learn how to spell with me

2012-01-10T16:03:00.000-06:00

2012 resolutions:
1. personal: read 12 books (1 book a month)
2. physical: while in LA, go outside for at least 15 minutes a day
3. spiritual: read half of the Bible
4. relationship: speak kindly and more gently to the people closet to me (no snapping!)

half broke horses by jeannette walls

2010-02-04T16:27:00.000-06:00

i have an autographed copy of this book, how cool am I?

i first picked up this book after hearing jeannette walls speak at the tx book festival. she comes from a crazy and super dysfunctional background so it was inspiring to see how she matured into the successful person she is today. the book is the story/memoir of her grandma who was an extremely interesting person (that's a complete understatement too). i love books like this because i like books about people, their history, and where they come from - maybe that's why i like talking to strangers :)

must read if you like memoirs and if you dont, then go read something else!

2010 resolutions

2010-01-29T15:57:00.000-06:00

1. improve posture
2. complete marathon

psalm 84

2010-01-19T17:40:00.001-06:00

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.

Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.

Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.
Selah

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.

Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty;
listen to me, O God of Jacob.
Selah

Look upon our shield, O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.

Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.

O LORD Almighty,
blessed is the man who trusts in you.

Til next time: Paris day 7 and 8 (11.28-29.2009)

2009-12-30T21:57:00.000-06:00

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Paris and i highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a place to visit. The city is super easy to get around, there are lots of places to see, and its a beautiful place to visit to broaden your perspective on the world and its history. let me know if you're planning to go and you can borrow all my notes!

Paris Day 7 pictures here

Paris Day 8 pictures here

inspiration: Paris Day 6 (11.27.09)

2009-12-18T13:31:00.000-06:00

ok seriously, my inspiration to blog about paris is pretty much nonexistent right now. i would graph-out my inspiration timeline for you from pre-paris to now but that would require work and inspiration...both of which my laziness has overcome. another excuse is my vp just came by to tell us that we can all go home early now if all "critical issues" are resolved...and posting paris pics is not under the 'critical issue' category :)

Day Six Pics here...2 more days to go!

Happy Thanksgiving Americans!: Paris Day 5 (11.26.09)

2009-12-15T16:37:00.000-06:00

During our visit to the Louvre (which btw is the most overwhelming museum i have ever visited), we ran across countless # of classes that were learning about art. i love this type of learning! maybe i was deprived of this as a student but can you imagine going to school in paris and being able to see first-hand all the things your history, literature, and art teachers are trying to get across to you?

Day 5 pictures here

Vous êtes belle: Paris Day 4 (11.25.09)

2009-12-15T00:00:00.000-06:00

i came back from paris with a long list of things i wanted to further research - one being...synonyms for the word, beautiful.

Day 4 pictures here.

Dedicated to Ms.William: Paris Day 3 (11.24.2009)

2009-12-09T00:00:00.000-06:00

Ms. Williams was my junior year high school history teacher and I am dedicating this post to her because she is the only history teacher I can remember the name of (I can remember plenty of past history teacher's faces though!!). I remember her name not because she made me fall in love with history but because she was completely biased towards me and my friends because we were known to place in history fair. i had it so easy in her class...placing in history fair meant straight A's for the rest of the year :).

I never realized how much i enjoyed learning about history until college - that's when i realized history was all about people and their decisions and personal journeys which intertwine into a bigger picture. with that said, one of the top 5 favorite things about my trip was learning more about france's history, revolutions, and people (specifically, marie antoniette and napoleon). so much of france's history i was unaware of which caused me to wonder if i had a poor history education or if i didnt pay attention during class! sigh, the mysteries of life.

paris day 3 pictures here, enjoy!

Cowboy in paris eating pho: Paris Day 1 & 2 (11.22-23.2009)

2009-12-04T16:34:00.004-06:00

"bonjour! parlez-vous anglais?" - my most spoken phrase during my time in paris which also happens to be the only thing i know how to say in french! As a cost-saving measure, my company had a forced shut down for 1 week during Thanksgiving which prompted my mom to take me TRAVELING - dont i have the best mom in the world? we decided on paris since tickets were super affordable and quickly found a nice apartment to rent out for the 8 days we pretended to be parisians. The apartment was top 5 favorite parts of Paris because it felt like home to us and there was a kitchen/dining room where we could eat breakfast together each morning. Breakfast was top 5 favorite meal in paris which consisted of coffee, fresh baguette with generous spoonfuls of french butter smeared on top, and pastries from a local bakery we would walk to each morning to buy. life was good.

click here for pictures of our first 2 days in paris...comments = part of my blog post :). i know, it's cheating but cant control the laziness.

BORN TO RUN by christopher mcdougall

2009-11-04T16:49:00.003-06:00

i have consistently brought up this book ever since i started reading it, which i hope people dont find annoying but it really has changed the way i think about running, marathoners, and our bodies. everytime people mention injuries from running or how they're incapable of running (something i used to characterize myself as), i want to shove this book in their hands, sit them down, and make them start reading it immediately! the book's main story tells the tale about a race between crazy runners in america vs a mexican tribe called the tarahumara, who run 30 miles DAILY and are renowned for their long-distance running.

as the book title suggests, the author explains how human beings are created and (literally) born to run due to how our bodies are formed and put together. this really resonated with me because running has given me more results than any other physical activity/diet has in the past. not only that but all i need is a pair of shoes and non-rainy weather...no more dealing with gym memberships and all the needs a swim work out entails.

i highly recommend this book to those who love to run and to those who hate running with a passion. who knows, you might even end up buying yourself what's pictured below (mark refers to these as my "expensive socks"):

IBM 10k Run - 10.18.2009

2009-11-04T16:18:00.000-06:00

Ran IBM's 10k run with Veronica and averaged a 10 minute mile :). she is my favorite person to run with & is pretty much the only reason i was able to stick with my running group that met during ungodly morning times!

Austin Cityworks Class

2009-10-30T16:21:00.001-05:00

I am soooo behind on posting about my cityworks class! it's been so much fun and i've been learning tons so shame on me for not posting sooner.

lets rewind to how all this started. i read in the paper that the city of austin was putting on an academy so its citizens could learn more about their city government. being the nerd that i am, i immediately applied and probably spent a good 15 minutes on the application (when i probably should have spent 2 hours because it was comprised of 5 essay questions). i was surprised to find out that i was one of the 30 who was accepted out of the 300 applicants but later realized i was most likely accepted because of my ethnic background and gender, ha.

here's a quick run down of what we've covered so far. the class meets every tuesday and it comes with a free dinner!

1. met mayor, city manager, and some city council members to understand how the city is structured and receive a general overview of austin's govt

2. tour of austin convention center and airport. did you know the austin airport is named after the 1st austinite who died while in battle in WWII? did you know there's an age limit to work in the airport tower?

3. library services, economic growth & redevelopment services, small & minority business --> lots of resources available to austin citizens!

4. EMS and firefighter training (pictured above). these guys are everyday heroes! i got to break down a steel door, shoot a firehose, and watch a propoane tank blow up - super cool. i also tried talking to the cheif of the fire dept bc it's rare to see a female in this type of role but she was not interested in answering my questions :x.

