best place to pray: phil's car

smiles found in the mundane

community tax center

here's an update sent by our professor about volunteering at the community tax center that does tax returns for lower-income families:

students - total: 131

tax returns completed by students - to date: 2,024
tax returns completed by students - projected: 4,200

refund total secured by students - to date: $3,375,295
refund total secured by students - projected: $7,425,000

tax preparation fees saved by students - to date: $273,240
tax preparation fees saved by students - projected: $567,000

the standard spring break post

spring break 2006...
^ nothing like old friends :)

^ big bend with family! i was planning on uploading pictures on flicker but i ran out of space already (???). i have no idea how/why. anyways, we did a lot of outdoorsy activities like hiking, off-roading!, rafting, and exploring. it was great family time and i learned a lot of stuff about the desert, nature, and the locals there.

an update on STiM

STiM seems to embody a whole bunch of processes...

the writing letter process: i finished writing my personal support letter! thank you jenn for editing and lina for making my letter much more asthetically pleasing by formatting it :). i love it when people help and are involved with this whole STiM business! writing the letter wasnt too bad but i wish i could add more. you know me, i always have more to say :p. thank you ariel for providing the entire STiM team with stamps! it was a huge help and definite sign of God's faithfulness to our team :). i hadnt even thought about needing stamps until ariel emailed me about it! i had a tough time deciding if i should write personal notes on my letters due to time and i had no idea what to write on some of them (ie. my parent's friends). i ended up writing personal notes only to people i mailed my support letter to. i hope this was a good decision :p. my goal is to finish sending out all my support letters by the end of spring break.

the fundraising process: personally, this has not been bad at all. Jesus has definitely given me peace and a good mind-set about fundraising. i honestly believe that God will provide for our team and i see fundraising as a means for people to get involved in Jesus's work. however, being in a society where fundraising is sometimes annoying, burdensome, and overwhelming is what i find tough. i also find fundraising a humbling experience for not only me but for others as well.

the health precaution process: i got my hep A shot today at the doctor. OUCH! i would complain more, but i'll save you from that (you can thank me for not complaining by supporting me ;)).

the 1st training weekend process: at our first training, we learned about mission's history, the biblical basis for missions, fundraising, how you approach differences, and how to share your testimony. it was a weekend packed with emotions, learning new things, and meeting knew people. there were some hard things i struggled with and i still dont have an answer for but experiencing it is something i will never forget. it's interesting how i left the retreat feeling really refreshed instead of burdened or bogged down by the stuff STiM involves. the highlight of my first weekend was bonding with the girls in AACM (all 4 of us fell asleep on jenny's twin-sized bed :p).

the project process: for manila, you can either do project A or B. A = this website. B = this website. and NO i will not summarize because the website does a much better (holistic) job of describing the 2 projects. anyways, I COULD NOT DECIDE WHICH PROJECT I WANTED TO DO. ahhh! i was freaking out (christine's a witness to this :x). i even got a "warning" email from the directors telling me that i needed to decide by a certain date and time OR ELSE. after much prayer and consideration, i decided to go on A. i dont know if my reasons are really good because i havent been, but i picked A because i felt the spirit tugging my heart towards A, i was more scared/uncertain about A, and i'm definitely more of a B person ("doing") and maybe "being" is something i will grow in.

"learning ("being") among native Filipino leaders and communities who have boldly ministered amidst difficult places and situations through their holistic understanding of the gospel" --> this excerpt from the website totally got me excited!

the team-bonding process: i have been SO blessed by such a great team!!! we have so much fun together. i know i can be "antsy" when it comes to getting things done but they have been really patient with me :). we had 2.5 stuffing-letter parties so far and even planned on going running on friday morning around town lake. we want to be in great physical and spiritual shape! the car ride to techqwerousvsdlw was also really fun and filled with great conversations :). i think the coolest thing about my team is that i get to hang out and get to know people that i normally wouldnt be able to. what a blessing :). miss fara is SO GREAT that i dont even want to begin on what a big blessing she has been to our team!! finally, the old STiMers invited us over for dessert so we could share all about our STiM experience. "welcome to the STiM family!" says ariel yang. cheers to great memories with great people!

