summer is over!!

ah, but what a wonderful time it's been...

it was my first official full-time summer. that sounds weird, but this was the 1st summer w/o some major M trip or extended stay out-of-town or full-time volunteering or... anything. oddly, it's taken me 8 years to figure out how to fully "relax" w/o guilt or fear of restlessness, etc.

that does not mean i wasn't busy busy... it's really amazing how much time gets taken up by fun and friends! here's a snapshot of my adventures:

a friday trip to Malibu w/ fellow teachers, grad students, and unemployeds... a *beautiful day of climbing small rocks, easy hiking, amazing fried seafood, and running away from the freezing cold ocean waves!

a quick drive down to San Diego to witness Z's proposal. well, technically, we weren't there for the actual asking since he did it aboard a hot-air balloon, but we got to celebrate minutes afterwards. this picture was taken beforehand in the convertible he had rented (they flew out from FL for this!)... the man has style!

we celebrated the following wked, july 4th, in the Memphis! it ended up being a partial reunion of the family, as we were joined by family from PA & VA as well. what i learned: southern folk are SUPER warm and hospitable, and they don't seem to think it's dangerous to hand firecrackers to young children... =)

the wked after that (yes, we did a lot of traveling!), we drove up to the Bay Area for d's bday! we got to see a Bowling for Soup concert, had a great day at AT&T Park, and ate amazing food!

a joint community group social at a CEMETARY.

it's weird and eerie, but Hollywood Forever cemetary (final resting place for many of the greatest stars) shows outdoor movies on the wkeds during the summer. they have a large plot where no one's buried and 1000's of ppl come to enjoy a picnic and old-time film. we saw The Bride of Frankenstein.

a wked in Vegas to celebrate the boys' promotion to 1st Lt! an interesting time that included: the Bellagio buffett, people-watching on the Strip, waiting in line for a club for over an hour, a "grown-up" pool, fried oreos, some funny stories...

and then i got to go home to HOUSTON! i never used to be so excited, but how can i NOT be when i get to see this precious girl???

we played hard, and i guess we pooped her out! =) she fell asleep while eating...

and whew, back in town, but not quite. we drove to Anaheim 2x in one wk to watch the Rays (d's favorite team). it was weird being the "enemy" team...esp. in a stadium where i had been before to root for the home team. but ball games are a ton of fun regardless.

this snapshot does not include the special, exclusive movie screening we attended, the countless lunches i had with friends, the discipling i've had by the most wonderful woman, all the rollerblading I've done, the friends who've visited from out-of-town, the beautiful babies who were born this summer, and the books i've consumed.

i'm almost too tired to start school (HA!), but part of that involves the $200K renovations that went into my lab this summer and not wanting to unpack everything that took over 2 wks to pack... but i'll update about that later.

overall, i have definitely felt the fruits of "rest" and am rejuvenated to begin everything again.

this will be an exciting year!

ACK, it's MAAAY!
but i'm not pressuring myself. i feel behind in so many other places in my life, i'm not going to pressure myself about my OWN blog! haha... =)

well, LOTS going on...
for school, since the last time i wrote, there was the annual Catalina trip with the 5th graders (w/ my accompanying cold-water hives), a large fundraising event for the science lab (crazy renovations are in store!), and of course: the science fair!!

a cute project by some 3rd graders...

the most wildly popular project all night... this dad always thinks of the funnest projects. this was a marble run using bottles of all sorts and a bit of tubing.

i start teaching full one-variable experiments in 4th grade... i was really proud of my 4th graders this year! the project above was hilarious. i'm not sure how much you can see, but 2 rabbits were tested on to see what types of food they preferred. on the left, you see the rabbits literally turning their nose away or backing away from the ham, the cheese, and the butter. the night of the fair, this girl brought in one of her rabbits and little food samples for ppl to give to the rabbit. sooooo cute!

on the M front, we've had a busy few months! i took an amazing class on Saturdays, sort of modeled on Perspectives but w/ reformed theology.

and at PCC, we started a series of Report Lunches, and it's been really great connecting our short-termers w/ the congregation. we've also been planning trips to connect w/ our long-termers for later this year and next. so busy busy!

as i've mentioned before, being M director, i've been forced to exercise "gifts" i don't really have. it's been a lot of fun falling on my face, but growing. the latest area i've had to exercise is the gift of hospitality. i don't think i'm innately gifted in this area, but putting together these lunches have really made me grow as a hostess. thank GOODNESS for my ctte, many who are gifted in the areas i'm not!!!

i've also been teaching Albert's study on the Foundations of M in Genesis at my small grp. it's been awesome!