5. communication center: where 911 calls are taken and homeland security and emergency management happens here too

6. municipal & community court (i hope i never have to return here) and austin police dept. i got to see the cop's helicopter, horses, bomb squad, and swat team. did you know just last week a pipe bomb was put on top of propane tanks at a nearby HEB!?

more to come as classes resume...

congrats david & annisa!

2009-10-29T12:27:00.000-05:00

their wedding was at the beautiful villa antonia in austin, texas. yay for friends getting married :)

Los Angeles Angels

2009-10-28T17:19:00.000-05:00

Made a quick trip to LA to celebrate miss laura's birthday...10/10, what an easy birthday to remember. this was my 2nd time visiting california within a 4 week timeframe, i'm either extremely spoiled or it's time for me to move to california (probably both)! highlights included beach bumming, spending time with some of my favorite people in this world, and celebrating laura's birthday with dorky event after dorky event (click here for pictures). laura is the queen of dorkiness and we love her so dearly for that :p.

we also went to LA to run our first half marathon! the most i trained for was 8 miles so i was super impressed with myself that i was able to run all 13 miles in 2:26:50! i even told my family to meet me at the finish line 3 hours after i started but i finished much earlier than previously predicted which also makes me smile.

run down of my race: mile 6 felt pretty good (surprising since i'm usually dying by then when i trained). mile 8 started getting a little painful but i gave myself the prize of listening to my ipod (since this was the furthest i trained for) which kept me motivated. mile 10 was extruciating. mile 11, someone please bring me a wheelchair. mile 12 is when the crowds start gathering to cheer you on and you feel like you can FINISH this thing. finish line, my feet and legs hated me so much that i had to sit down immediately and only stood up afterwards to take a quick picture with my family.

all in all, im really happy that i completed my first half marathon! never in my life would i have thought i could run 13 miles but I CAN. now i push myself to run further when i work out bc i know how far my body and spirit can go...

el palo alto

2009-10-22T11:45:00.003-05:00

mark and i changed things up for the month of september and met up in palo alto, california to celebrate jen and matt's birthday and visit mr. matt liaw, who is still trucking thru his phd program (you can do it, matt!). timmy was also a trooper by driving all the way from LA to come hang out with us for a weekend.

the weekend was chill and i couldnt get over california's beautiful weather...is it time to move there yet? highlights were hanging out with great company, riding matt's harley (there is no protection to surround you!), delicious meal after delicious meal, and monterey bay. enjoy pictures here and go visit palo alto before matt, matt, and jen leave!

frontline: obama's war

2009-10-21T00:53:00.002-05:00

i just finished watching this frontline episode about the war in afghanistan...it's about 1 hour long but definitely worth your time to watch. this war has been going on for 8 years, the longest war in american history and i definitely understand why it's such a long war after watching the video. it's soooo complicated with so many factors to think about. from the ground, the troops are trying to build relationships and trust with the afghan people while also fighting the taliban. politically, the country it filled with corruption and only 30% of the country is controlled by the government. with the failed election recently, it only complicates the war even more. furthermore, pakistan supposedly is an alli of america however pakistan is an alli with the taliban who america is fighting against. america wants to continue their alliance with pakistan so they fund pakistan with billions of dollars for military and civil use. it's odd that we're spending all this money to "support" pakistan while fighting against pakistan's alli, the taliban.

this seems like an overly complicated situation and i wont even pretend to understand everything that's going on with it. i DO think it's important for us to be somewhat aware of what's going on in afghanistan no matter how confusing all the names and places might be.

Theological Survey Class: Trinity

2009-10-20T23:32:00.003-05:00

i'm trying to be a better blogger by writing down all the things i'm learning. i think it'll help me retain some of the info and force me to sit down and review all the things that are going through my head so bear with me as a jot down random things i'm learning and thinking about thru the theological survey class i'm taking thru austin stone. (hopefully, you can learn something too :).) come join me every sunday at 7pm if you're interested in learning more about theology! it's been super interesting so far!

this past week's topic was the trinity. honestly, i've never really cared to even think about my beliefs behind the trinity but i know it's important to know what you believe so you can worship the God of the scriptures and not a god that you've created in your head (thus making it idolatry). the class walked us through what the bible says about the idea of the trinity and summed up the trinity in 3 points: 1) God is 3 persons 2) Each person is fully God 3) There is one God. it's hard for me to say i completely understand the idea of the trinity but maybe it's one of those things where it's difficult for our limited minds to really grasp.

one of the highlights of the class was when we read 3 different quotes extracted from pentecostals', mormon's, and jehovah witnesses' doctrine and it was shocking to understand how different their doctrine was solely because of what they believed regarding the trinity. it was very surprising to me! before i could have never theologically explained how these religions were different from christianity but i can now.

we were also challenged to think about what our view is of the trinity. how is this even possible?? one suggestion is to analyze your prayer life. do you generally pray the majority of your time to only God the Father? Jesus? Holy Spirit? or do you pray to the Father, thru Jesus, and thru the power of the Holy Spirit?

bad habits

2009-10-15T09:12:00.004-05:00

i've become more and more conscious of how i've started to stare down people on the road that have wronged me - from unnecessary honking to cutting me off to driving wayyy too slow. i pass them up with a really annoyed expression spread across my face and turn my body around so i can get a good look to see if they're talking on the phone or if they fulfill any of my previously established sterotypes regarding bad drivers. this is terrible! and i definitely dont want this to become a habitual reaction...it's a bad, bad habit. SO, my first step in recovery is just being more aware of my natural tendency to do this after being wronged. next step is controlling my desire to see and stare down who wronged me as i pass them by. so far, my journey in fixing this has been going pretty well! i find that not doing this eases my road rage, stops me from building up false notions about drivers, and i honk less.

what a great song

2009-09-29T20:34:00.000-05:00

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fulness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

miss dai --> mrs kwan

2009-09-24T21:04:00.002-05:00

it's always fun getting a bunch of girls together to celebrate a special occassion! miss annie dai is going to get married soon so we all joined forces to throw her one last horrah before she becomes mrs annie kwan. the weekend was packed with fun event after fun event as you can see here.

Book Thoughts

2009-09-23T14:26:00.002-05:00

joseph recommended this book to me and i definitely understand him more after reading it. i never heard of the buckley family before reading this book however quickly fell in love with the buckley's within the first few chapters. they're an extremely intelligent family with a privileged network of friends. i love how their son, the author portrays them as very normal people who loved each other simply even though they were in a place of high influence. i almost felt like i was journeying through the healing process with the author as he recounted memory after memory of his parents. some of the memories were hilarious, some showed how real his parents were thru the struggles they faced. even if you dont know who the buckleys are, i would recommend this book to you because i think everyone should be educated about people who have impacted America in ways they are unaware. i also recommend that you read this book within google-search-reach due to the references and vocabulary used throughout the book :).

an old friend from the manila days recommended this book to christine through facebook and i happen to run across the status post as i was doing my daily facebook-stalking browse. the book is action-packed therefore making it a page-turner. it's about how future cities on earth will sit on wheels and travel place-to-place eating up other cities to get energy and resources. trouble begins to brew as one city creates an atomic-bomb type of weapon that can kill off cities within seconds (author subtly shows his anti-nuclear weapon beliefs thru this book). the ending was not predictable and character development was too weak for my liking.

won't you be my neighbor?