the prayer process: what can you pray for me for?
1. reasons for going
2. continued faith with FUNdraising stuff
3. people to approach me about what i've been learning, for me to be honest in sharing, good conversations about STiM
4. our 2nd training weekend (3/24-26)

visitors

sushi night!

we had sushi tonight for dinner :p! to this day, my favorite sushi is the kind my mom makes.

so long, farewell

my unofficial godparents are moving to paris due to a job transfer. 1/2 of me is really excited for them because it's freaking PARIS but the other 1/2 will really miss them. this is us at kim son for their farewell dim sum lunch.

the origin of my dorky genes

my daddy bought my mommy a nice new laptop (her current computer is seriously about to DIE. i think jen and i timed it to take like 16 minutes to turn on :\)! anyways, my dad was soooo excited about getting the laptop in the mail that he seriously had to refrain himself from opening it himself. it was really cute :). the above picture is when my dad/mom FINALLY got to open it! instead of singing some triumphant song when he pulled out the laptop (like dum dum dum daaaaa!!!), he hummed twinkle twinkle little star...

hahahha. jen and i were cracking up. he's such a dork :p

nomadic notions

soooo...janie and i FINALLY got to play together. i think i get to hang out with her like once a semester so i really treasure these times! anyways, janie took me to nomadic notions. it's this place FILLED with beads-galore and you make your own jewelry with these beads. i'm probably the worst person to take here because i'm not very artsy and i cant make decisions for the life of me. and with all those beads there, decision-making is key to progression (quote me on that). regardless, i still had fun watching janie's beautiful creation unfold and spending time with janie :).

we're so proud of koller!

every week for our accounting class we have to each submit a question for the speaker. the questions are then graded and ranked by the class of 150 students. this week, ANDREW KOLLER won the best question out of the entire class! not only did he get to have bevo for a week but he got a new shiney pen that his fellow group member envied. good job koller!

(goal of this post: embarrass koller.)

i <3 whcc (reunions!)

can someone teach me how to french braid?

"off with her head!!!" - lina

hooked-'em and fade-aways

i watched TWO IM bball games today. yes, i think this must be a new record (considering that i dont even go to my team's practices :x this is a pretty good for me). maybe it's because i scorekeep so watching games doesnt seem that "efficient." shrugs. i had fun watching and cheering today though :). good game coreteam team, simon's team, hoopla's, and dino-might!

ps. i really suck at taking pictures for sporting events.

im spoiled by great friends :)

happy birthday allison!

nothing beats fresh donuts for the car ride to church :p

still trucking with my 2006's new year resolutions!

one of my new year resolutions for 2006 was to find a new hobby and playing tennis was something i wanted to try out. if you dont know already, ive had many terrible experiences with tennis :x so i've been naturally scared and hesitant about tackling this sport. BUT this saturday, mark kindly and patiently taught me how to play tennis! the weather was GREAT and i had tons of fun :). i'm currently very sore on my entire right side but i think the experience is well worth the pain :). anyone wanna go play tennis???

she walked with jesus

this past saturday, women's ministry had their first book club featuring she walked with jesus by brenda poinsett. we had a great turnout of just lina and i!! woohoo! hahahah.

im glad lina and i took it really well and just found it utterly hilarious. of the 30 minutes we spent waiting, 20 of those minutes were spent giggling and cracking up :p. we still had our "book club" and it was great! hopefully next time more people will come join the fun, giggles, and intimate conversation.

we under-appreciate our tvs.

STiM Team '06!

presenting...

1. christine lam.
what i learned about her? she came to AACM through IM football
in her own words: "i'm happy because the sun's here"

2. jenny wong.
what i learned about her? she's the first to get out of bed and be ready
in her own words: "where's my gold pen!?"

3. lina hsieh.
what i learned from her? phase 10
in her own words: "i like green bananas"

4. phillip lee.
what i learned about him? HE MISSES TALKING TO ME.
in his own words: "oops, i spilled my water"

5. xiao yu.
what i learned about him? he always makes people laugh when he shares in public
in his own words: "dude, i'm a dude."