**in my personal life, i hit a large milestone in turning 3-0!!!

these Yummy Cupcakes (from my roommate) lived up to their name!! one was red velvet, and the other was vanilla almond. i ate a bit of one, then a bit of the other to try to figure out which one i'd want as my last bite. i had the hardest time deciding between the two!!!

the day of my bday was actually quite fun. since i was still on spring break, i helped out at an Easter egg hunt at Mar Vista Gardens, a low income housing facility. it was great being outside and getting to serve alongside ppl from different churches.

this is my if-i-ever-run-for-public-office picture =)

after that, i went to get a massage (my anniversary gift from dec!) and met d for a nice dinner...

what a sweetheart for not making me feel so old! =)

sometime in the last 2 months, i saw Watchmen. a thought-provoking movie, but i left with emotional baggage. in fact, i could not sleep for days afterwards. i hate, hate, HATE Dr. Manhattan. i just could not fathom a "god" who was so apathetic... it actually scared me to death. i could not shake the terrible feeling...

and then i realized something big - that i have a very special, very precious gift: i never doubt that God loves me. it's always there, the knowledge (deep deep within) that He loves me.

i actually did something recently that made me think for a second that God might be disappointed in me. for that second, i was flooded w/ dread, w/ fear, and w/ disgust for myself. is this what other ppl feel most of the time? it's terrible!!!
i was able to speak the Truth back to myself, though, and the awfulness only lasted for that second. but it made me keenly aware how precious my gift is. i'm also realizing that this is not common amongst most other believers... i wonder how i can use this gift for others...?

i think that's one of my "new year's resolutions" (ha, can i make resolutions this late in the year?). but how do i help make the Truth sink deeper in others? to help them know that J's perfect record covers all of our imperfections? i guess we'll see...

this has been long, but to end, i'll just paste on some pics of my cute, cute niece!! =)

for Easter, my sister-in-law placed E in a giant Easter basket... isn't this absolutely ridiculous and yet SO adorable?? i LOVE it!! look at that hairpin! her bracelet, her toes!

and this was just too cute...

okay, bye bye for now!

so it's the new year (i know, i'm waaay behind already!! good grief, it's mid-march!)

first of all, i guess i should wrap up '08? this just seems ridiculous, but i'll stick to "tradition" and here's my list of 2008 *favorites*... w/ completely arbitrary categories:

Books:
- Fun find: No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by A.M. Smith (set in Botswana) - just delightful
- Hilarity: sections of the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series by A.M. Smith - not as endearing as Mma Ramswate from the above series, but there were sections that had me in tears laughing!
- Fad find: Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer
- "Historical": I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles - this actually launched me into reading several books set in the 1500's
- Re-read: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
**(wow, that entire list of books looks so girly!)

Media-ish stuff:
Website: hulu.com
Hook-ups: free 2-hr wi-fi @ Starbucks (w/ a registered gc)

Food discoveries:
- Clyde Commons in Portland - wow!
- Baby Blues BBQ in Venice, CA - didn't think i'd find bbq i liked outside of TX!
- The fact that you can order more than one entree per dinner on a cruise! (haha...i didn't do that, but D and his dad sure did!) i did, however, take advantage of being able to order >1 dessert each evening!!

Travel:
13 total trips: Thailand, Tahoe, Catalina, Costa Rica, Bay Area, China, Houston, PCC retreat, Idyllwild (Astrocamp), Lompoc, Santa Barbara, Portland, Florida + Caribbean

Discoveries about myself:
-I spend more $ on traveling than anything else. I even "collect" traveling accessories like suitcases and bags, etc.
-I am really adamant about the Asian no-shoes-inside-the-house policy
-I think about purchases > $50 for at least 3 wks before purchasing the product
-I don't read books, I read entire series
-I am a great deal LESS spontaneous than I thought...
-One can vacation while on vacation! It never occurred to me before to rest while I was some place new...but it's not all that bad! You come back really rejuvenated from the trip! =)
-My favorite times are no longer exhausting series of events... they're the quiet, mundane-filled moments at a cafe with D.

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i can cheat and already tell you some of my '09 favorites:

Media-ish stuff:
Website: librivox.org - yay for this WEALTH of free audio books! which leads to...