2009-09-16T13:52:00.001-05:00

We picked up the family on Sept 4th at the airport and boy were we nervous! We really didnt know what to expect but all turned out well. Their first impression of their apt was how big it was, how unnecessary a dishwasher is, and they made a mental note to not use the right side of the sink due to fear of the garbage disposal :). The following day, we brought over lunch and celebrated the mom's and Simeon's birthday (he's the youngest son who just turned 2). Interesting fact, they dont celebrate birthdays in Burma so we welcomed them to the American birthday tradition by sharing a meal together, playing jenga and cards, and entertaining the kids.

The family's english is relatively good and we learned about their persecution in India for being Burmese and not Indian. The Indian children would even throw rocks at their kids while they were playing outside. The father, Sam also showed us his Burmese Bible and read a few passages to us. His favorite book of the Bible is Daniel.

I'm looking forward to spending more time with this sweet family. Even as they transition to a new country, they seem to remain happy and cohesive as a family despite worries like job, health, money, etc. We're currently working to set-up their utilities, figuring out what to do about their overpriced rent, finding Sam a job, and taking them to their health assessments. Please keep the Nawl family in your prayers.

We still need lots of help!:
- HEB gift card donations for family's food and diapers (food stamps have not started yet)
- job referrals for Sam (he speaks english, has a background in computers, and taught Western style music while he was in India - guitar and voice)
- Cash donations for family's basic needs
- If you're in the Austin-area: drive family to various appointments, tutor English

congrats weili and irene!

2009-09-10T16:24:00.002-05:00

weili, irene, and i all grew up together in the same greater houston chinese church community. i think weili went to summer church camp with us and i remember irene from way back in the HCC days. i recall seeing irene, grace tow/ou, lina, and company at camp every summer and would wonder what life would have been like if my family kept on going to HCC. i have noticed how neat it is when people somehow become more interwined with each others groups as time passes along...especially in the chinese-church community.

i'm very happy for weili and irene as they begin their journey together as a married couple! weili has been a good friend to mark and i since the college days. i'll always remember his mad accounting skills, exploring austin in his scion, his constant loyalty and friendship to others, swish 3-pointers, and his kind-heartedness and gentleness. his guy friends are in complete disagreement to him being gentle but to this day, i value weili for this and stand by this quality of his! i'll also always remember weili giving me a really big hug after i first found out my grandfather passed away. irene and i have gotten the pleasure to know each other through important people in our lives like lina and our significant others. she has been a bigger blessing to me than she probably realizes because of her hospitality to me when i visit new york and how she cares so much about mark. i'll always remember irene's natural openness to me, hospitality and care, talent, and generosity.

click here for more pictures of their big day!

MTV CRIBS

2009-09-03T12:31:00.003-05:00

I'm so thankful for everyone's generosity & God's provision for the Burmese refugee family. We had an OVERFLOW of items donated to the family's apartment that we were even able to save some items for another refugee family & donate the rest to Goodwill! Our group has done a great job in working as a team & we were so efficient in setting up the apartment and stocking the pantry/fridge with basic necessities...I'm really proud of the people in our group & it's neat to see everyone's gifts work together (the apt is more organized & nicely "decorated" than my apt :)).

my career at UT PAC

2009-09-02T16:53:00.004-05:00

Since i couldnt find anyone to purchase season tickets with me for UT's performing arts center this year, i decided to volunteer with UT's PAC so i could not only enjoy the shows but also go for free!

Shows i saw this season:

1. Chick Corea and the John McLaughlin Band - liked the 1st song but the novelty of the strange sounding music quickly died
2. Flight of the Conchords - hilarious but rowdy audience
3. Annie - girl's voice was annoying & didnt realize how many songs i knew from this musical
4. Legally Blonde - cant beat reese witherspoon but still entertaining
5. Avenue Q - ruined by already knowing the soundtrack
6. Rent - 2nd time seeing it
7. Mamma Mia - favorite one i volunteered for!
8. Wicked - still top 3 broadway show
9. Light show - weird
10. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me - hilarious & educational, i'm trying to listen to this NPR radio show on a more consistent basis

! Important Post !

2009-08-26T16:00:00.003-05:00

Hi Blog Readers,

My church group is welcoming and "adopting" a refugee family to Austin. They're a family of 4 from Burma (the parents are in their late 20s and have a 5 year old daughter and 2 year old son) and they fled Burma due to ethnic/religious persecution and have been living in India for some time now. We meet them at the airport for the first time next Thursday, September 3rd and have lots of things to do before their arrival!

Our group is excited about all the preparation for their arrival and could really use some support and help if you're able and willing :). The refugee family will only have a few personal belongings when they arrive so we're collecting things for their apartment and everyday items before they arrive.

Some things we're collecting:
- bedroom furniture
- kitchen items (place settings and cookware)
- appropriately sized clothing
- HEB gift card donations
- monetary donations to fund the purchase of the above items + misc items

In addition to preparing for their arrival, we're looking forward to getting to know them, welcoming and showing them around Austin, and helping them as much as we can (i.e. applying for social security cards, scheduling health assessments, practicing english with them). Prayers and thoughts for the family as they transition are also much needed and appreciated.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Let me know if you're interested and I'm always open for suggestions/ideas on how to welcome this family well! Feel free to forward this opportunity to anyone else that might be interested.

<3 johanna and her church group

p.s. info about burmese refugees for your reading pleasure:

1) Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) - In depth 88 page publication on Burmese Refugees, with highlights on the Chin ethnic group – page 50.

http://www.cal.org/co/pdffiles/refugeesfromburma.pdf

2) Church World Service - Short news piece on plight of Burmese monks and refugee situation, 2007:

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:dWhhfZnKjz0J:www.churchworldservice.org/site/News2%3Fpage%3DNewsArticle%26id%3D6362+church+world+service+burma&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

3) Relief Web – News article on the Monk’s uprising in Burma, 2007:

http://www.reliefweb.int/rwarchive/rwb.nsf/db900sid/TBRL-78CQ3N?OpenDocument

4) Christian Today – News article on refugee situation in 2006, with reader comment at bottom from Burmese refugee persecuted for religious beliefs:

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/church.world.service.calls.on.un.to.respond.to.burma.violence/7805.htm

5) Refugees International – Short current 2009 piece on Burmese refugees, with links to other resources:

http://www.refugeesinternational.org/where-we-work/asia/burma?gclid=COCr98iDwJwCFQ8MDQod7HJbmw

6) Indo-Burma News – news piece on Chin Burmese refugees living in India (profile of the Nawl family), 2009:

http://www.indoburmanews.net/archives-1/archive06/aug_06/273/

Taiwan 8.6.09

2009-08-21T10:04:00.000-05:00

congrats linton & phoebe!

2009-08-20T12:20:00.002-05:00

phoebe and i grew up in the same church and i've always known her to be quiet yet wise. (i say this with much thought after just studying James 3.) every time i see her i have to refrain myself from spilling my guts to her because i know she'd love to listen about my "troubles." Linton and I served on core team together & we got to know each other pretty well through serving aacm together. i really admire his willingness to serve others and i cant get enough of his corny jokes! i am very happy for them because i believe their marriage will bear lots of fruit.

more pictures here.

happy bday mr.lam!

2009-08-19T13:42:00.001-05:00

we celebrated your birthday early and now i'm posting a late birthday shout-out. nothing is happening on time this year for you! anyways, hope you had a fun birthday in LA & thanks for being one of the few people who read my blog :)

of all the fishes in the sea

2009-08-13T16:14:00.002-05:00

CUTEST bridal shower theme EVER. click here for pictures.

congrats, irene!

happy bday clam!

