2. Doing so could potentially up the pressure ante for the lady to respond. And if there's anything guys can learn about girls, it's that we're terribly inept at arriving at that place of surety so soon.

3. Now that I've shared how nOT to display your ardent intentions, I'll go ahead and confuse you some more by asking you to be completely focus-minded and precise about the reality of the relationship. It's my belief that if you feel, at 6 months into the relationship, that things are kind of funky, chances are things aRe funky. Take a good look at what's going down, get some trustworthy,  unbiased counsel and be prepared to move forward - whatever that might look like.

Disclaimer: Im a self-proclaimed non-commital. And I might run away from things at the slightest hint of uncertainty. That's not good.. But in my defense, I really do think that when gut instincts are coupled with solid counsel and the divine kind of conversations, its okay..

4. Trust god (yadayadayada) not just in your life but in [his] life as well. This dating sort of thing is not easy and oftentimes I complain that getting treated out for dinners and schmoozy outings just isn't worth all the fuss! So when friends tell me just trust god, I roll my cynical eyes and dismiss the prospect of ever meeting Mr. Hotstuff.

But life itself has given me more than enough reason to believe that God intends everything for good, for learning, for growing, for his greatest purpose. The challenging part is believing his same love and mercy for the other person. That if things don't work out - even when I've completely botched the process, it is for God to redeem, not me. To know this is so freeing and so easy to let go of hurt, anger, disappointment, failure, doubt, etc.

At the end of the day, we're all really messed up people despite the best of intentions and more often than not, I speak more for myself here, we're going to make a hot mess out of the whole thing. It seems like everything I desire to honor and glorify god in all I do is super tested when it comes to dating - but the story is that he is still sovereign and faithful.. and gigantically forgiving. If nothing else is worth it, experiencing all of who god is through the process is worth a shot.

So happy dating!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

To pray like zechariah prayed

Him and Elizabeth were old - well beyond their once young and spritely selves. But then when the angel of god appears to him, he says "your prayer has been heard". So weird! Why in the world would zechariah be praying for a kid??  Being old, possibly knowing his physical and emotional limitations to raising a child, having a kid is cray-cray. Although being barren in those days was tough, he'd probably accepted it and learned to manage without diapers and teenage rebellion. Life as he knew it would continue with just the two.

And yet it seems like his desire for a child was something he secretly and continually prayed for.

I could learn something here.