Book:
Fun yet deep: Father Brown series by G.K. Chesterton

the books about Father Brown are compilations of several mystery stories wherein this nondescript Catholic priest solves them with peculiar insight into the human spirit. when another character asks him how a priest could understand the criminal mind so well, Father Brown replies, "Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil?" He has a level, non-judgmental appraisal of man, and every-so-often drops a delightful nugget of his rational and yet awe-inspiring view of God. i am such of fan of this little, humble man who understands the potential for evil in all and yet also acts with such grace towards the guilty.

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Anyways, back to present day life:
2009 so far has been pleasant. not too many pictures b/c so many of the "special" times have been the "usual" w/ D, in building community w/ my small grp, or at tete-a-tete's w/ wonderful girlfriends.

i think there are few greater pleasures than in chatting w/ a kindred spirit. i've also recently experienced the wonderful discovery of new kindred spirits, which always takes me by surprise. but while i'm on the subject of fantastic things: the look on d's face when i show up to cheer for him at his softball games. (haha, am i just dripping w/ goo during this blog?)

here's a recent pic of us up in the Bay Area.

this is probably the worst one to upload b/c you can't even tell where we are (on Treasure Island w/ a view of the City), but it's my favorite of us on this quick wked trip. look at his new specs! military-issued so not the most stylish, but it's hard to mess up that handsome mug. haha...

i'm actually in a bit of a melancholy mood.
i thought i lost my last grandfather '04, but it's just as painful being close to someone who's losing a grandpa. the last wk has been a chaotic one within me, watching d begin the grieving process for a man who completely embodied generous, unconditional love. every word and story spoken about d's grandpa displays his self-effacing ability to laugh at himself and build up everyone around him. but in the sadness, a definite peace of where exactly his soul is now - joyfully with his Maker!

fortunately paired w/ the passing of life, i was able to celebrate the coming of NEW life!

my beautiful niece!that's my momma holding her first grandchild... my mom has E's picture up on her computer and kisses it whenever she turns the computer on or off. =)

i'm a baby-lover, so this doesn't surprise me, but i always love how much love a baby inspires. complete adoration, no expectations but just simple love, togetherness... a baby is a miracle in SO many ways. and i can't wait to meet this little one when i go home for spring break!!

with all the ups and downs, i'm tired so that's all for now...

A lot of celebrating...

the year boldly came to a close w/o my notice. actually, last night i think i fell asleep around 10:15pm? haha, am i an old lady already? yes, but i'm excusing my exhaustion w/ all the recent festivities...

Thanksgiving:
like so many years of my LA life, i spent this special holiday w/ my family away from home. This year, there were two additions - D and this special girl:

such cuuuute chubby cheeks! (for those new to my blog, that's not my daughter...haha)

the day after Thanksgiving, we headed up to Santa Barbara where we met up w/ the Muggs for some touristing and shopping.

we ran into some friends along the way: B. Franklin (pictured above), Aristotle, Plato, and then some real friends: the Searcy's =)

Anyways, i realized recently that i love traditions and am trying to set a Thanksgiving one: reminding all my friends what they were thankful for last year and asking for their new lists... i think some of them find it annoying so we'll see how long this "tradition" lasts but you know, it's always good to pause & reflect on what we're thankful for.

my favorites from their lists:
-one of my friends finally having a job that she's passionate about
-new babies (for several of my friends!)
-family - even through all the tough parts
-a defiant peace thru the unknown and a storm of outer circumstances

my '08 list:
-how much i've been wow-ed by the deluge of answered prayers this year. a real lesson in faith.
-opportunities to serve that become opportunities to grow and learn
-a bit of freedom from my worst tendancies - that God can work miracles in freeing me (bit by bit) from my idols.
-and lastly, for d. cheesy but true. i've learned a lot about undeserved love from him.

which leads to The Anniversary:

on Dec 6th, D & I celebrated our 1-year. it was a wonderfully sweet wked - filled w/ tenderness and laughs. =)

this is us at one of our favorite restaurants: C&O's.
who can beat the yuuummy seafood linguini and being a skip away from the beach?

in trying to set another tradition, we re-lived a holiday event from last year - decorating gingerbread pieces together. this was the time last year that d found out what a control freak i can be when we had "differing opinions" on how to best decorate our gingerbread choo-choo train. so this year, i got us gingerbread men for us to decorate separately. =)

we each got 4 men to decorate. d's 3rd gingerbread man is on the right. he was my favorite of the night - his face expresses the horror at what he's wearing. haha...