2009-08-12T13:39:00.003-05:00

thanks to the guys' planners, christine's surprise bday dinner was a fail. who knew guys kept their planners up-to-date?? o well, i still had fun making frozen margaritas for the first time, eating my fav cupcakes from uppercrest, & discovering the awesomeness of streamers. i'm going to have these at my wedding! click for more pictures.

how functional

2009-08-05T10:38:00.001-05:00

Not only are these fully functional leather bags, they may also be used to hang your coat! not completely crazy on how it looks but it's unique & i appreciate increased function.

tom valenti

2009-08-03T15:26:00.002-05:00

i volunteered for my 2nd cooking class with central market's cooking school this past friday. tom valenti was the guest chef and he made 5 different recipes from his new cookbook, you dont have to be a diabetic to love this cookbook. supposedly tom valenti's a pretty famous chef that's good friends with bobby flay and mario batali, which he made sure to name-drop them at least 4x during his class. the food was good with clever ways to incorporate a diabetic's eating limitations however the recipes are too complicated for my liking. i ended up not buying his cookbook and i think i might have offended him :x.

menu included:
- shrimp toast (good but too many ingredients for me)
- salmon carpaccio (didnt get to try :()
- fresh fettuccine with asparagus
- grilled tuna with red pepper puree (fav dish)
- stuffed chx breasts w basil, goat cheese, & sun-dried tomato (not a big fan of goat cheese)

hoping 24 is just as exciting as the tv show

2009-07-29T17:12:00.011-05:00

God is a very thoughtful being because He knows how reflective I can get therefore He made my birthday in July, half-way through the year so I can reflect about everything on a grand scale at least 2 times a year - new years and birthday. If I was born in an odd month like february or november, I would be completely overwhelmed having to reflect for a year's worth of time during the new year (when most people do their grand-scale reflections).

Highlights so far from 2009:
- triathlon and trying to live a lifestyle that doesnt involve eating and watching tv :x
- san fran for tiff's bday
- 1st time getting pulled over and receiving speeding ticket :(
- beginning to find community thru austin stone. we studied in-depth some popular Bible stories and we're going thru James now.
- volunteered with utpac (a post to come soon about this), financial coaching, and jenny's school
- learning about golf, something i never thought i would ever care or know anything about 4 years ago!
- seattle for spring break to visit christine
- north fork, ny to celebrate 4 year anniversary
- LA family reunion
- July 4th lakehouse, good times and good memories

Celebrate, good times, celebrate! (how i celebrated the big 2-4):
- slept over at laura's only to find a sweet surprise (click to see pictures)
- breakfast with parents
- surprise lunch with friends!

Reflection summary (and trust me, it could be longer :x):
i really hate saying this but time flies by...a little too fast for my liking. i cant believe so much has happened already in the past 6 months! overall, my life is very good - it's almost impossible to think of even 1 complaint. work has significantally improved since i moved to a new dept where i have a super nice boss, helpful coworkers, and a challenging role. austin is still treating me well with great community and fun things to keep me occupied. as shown by the "highlight" list, i've even been able to travel and catch up with old friends often.

one thing i realized through all these good times is to have a good balance. enjoy life when it's good but make sure you share this with others. i dont want to enjoy life to the point where i completely lose sight of other people's needs. i also tend to feel guilty everytime life is going well but i'm beginning to learn that God delights in our happiness but desires to share in this happiness with us. i want to show thanksgiving and appreciation to him.

for the rest of 2009, i hope my theme will be of one similar to the vine and the branches passage in john. i've been thinking a lot about "seeing God work in my life" and this past sunday's message (which was the day of my birthday, how ironic) provided good insight for me about this. theresa shared about how she was fervently preparing for the message and studying Abraham's story of when he showed hospitality to strangers. shortly after she finished preparing her message at starbucks, she was approached by a woman who needed food to feed her 4 children. she bluntly told the woman, did you know that i was JUST studying the Bible about showing hospitality to strangers?? with God's word fresh on her mind and heart, theresa took her to sam's club to buy what she needed and was able to learn more about this woman and her needs after galveston's hurricane. i wonder if she would have done the same thing if she hadnt been studying God's word that day at starbucks...

so the same applies to me. what would my life look like if i remained in Jesus? what would my life look like if i remained in his word?

cheers to another year! thanks to everyone who wished me a happy bday & celebrated with me :)

nick & sarah get hitched!

2009-07-27T13:40:00.001-05:00

ah, didnt take a picture with the bride & groom!

May you grow in wisdom and spirit, and in favor with God and men.

2009-07-27T11:41:00.005-05:00

happy 24th birthday, mark! every year, we try to remember what we did to celebrate your previous year's birthday. funny how it's so difficult to remember just a few years back already! thankfully, blogs are our memory savers :p.

for mark's 24th bday this year, i failed miserably in every single gift i got him, haha. festivities included a pre-lobster fest dinner with a semi-successful molten chocolate cake and a failed surprise birthday dinner at buca the day before nick got married. this year's birthday adjective: fail.

we celebrate america's bday by going to the lake

2009-07-08T13:41:00.004-05:00

I had such a great time at the lakehouse this past weekend that I'm STILL going through lakehouse withdrawal!

next book to read: escaping north korea

2009-07-02T16:09:00.001-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Mike Kim

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Jason Jones in Iran

flying high

2009-06-30T10:33:00.001-05:00

my parents are visiting canada for the july 4th holiday and they sent me this picture which made me smile. my dad looks so young and youthful!

happy bah-bah's day

2009-06-21T23:06:00.004-05:00

we took the best dad in the entire world to breakfast for father's day! we love him so much! he exemplifies what a servant to others looks like and i am blessed to be his daughter, whom he loves and cares for more deeply than she deserves :*)

3/4ths through her waffle, jen realizes the side of melted butter on her plate wasnt maple syrup....

and jen still wonders how i made a better grade in high school biology class! muahaha.

i want to be a part of this

2009-06-12T13:27:00.000-05:00

now following on twitter

2009-06-10T12:55:00.001-05:00

where's your paradise falls?

2009-06-08T16:56:00.002-05:00

i'll try really hard to not hype up this movie but i think you should go and watch UP! there were so many times in the movie where i wanted to take a picture of the scene and post it all over my cubicle and bedroom - places i tend to daydream at the most. i also want to hug every single person who was somehow involved in the making of this movie! haha, anyways, it's a creative, cute, and heart-warming movie that i recommend to people of all ages.

6-4

2009-06-04T10:23:00.001-05:00

i was called "outdoorsy"

2009-06-03T00:14:00.002-05:00

i spontaneously went on a camping trip this past weekend and i had a blast hiking/exploring, hanging out with friends, and celebrating a birthday. more pictures here.

wanna be martha stewart

2009-06-02T20:57:00.000-05:00

i subscribe to a few craft blogs through google reader and was recently inspired to try a few of the crafts. this flower took me forever to make and my fingers started cramping because the beads are tiny! regardless, this was the perfect gift to give to miss chen :).

I was also inspired to make this 3-D kirby out of a paper cut-out. i still think kirby is so cute and chubby!

run with perseverance the race marked out for us

2009-05-28T14:52:00.007-05:00

The whole tri experience was a whirlwind. I first got the idea as part of my new years resolution. I’ve never been a very athletic person and I figured this would be a good way to get in shape while having a goal to work towards, little did I know what I was actually getting myself into. Training was tough in the beginning especially since I hate pushing myself; however I slowly learned that pushing myself and setting goals is the only way you’ll be able to see results. As I worked out more and more, it was such a cool feeling to see some progress like being able to touch my toes and run a straight mile without breaking a sweat. I also learned that the majority of running is all mental and working out is a lifestyle change.

The triathlon I participated in was called the ‘first tri’ which entails a 400m swim, 10k bike, and 5k run (in that order). Before our swim began, the announcer said that this is the division where “we see the most creative strokes” and boy was that true. Swimming was by far the hardest part for me. My heart was beating so fast before I even got into the water due to anxiety and nerves and started beating even faster once I jumped into the cold water of Town Lake. Once the dreaded gun went off, I started swimming only to realize how slow and fat the people in front of me were! (im kidding about the fat part.) no matter which way you swim, someone’s kicking you or you’re kicking someone so most my time was spent treading water or swimming away from people or freaking out from drinking the lake water. I somehow managed to get to the finish line and thought to myself, I cant believe I’m not even ½ way done with this thing…

Next was 10k bike ride which was a breeze then the 5k run. My legs felt like jelly by then and I ran so slowwww. If I ever do this again, I def want to improve my transition times and run time! Crossing the finish line was pretty anti-climatic. I thought I would feel super accomplished but I didn’t, mainly because I knew I wouldn’t like my time. Overall though, I had fun and I have to admit that these things are pretty addicting because the day after my tri, I started researching future opportunities :x.

Shout out to my parents and UT parents, marcus and jocelin for coming out to support me! I’m 23 and to this day, my parents are still my biggest supporters. Thanks also to everyone who remembered to wish me luck!

4nnivers4ry

2009-05-07T14:05:00.000-05:00

mark took me to northfork in long island to visit the vineyards there for our 4 year anniversary. i cant believe it has been 4 years already... time sure does fly by (ive been saying this more often than i'd like to). we went on a gorgeous day in april and even got to stop by the blue-water beach. visiting the vineyards in long island reminds me of bar hopping in austin except you go from vineyard to vineyard instead. it was a fun trip and great to see a different side of new york. check out some more pictures here.

experience the christine lam

2009-05-07T13:45:00.000-05:00

we went to seattle back in march 2009 to visit the christine lam. check out pictures here.

blast from the past

2009-04-21T00:15:00.000-05:00

meggie and i have been friends since elementary school - we were even in the same girl scout troop. we lifeguarded together, were in band together, and slept through physics together. i havent seen her since high school but it was so good seeing her and rhiannon and elly this past weekend. also, this title is fitting bc meggie now works at NASA :p.

life goal accomplished

2009-04-21T00:13:00.000-05:00

at the age of 23, christine learned how to successfully ride a bike. we're so proud (and impressed)!

won my first and only game of darts

2009-04-21T00:08:00.000-05:00

maybe i've finally found something i'm good at!!!

:p

happy bday ms.bling!

2009-04-21T00:04:00.000-05:00

went to houston for easter and got to swing by annie's bday party at d&b. this happened to also be the day she got engaged! how exciting and so much fun to celebrate 2 things at once :) best wishes for your bday and love life!

ms.lam

2009-04-21T00:02:00.000-05:00

how cute is this pic!?

happy bday tay-tay!

2009-04-21T00:00:00.000-05:00

tx relay thoughts

2009-04-06T11:13:00.000-05:00

texas relays was held this past weekend and i read this article about how highland mall closed down earlier (at 2pm instead of the regular time of 9pm) on saturday due to safety reasons. many protested saying this was not a business decision but a racist decision instead.

as someone who lives in east austin nearby downtown, i can say that traffic was extremely chaotic this past weekend. i was even stuck at the intersection of 11th and i-35 for a good 15 minutes due to congestion and illegal driving manuevers. since i live so close to downtown, i'm used to various events that cause over-crowding in the downtown area and i have to say texas relay was the craziest i've seen it (sxsw is next in line however this conclusion could be more accurate if i knew the # of people each event draws).

i'm torn in how i think about highland mall's decision. what are your thoughts?

the bro-in-law made the news!

2009-04-02T23:41:00.000-05:00

Products for the other 3 billion

A new breed of idealistic technologist is building ultracheap baby incubators, medicine dispensers, and solar-powered lamps. Welcome to entrepreneurship circa 2009.

Stanford's Jim Patell (far left) with current and former students who design products for the poorest of the poor.

D.Light founders Goldman (left) and Tozun met at Stanford.

(Fortune Magazine) -- Jim Patell is perhaps the only member of the faculty at Stanford Graduate School of Business to come to class sporting police-issue cargo pants with a black Benchmade knife clipped to the right front pocket.

Patell differs from his B-school peers in another way too: Instead of teaching in a lecture hall filled with diligent students typing away on laptops, he operates out of Stanford's design school, where he teaches a class called Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability. His classroom looks a bit like your typical high school wood shop crossed with the lobby of the United Nations. Whiteboards are covered with scenes of village life and subsistence farming in Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Rwanda, and parts of Southeast Asia.

The pictures are a reminder of the class mission: to teach a new generation of entrepreneurs to use their business and engineering smarts to design and sell products - profitably - for the developing world.

No mere do-gooders

Two such budding entrepreneurs are Nedjip Tozun and Sam Goldman, founders of D.light Design. D.light makes cheap, solar-powered lights to replace the kerosene and diesel lamps so common in the developing countries of Asia and Africa. Tozun and Goldman met in Patell's class in 2006 and quickly connected over their mutual passion for helping the poorest communities tap into basics, like light, that the developed world takes for granted.

For smart, ambitious students of Tozun and Goldman's generation (they are both 29 years old) professional success and saving the planet aren't mutually exclusive. Patell's class is supercompetitive; people regularly are turned away because there's not enough space. Some of the students - a mix of would-be MBAs, engineers, and designers - truly are do-gooders, but a fair number think building good, cheap products is a skill any corporation would value.

"General Electric is not dumb - it looks at these markets too," says Seth Silverman, a civil and environmental engineering graduate student in the class who focuses on technologies for Ethiopia. "But these environments are so hard to work in that its attention is spent elsewhere. We can fill that gap, with an approach that goes beyond a fast profit motive."

Often that approach involves combining cutting-edge technology with widely available products that are moving down the cost curve. D.light, for example, marries next-generation light-emitting diodes (LEDs), proprietary power-management tools, and increasingly cheap solar panels.

As a result, D.light is able to offer poor communities an affordable alternative to kerosene, which is ubiquitous but hazardous. The quality of the light isn't good, it emits pollutants, and it's just plain dangerous. "You travel around these villages, and everyone has a story of a child being burned or a house destroyed by fire," says Tozun, speaking by phone from his office in Shenzhen, China. "And yet in some places we found that people were spending 15% to 20% of their income on light." The world's poor spend about $38 billion a year on kerosene for lighting, according to the International Finance Corp.