and this was the favorite amongst d's friends - a nerdy Rand guy, just like all of them! =)

Then there was Christmas:
and a most unusual one it was...on a cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean!

we stopped briefly in the Bahamas, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten.
this pic was taken from the boat off the coast of St. Thomas (a US virgin island) on Christmas eve.

d & i traveled to the east coast to celebrate his Mema and Popi's 50th anniversary. and what a party wk it was! 17 of us together on the Mariner of the Seas, my first cruise. there was beach time, JETSKIING!, card games, towel animals, dancing, and lots and LOTS of food!

everywhere you go on the boat, there are ppl who want to take portraits of you. on this night, Mema coordinated all of us to match - girls in black and guys in Hawaiian shirts. this was the best one we got b/c in all the other takes, the little guy on my lap kept making faces at the camera man. haha...

i was a little nervous before the trip, but his family was so generously sweet to me! i loved getting to know each of them better!

and here we are on the first of our formal nights. it was my 1st time to see d in his uniform. if i may say so, doesn't he look dashing? =)

what a year it's been. i need to go back and reflect on it like i've done the past couple years (haha, another tradition!) but that'll come later. for now, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

i'm in portland right now for a science teachers' conference. and though it's nice to have a break from teaching, i'm realizing business trips are not as fun as i always thought they would be. in fact, i'd rather be teaching than sitting in workshops all day learning about teaching. at least i picked up some good lesson plans - they'll be fun for the kids, and i ate a BUNCH. my school gives a decent per diem, and portland has some good seafood! ooooh, my poor waistline is gonna have a hard time w/ me starting the holiday feasting this early...

anyways, here's the last few weeks:the good...

-D#2 (d's colleague) got 4 free tickets to Wicked from the radio!! the station was having a Military Appreciation giveaway and we got invited to tag along! 

the boys dressed in their uniforms (don't they look good?), and i begged D to dress up as well, but he used the excuse that he didn't want me to be left out... this is us w/ Glinda after the show! 

- our small grp split-off has gone well so far! we're focusing on team building stuff so that we can really bond and hopefully get more "real" applicational answers during bible study when we start them up again in January. Right now, we're doing a bunch of service opportunities together (like shopping for Tgiving food for needy ppl in LA and writing xmas cards and assembling presents for children around the world). we also did a study on Spiritual Gifts. i can't wait to hear the results of everyone's test!

the interesting...

-well, i guess this is not necessarily from Nov. but i wore them for the first time this month... my new identity: a cowgirl!i bought these boots while i was home in August. D totally laughed at me... well, at my whole family. i guess it did look really strange for all of us Koreans to be wandering around the Western store. the first thing that you see when you walk in are these GIGANTIC belt buckles...

anyways, i bought the boots to go w/ my other new-ish identity: a biker chick! (when riding, you should wear shoes that cover your ankles)

this was my bday present from D many months ago... isn't it nice? so cooool (and as a result, totally unlike me. haha)

and the bad:
-unfortunately, D's motorcycle got stolen at the end of Oct... booooo. it was a BEAUTIFUL bike and a lot of fun to ride, but no more. D's looking into replacing her w/ a more comfortable cruiser...

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anyways, one other interesting thing that happened right after i finished writing last month's entry was that instead of D coming over and celebrating Halloween, he brought over a paper and declared that we were celebrating Reformation Day by reading Luther's introduction to Galations together. =) unexpected (what can i say? he's a bit of a nerd... haha) but really neat.

"When i see a man oppressed with the law, terrified with sin, and thirsting for comfort, it is time that i remove out of his sight the law and active righteousness, and set before him the gospel, the Christian or passive righteousness, which offers the promise made in Christ, who came for afflicted and sinners...

Christian righteousness is heavenly, which we have not of ourselves, but receive from heaven; we work not for it, but by grace it is worked in us, and is realized by faith.

Do we then do nothing? Do we do nothing at all for the obtaining of this righteousness? I answer, Nothing at all!!"

it's nice to remember that all over again! such freedom...

Trick or Treat!
another crazy month - will tell it to you in pictures...

the fun:
1. i went to my first ever rock concert!! and it was really cool that i saw Weezer b/c it's probably the only cd i know of any rock band. my brother's been a fan forEVER and passed along the blue cd many years ago. he had even given me a weezer t-shirt - so i was all decked out as a real fan. =) lots and lots of fun - and they're better live than on their cd!

2. read a book about Queen Elizabeth I. totally fascinating time in history! does reading a book count as fun? haha...