The D.light lamps sell for about $25, steep for someone earning $1 per day, but the D.light team quickly found that the quality of light was so good that people with the D.light lamps were able to do more work at night and increase their income. Two families in New Keringa, a village of 47 families in southern India, took the plunge on D.light lamps. Says Tozun: "All of a sudden the two families were able to work at night," mostly weaving banana leaves into plates. "Their average monthly income increased from $12 to $18, and they could save the time spent traveling to buy more kerosene." Within a few days the entire village had sprung for the lights. "These people are great customers if you give them a clear value proposition," Tozun says.

Empowering would-be customers is one of the mantras of Patell's class. Each year some students, like Goldman and Tozun, take their ideas and try to build businesses. Patell doesn't expect every student to start a company, but he does demand that every product in the class offer poor consumers tools for their own microenterprises. "We want to design things so that a farmer can decide to leave his farm and support his family selling water pumps or drip-irrigation tubing," Patell says. "We want things to be sold at a price that covers the cost of manufacturing and distribution."

The next cellphone

Capitalists in Silicon Valley are starting to take notice of the projects coming out of the Stanford course. In November, D.light secured $6 million in funding from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Garage Technology Ventures, among other venture capital firms, to ramp up production and get its lamps into markets, initially in India and Africa.

At first $6 million doesn't seem like a lot of money. And selling $25 solar lights in the developing world is not typical for firms like Draper Fisher Jurvetson, best known for backing Hotmail and Skype. But the financiers think D.light can model itself after another successful enterprise in the developing world: the cellphone industry. Device manufacturers - Nokia (NOK) in particular - are selling millions of handsets in rural parts of India, China, and Africa, places that in many cases don't have centralized electricity. But even some of the poorest of the poor will pony up several months' salary for the benefits of connectivity.

"Fortunes have been made on the back of that cellphone business," says Bill Reichert, managing director of Garage Technology Ventures. "A decade ago you wouldn't have imagined you could target these populations, but there is real business opportunity in introducing the right technologies."

Reichert believes that D.light's lamps are just the beginning: The company could expand into other solar-powered devices, even the energy business. "Is it a billion-dollar business? Probably not," Reichert admits. But could D.light become a well-run, profitable enterprise? That's absolutely the goal of Patell's class: D.light and its counterparts are out to improve lives and make money. If they also happen to enrich their investors, that's icing on the cake.

gotta go, gotta go, gotta rodee-o

2009-03-24T13:00:00.000-05:00

mark's in town for a whole week! we went to the austin rodeo last night and it is probably 1/10th the size of houston's rodeo :p. nevertheless, we still enjoyed pigging out on the carnival food, shopping for mark's $1050 cowboy hat, and laughed at 73% of carlos mencia's stand-up routine.

mark was intrigued by this odd looking animal that he insisted on being deformed but i kept telling him that i think that's how llamas are supposed to look...

s x s = w

2009-03-24T12:27:00.000-05:00

^ i took this pic at the hilton garden inn and i think it's neat because it overlooks austin's downtown skyline but you can also see the reflection of the sxsw stage.

it was my first time going to sxsw and i happen to go 3 nights in a row. i probably went downtown more during sxsw than i did in my entire college career, ha. one of those nights, we went to check out sam and ruby. too bad we didnt get them to sing happy birthday to janie!

ruby was constantly moving and seducing her audience members so this is my ONLY pic out of about 15 where she is not a blur....

milk

2009-03-06T17:32:00.000-06:00

you must go see milk! i absolutely love movies that tell stories about people everyone should know about. one of my favorite scenes is at the end when they flash back to harvey milk turning 40 and he says (something along the lines of), "i'm already 40 and i've done nothing with my life. i'm not going to make it to 50." it's great because it gives me hope about my life - i might be in my twenties with no accomplishments but i have no idea what lies ahead...just like harvey who had no idea what he would accomplish and how big of an impact his life would have on others and the community around him post-40's. the movie makes him out to be an incredible man who loved others naturally and fought for what he believed was right. this movie inspired me, made me laugh and cry, and helped me see another side of a community i really know little about.

American Icons

2009-03-05T14:53:00.000-06:00

"You can do anything! That’s the message of the seven decades of female risk takers, rule breakers and style makers here. We celebrate them with the help of some very-2009 young talents." - Glamour magazine

see entire photoshoot

Hayden Panettiere as Amelia Earhart

Alicia Keys as Michelle Obama

target is super

2009-03-03T23:28:00.000-06:00

the grand opening of the new target in pflugerville was made complete with a live jazz band on site. i wonder if my days at target would have gone by faster if there was always a live band playing... anyways, i digress. my old boss (mr.a and one of the best bosses anyone could ever imagine) is now the head honcho of this HUGE target...they say it is the biggest one in texas! i am so thankful i will never have to close this store!!

congrats to leeann for the new store and being MVP of all the execs! she's sooo good at what she does and is so meant for retail - target is extremely lucky to have her on board. one of these days, i hope to find a job that i'm "meant for."

pig cookies dedicated to jen lee

2009-03-03T22:00:00.000-06:00

festival for kites

2009-03-03T17:15:00.000-06:00

1. rode our bikes to zilker park for the kites festival (4 miles) and then took a slight detour to find a place to park our bikes (1/2 mile?) -- 2. stuffed ourselves with roast beef sandwiches from the steeping room, kettle corn (once a year treat!), crackers and cheese, cherry tomatoes, and chips from our picnic -- 3. lazily watched people fly kites instead of trying to fly our own -- 4. attempted to ride back home (3.5 miles) but 5. stopped for eddie v's happy hour instead -- 6. rescued from having to ride the rest of the way back home (1/2 mile).

i could not feel my legs for the rest of the day due to a bad combination of 1. intense exercise -- 2. over eating -- 3. being lazy -- 4. intense exercise -- 5. over, over eating -- 6. being lazy.

together

2009-03-02T23:27:00.000-06:00

i took this pic while watching my first game of golf in between avoiding flying golf balls, score-keeping duties, and "caddying." i'm beginning to get a hang of golf terms and i understand a little bit more about how to keep score. never, ever, did i think i would know this kind of stuff.

i cant believe it's march....

2009-03-02T09:02:00.000-06:00

i saw these people playing a fusion of basketball+waterpolo but in a 1-person kayak. i would probably be very terrible at this game given my coordination and lack of aim :\

isnt she lovely

2009-02-27T14:35:00.000-06:00

A blog follows the fashions of michelle obama...am i weird for checking this site?

Oreo cupcake that has a built-in milk cup

2009-02-27T12:24:00.000-06:00

valen-tine 2-thousand-nine

2009-02-27T10:59:00.000-06:00

mark took me to the rainbow lodge in houston for valentine's :). the restaurant is like a dream tree house for adults with a neat and cozy outdoor area. this place wins mark's "best restaurant atmosphere" award and that says a lot for someone with such high standards like mark!

mark had the bison tenderloin (the rainbow lodge specializes in game meat) and i had trout, which tasted very fresh. we also got "taste of the wild" as our appetizer and it was my first time trying rabbit...in sausage form.

overall critique: pretty atmosphere that makes you want to spend time with nature or go hunting. food is deliciously made with fresh ingredients but the chef loves salt so be prepared.

koriente

2009-02-27T10:50:00.000-06:00

i shamelessly stalk bobby bones and wanted to try koriente after i saw he went there on his flickr (the above pic is taken by mr.bobbybones himself). the place is decorated with trend yet the service makes you feel like you're eating at a nice, korean family's home. if you get an entree, you can get either miso soup or green tea ice cream with it, and of course PJ picked the green tea icecream! they serve the icecream on top of a drizzle of honey and crushed pistachios...yum-o.

stickers for the bumper

2009-02-27T09:52:00.000-06:00

disclaimer: i do, in no way, support this bumper sticker.

i saw this bumper sticker on the way to work today - the person who created it was probably pms-ing...

am i cheesey for liking this song???

2009-01-22T22:07:00.001-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOwKvOs5UNM&feature=related

two-o-o-eight

2009-01-12T00:02:00.000-06:00

Resolutions

Last year my resolution was to use reusable bags and I did a pretty consistent job. The hard part is remembering to take it with you to the store. I actually prefer to use reusable bags because they’re more sturdy, easier to carry, and can carry more.

This year’s 2009 Resolutions:
1. Be on time and have a better attitude at work
2. Operation HSJ (“High School Johanna”) and complete a triathlon
3. Wear my retainer at least 4 times a week (this is so nerdy…)
4. Learn more about educational reform (by reading 2 books regarding the topic and volunteering at an education-related place)

The Bookworm Continues to Emerge

I’ve utilized the library a lot more this year (see previous post for why the library is so awesome). I also tried to learn 1 new word per week and it was so frustrating when I’d run across one of my new words and I couldnt remember the definition!

Anyways, books I’ve read this year (stars by the ones I recommend): *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Marley and Me, Pretty is What Changes, Twlight, **Banker to the Poor, A World Without Poverty, American Born Chinese, **Glass Castle, Our Endangered Values, *Half of the Old Testament, and I might be forgetting some others…I guess those books weren’t worth remembering :x.

Books I got halfway through: Prayer for Owen Meany, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Time Traveler’s Wife

Anyone have recommendations for books to read in 2009?

Reflections of 2008

- My sister and her man tied the knot and moved to “the sunshine state”. This was the first close person to me who got married and probably the wedding I will have to do the most work for (not all my close friends are married but I’m pretty sure no one will work me harder than jieh did :x). I’m happy for the newlyweds and how I have a brother now!

- I changed jobs 2 times this past year. I quit Target in March and I miss my coworkers a lot. I’m thankful for the opportunity to learn more about retail, be a part of an efficient and professional company, and gain a better understanding of effective leadership and management. I then worked for a nonprofit that provided affordable housing thru the community land trust model. I learned a lot about purchasing a home, real estate finance, and affordable housing however the job wasn’t challenging so I decided to leave. I’m now working at AMD doing business planning and it’s cool to gain some corporate experience and realize how much I can relate to The Office show (not sure if I would consider that part “cool” though).

- This was the first full year that Mark and I had a long distance relationship yet we managed to somehow see each other 11 times this year! April was the only month we didn’t see each other and 2 of those 11 times were attempts to surprise him – 1 being successful.

- I’m a whiner when it comes to exercising and pushing my body’s limits. However this year I discovered my love for Pilates! It’s a great way to unwind, stretch, and strengthen your core…all while lying down! How great is that? I also started attending a Lift class which I like because it makes me feel stronger.

- my grandfather passed away and this was the first death in my life where the person was close to me and i was old enough to think further into it. what i think is the hardest from this was seeing my family adjust and go thru this loss...but at least we did it together as a family.

- I became a partner of Austin Stone and I’m slowly getting more involved and I’m trying to treat it like “my church.” It’s hard though when the church is so big (my personality prefers smaller churches :p) and Austin still seems like a “temporary home” to me. I really enjoy my community group and I’ve met some great people thru it. regarding my faith, I think I’ve grown to appreciate how Christianity’s aim is to get people to turn their eyes away from themselves and to better, greater things…like God and others and the community around you.

- Volunteered at Ronald McDonald House, Church under the bridge, Jenny’s school, and Food Bank. For 2009, I want to find a more consistent place to volunteer.

- Movies I’ve seen in theatre in 2008: Sex and the City, Dark Knight, Juno, and The Fall. Maybe I should watch more movies in 2009?

- Tv shows: JON AND KATE + 8, big bang theory, the office, food network, some the Ellen show, some survivor, some run’s house (online)

- Maybe a photo slideshow of 2008 coming soon?

musings of an only child

2008-11-19T11:32:00.000-06:00

now that jen's married and off in cali, the yu family has dwindled down to just 3 members. i think my parents cling to me more now that i'm the "only child." it's sort of sweet though because we do more special things together like how we went to lost maples state park this past weekend. lost maples is known for their maple trees' foliage which change into beautiful autumn colors. i think seeing this change in nature would be worth moving to a place with 4 seasons and enduring the cold winters that i abhor.

even though it wasnt peak time to see the foliage, lost maples was still beautiful and worth the 3 hour car trip. we even got to stop in a small town called Berdena to eat the best chicken fried steak! i like visiting small town restaurants :p.

1 perk of being an only child: everyone wants to take pictures of you or with you :D

tour the hotel cafe

2008-11-19T11:18:00.000-06:00

yvonne and i were patiently standing in line to buy tickets to the hotel cafe tour when a car pulls up and out jumps a girl. she approaches us with free tickets, no strings attached, and gives us a hug and leaves us with stunned faces. we were so happy :) yay for free things!

we also got to meet priscilla ahn and she signed our CD (which sadly doesnt include her b(.)(.)b song). i felt like such a cheesey fan.

angela visits austin

2008-10-28T21:41:00.000-05:00

highlights:
- alby finishing 2.5 entrees and angela drinking 2...
- playing catch & games at the capital

happy birthday to the lees!

2008-10-07T23:06:00.000-05:00

the cooler person always gets the bigger present. i hope you guys have a great birthday and i wish you all the best :). love, your favorite sister

the lees made a pit stop in austin before their drive to california. of course, the time was filled with food, friends, and more food. props to jon for inventing a way to capture shade for himself while we were eating outside. and no, we were not embarrassed.

A.C.L.

2008-10-06T21:46:00.000-05:00

i was hearing the marketing dept talk about their ACL preparations ever since i started working and kept on wondering if i could somehow get tickets. after much investigation and trying to make friends with the marketing dept, i got a ticket at 3pm on friday!

friday i saw: patty griffin (favorite show for sure), mates of state (2nd fav), jenny lewis (wasnt paying attention, just kept on thinking about wamu since she was playing on the wamu stage), n.e.r.d. (saw them from afar), and swell season (they played their famous song as their 3rd song which doesnt make sense to me).

sunday i saw: stars (only caught the end of their show), xavier rudd (bad seats and just kept on looking at the dust that was flying at us from the people walking by), okkervil river (beatles? jk), and tegan and sara (most entertaining show). i also got to try the popular chicken-avocado wrap that hudson on the bend's food booth has.

i'd like to end this post by thanking those that let me last-minutely tag along with you to ACL :)...

only in the movies

2008-09-27T01:59:00.000-05:00

my friend, leeann, recently bought a house and one of the rooms is a shoe and accessory room! how freaking awesome is that! her shoes are super cute and she keeps them in such good condition. im motivated to take better care of my shoes now... im also motivated to buy more shoes...

old pecan street festival w/ tay-tay

2008-09-27T01:34:00.000-05:00

a lil closer to dating my crush

2008-09-21T21:54:00.000-05:00

i met bobby bones, the DJ on 96.7 radio show in Austin, at 24 right before this yoga stretch class! if you listen to his show, you will quickly love him for his fun personality and coolness. he was super nice to me and said hi to me first and dedicated his last workout set to me :D. bobby bones, if you're reading this, i think we'd be perfect together.

i'm always up for game nights!