3. d & i took a trip to visit one of his bestfriends currently stationed in Lompoc in the Central Coast (the area featured in the movie Sideways). we had a fun time seeing the sights...

in Solvang - very quaint but also touristy...

at the first of 3 wineries. this one was in a small town called Los Olivos. each winery had a completely different feel - this one was in the backyard garden and really cute. our 2nd one was a lot bigger and our 3rd winery was a small one on a ranch owned by 3 sisters and just opened 2 years ago. i liked all the individual personalities of each... although all i figured out was that i like the girly white wines and that i can't handle too much alcohol...

the traumas:
1. the Rays lost! being from Tampa, d's always been a huge fan - and i got sucked into the playoffs and world series... very fun being that involved in sports but heartbreaking too...

2. Astrocamp. it's still fun getting to know the kids in a setting outside school, but this being my 3rd year to go, it was more tiring... of course, it didn't help that this 3-day fieldtrip was sandwiched in between the Weezer concert and the Lompoc trip.

3. my small grp is splitting! this actually a good thing b/c our #'s are way too high for real intimacy, but there is always a grieving process that goes along w/ splitting...

@ our Wine & Tapas Night (last hurrah farewell party)

3. M Sunday. haha, this wasn't a "trauma" and was actually one of the biggest and neatest things i've ever put together, but the stress of it did make me break down into tears one night... the goal of the event was for our committee to make our congregation aware of all the M's we support and all the projects we've been a part of this year, etc. and i really do think we succeeded! but whew...

we met on Saturday to prepare inserts and make these boards... what was supposed to be a 2 hr mtg ended up lasting 6 hrs!! THANK YOU MY CTTE MEMBERS for sticking it out till we were done!!!
haha, i'd been assigning science fair for so many years and had completely forgotten how long it takes to assemble these darn boards!! i'll pity my students more this year...

this is a portion of my awesome, amazing ctte! and though M Sunday was quite a lot of work, it was fun bonding over it together!

the Halloween:
and as usual at school, we dressed up... just a couple fotos (you can see the rest on facebook)

me & the tin man

and several of the staff are mommies who themed their costumes w/ their babies. mrs. c is cooking her poor lobster son. =)

another month gone. is it already November tomorrow??

hard times...

haha, not really - it's all in my head, but it has been a rough month in my head...

in this, my 8th year of teaching, i still had anxiety nightmares during the first month of school. why? why? and then, as always, i got sick at the beg of the year. and i couldn't even stay home because of the crazy heat wave that hit LA this past week. i went to work just to be in an air-conditioned place because i didn't want to drown in my own sweat at home. awwww, poor me! another night, i got covered in mosquito bites - in LA? there's no mosquitoes in LA but i have the mysterious bites on my arms and legs. AND i found out my feet have low arches...now i have to wear these special insoles in my shoes!

haha, but i'm just being ridiculous. most of the month, other than the nightmares and sickness has been fine. in fact, i've had some fun times:

another Hollywood Bowl night:

my small grp at the Sound-of-Music-Sing-along!
yes, we paid $20 to simply watch the movie on a big screen, but it was with over 17,000 other people and there's something absolutely priceless about singing the Sound of Music songs at the top of your lungs with over 17,000 other people! and i do mean TOP-OF-YOUR-LUNGS singing!

per tradition, there was a costume contest before the show, and it was so much fun to see! there are the men dressed as nuns, the girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, the brown paper packages tied up with string, and then there are always some totally new ones. these are the winners of the contest:

3rd place: the opening scene to the movie - a spinning Maria on the hill with a helicopter overhead. 2nd place: a needle pulling thread. 1st place (they won a cruise trip!): 8 little asian kids who represented all the notes of the scale. but i also liked the "clock with the absurd little bird" and "drop of golden sun."

on one of the wkeds, D and I visited the Reagan Presidential Library. i hadn't realized how many monumentous events happened during his term. what an incredible man.

holding the President's hand...

i also attended the 8th baby shower of '08 and got to meet more of the babies whose showers i attended earlier this year. exciting stuff!!

it never ceases to amaze me - the miracle of life.
and just as amazing, we got to witness a baptism at the church retreat this past wked. the retreat was good, but my favorite part was seeing this man surrender his life to Christ. it's a miracle b/c "repenting is death" and who would choose that on their own? but it's beautiful when someone finally admits he doesn't have it all together, but can finally rest in the fact that he doesn't have to do it all. it's a beautiful life.