2008-09-18T00:05:00.000-05:00

i think i'm becoming one of those people who like to play board games. before i thought it was too distracting from having good conversations but board games are so much fun and at least it's more interactive than watching a movie.

labor day weekend

2008-09-09T14:31:00.000-05:00

i think mark comes to texas to play golf and not to see me.

classically trained

2008-09-09T14:26:00.000-05:00

wow, for once i am posting on the correct date! happy birthday, matt!

pack rat

2008-09-09T11:47:00.000-05:00

my parents are making jen move out! poor jen... must be hard having to clean out your room entirely. it's always hard to depart from things that you know you shouldnt keep and this red, torn-up clipboard was one of those items for jen. yes, i know, she's strange. we took a picture for her so she could at least remember this "perfectly designed clipboard (quote jen)."

another thing we took a picture of was our high school mums. back in high school, i wanted one so bad but now i think it's such a waste of ribbon! sigh, the things we do to feel included.

congrats angelandy!

2008-07-18T21:43:00.000-05:00

beach day

2008-07-18T21:41:00.000-05:00

NY NY

2008-07-18T21:40:00.000-05:00

my sunny day on catalina island

2008-07-18T21:38:00.000-05:00

When I was in junior high, our family went on its many family reunions to Catalina Island. We have these so often that I wonder if we can even call them family reunions anymore. However the only thing fitting about calling them “family reunions” is the chaos, petty arguments, and smothering qualities from all the women around that will occur.

I remember Catalina Island to be a place where you can only drive golf carts around and that we rented a vacation house where I slept in a room with pictures of unknown kids on the wall – creepy, in my opinion. Our family ventured out to the dock to go shopping one sunny afternoon and it somehow ended up just being gong-gong and I strolling along together. This is probably the only time I remember being alone with my grandpa. I went inside a store while he waited for me outside. I found a t-shirt with 3 dogs wearing beach clothes with “beach bums” written across the bottom and thought it was too cute to not buy. I realized I had no money on me and none of my usual allowance-investors were around. I then remembered that gong-gong always had money on him even though he rarely used it. I shyly asked if I could borrow money from him and began to explain what I wanted to purchase, why I wanted to purchase it, and would promise to pay him back, etc. but was cut off by gong-gong’s immediate action of handing me over 50 bucks. Not only was this way too much for the t-shirt but he gave it to me so willingly and generously. He would probably never ask for it back and was beaming to provide for me something that I wanted. To this day, I still wonder if he was more happy about providing for me or if I was more happy with a silly souvenir t-shirt.

I will always remember that sunny day on Catalina Island, gong-gong.

Love always, Holmine

sick.

2008-07-08T17:15:00.000-05:00

A place in new york sells cheeseburgers slapped between 2 krispy kreme donuts.

Beijing Olympic Gardens

2008-07-01T13:56:00.001-05:00

where the hell is matt?

2008-06-30T17:08:00.000-05:00

Check out this fun video at:

http://www.vimeo.com/1211060?pg=embed&sec=1211060

see you later, christine

2008-06-27T19:03:00.000-05:00

this was the last weekend miss christine lam was in austin as a resident :(. we went on the UT tower tour which was pretty much ruined by jennifer yu because of her overly detailed story-telling and proficient memory.

watched best in show movie outdoors. so much fun! and good movie. nice face, titus.

cheers to seattle!

sex in the city = ultimate movie for girls

2008-06-27T19:00:00.000-05:00

congrats all around

2008-06-27T18:47:00.000-05:00

this is long overdue....

congrats weili on graduating with a great and useful degree! thank you for helping me with my accounting homework even after you finished your accounting classes. i dont know how you were able to figure out my accounting homework but that just makes you that awesome. good luck in nyc and i think it's your turn to initiate now...

i dont know if mok should receive my congratulations. i'm still bitter about how everything always seems to work out for you! haha, jk. congrats mok and hope to see you austin when you visit!

congrats my favorite bean! i see you everyday so you know i love you and wish you all the best :)

sorry i couldnt make it to your graduation but this is the perfect time to congrats you on graduating and getting baptized! im so proud of you and know you'll love seattle in no time. mark your calendar: spring break to seattle, spring 2009 ;)

congrats to everyone else who graduated!

圖書館

2008-05-28T14:43:00.000-05:00

For these past few months, I've been an avid fan of the library. Nerdy, I know, but it really is a great place that people should take more advantage of! I love it because I can check to see if they have the book I want online, place it on hold so I don't have to wander the library in search of my book, and it forces me to finish reading my book before the due date – no more of those annoying and defeated half-finished-books lying around!

So far, these are the books I've read and a short blurb of my thoughts:

Harry Potter. Yay, I finally got to finishing the harry potter series!! Great series and I liked this book mostly because I like happy endings. Similar to other harry potter books, it was hard to put this book down and I pretty much finished this book on my flight back to Austin from NYC.

Banker to the Poor. Highly, highly recommend this to any bankers and entrepreneurs – even if you aren't those things, I would still recommend this book to you. It's usually hard for me to get through a book without much of a "plot" but micro-financing is so interesting that you want to learn more about it. I'm fascinated by Nobel Peace Prize winners and it's unquestionable to why Yunnus won - he is inspiring, intelligent, and innovative.

American Born Chinese. Although not a frequent reader of Angryasianman.com, I saw a post about this book which sparked my curiosity in reading it. I was originally confused to why the library categorized it under the youth section but found out the reason once I checked it out and it's because it's a comic book. Short read and not as good as angryasianman.com hyped it up to be.

Tree Grows in Brooklyn. One of my "life goals" is to read all my friend's favorite books and this one is yvonne's favorite book. It's a story about a poor, immigrant girl growing up in America. I think i would have enjoyed the book more if i read it with an english class...

...now reading the Glass Castle.

the old man is snoring

2008-05-18T22:36:00.000-05:00

they say the weather is always a safe subject to talk about with people you dont know so well. with the recent hail storm in austin with 3-to-5-inch-sized hail and winds of 70 mph which lead to 4 public school closures and many upset austinites with dented cars and ruined homes, there was much to talk about among the community. for me, i walked into my office the day after the storm with 2 windows smashed from the hail. there was glass EVERYWHERE and i got poked (i was going to use the word stabbed but someone has recently been accusing me of exaggerating too much...) by these tiny pieces of glass when i was cleaning it off my desk. it's crazy cause the glass managed to fly way across the office and i seem to keep finding glass in the most random places. i really shouldnt complain though, it kept me on my toes for most of the day - something i havent felt at this new job since leaving target.

"cousin from cali aka da biao ge aka KEVIN" visits!

2008-05-06T15:11:00.000-05:00

i want some more

2008-05-01T18:25:00.000-05:00

as always, sam mar's birthday brought the fun. we went downtown, tubing, outlet shopping, and ate ate ate. i havent been tubing since i was little and it was enjoyable but freezing - so cold that my body never got used to the temperature of the water. i'm also thankful we mistaken harmless oak tree worms as leeches. eek, i have yet to encounter a leech and i hope i never do.