i love it... my coworker ran into my room excitedly asking for my binoculars b/c he was convinced he sighted a UFO. wow, he was pumped!

sheepishly, he just returned the specs after finding out that his UFO was a silver "Happy Birthday" balloon. =)

beware of the disjointedness in this blog!

i wonder: did the erratic weather yesterday mirror my mood or cause the swings?

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2 ways to tell that i consider you a good friend:
#1) i've washed dishes at your place
#2) i've fallen asleep on your couch

those, of course, are NOT what i think of our friendship or why we're friends, just the effects of constant sleep deprivation and the expression of one of my gifts (yes, dishwashing is one of my gifts).

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being home for MLK wkend was good. where else can you get bombarded by unadulterated comments about your weight or single status? unadulterated... BUT where else can you get a caring, warm hand placed on your face at 4am after you've had a coughing fit? my parents love me.

this is NOT a flattering picture of any of us, but i love that it captures one of my family's greatest traditions - going out for TexMex + margaritas. Pappasito's is sooooo yummy! my brother's hair is crazy.

my bro & i are really different, but i love his creative ability to make me laugh. that's him @ Halloween (on the left)- he's dressed as Kim Jong Il!

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things that stink about getting older:
- dry hands
- slower metabolism
- inability to sleep in
- weird looks when you act dorky/silly

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i can't *wait* to go snowboarding!

one of my favorite parts of the day: being greeted each morning with a big hug by 4 cute, smiley 2nd grade girls. it's *almost* enough to turn me into a morning person... almost but not quite. the hours between 1-3am are still the sweetest.

these are some pictures i forgot to upload earlier:

how me and my partyin' friends spent new year's eve... i actually contributed a bit to my team's victory!

from October - the beautiful bride and her Ann Taylor bridesmaids. it was neat wearing false eyelashes for the 1st time.

Halloween at my school - wow, elementary teachers go all out!

----a dinner i cooked recently for my roommate + her fiance (yup!). chedder corn chowder + halibut something or other. not too shabby!

the winds of change

to counteract my recent insomnia, i've been going on 25-min walks every day (yes, a pitiful amt of exercise but a lot compared to my normal routine). today, i went on one during my break at work and wow, i *love* the wind! earlier this morning it wasn't so cool as it pushed my little corolla this way and that, but being out in k-town, it's exhilarating! it makes the heart beat faster, my steps a little quicker, and makes me contemplate about how invisible things can be so powerful.

side-note: i wonder if latino and black men have always found me attractive or is it just when i'm dressed up for work w/ my sunglasses covering 1/2 my face? i got a couple whistles and it only makes me laugh. =)

this is my favorite quote of the year so far: (from a professional development on poetry) "Children come to us w/ active imaginations. Kindergartners in particular often arrive w/ the line between reality and imagination only faintly drawn in their minds. They leap effortlessly into that other world through their play and drawing. The creative and non-rational side of their mind is not only immediately accessible but forms a large part of their thinking."

i wish i cold "leap effortlessly into that other world" - back and forth, the way kids love to do. i've always felt that my imagination needed a great deal of work, but how do i work on it?

speaking of which, watching the kids play during recess, i noticed that they naturally enjoy challenges (or at least ~98% of them do). every time they're out on the playground, they instinctively come up with new goals: wanting to skip more and more rungs on the monkey bars, backing further and further away from the bball hoop, doing more and more cartwheels in succession. It’s something we’re seeminly wired w/. So what happens when we get older? We stop embracing challenges, or at least I know I stop here and there. but i'm hoping that 2007 will not be so. may i put myself in situations that are more challenging than comfortable and as a result, grow.

when did i become so prolific? now if i could only make these blogs as fun to read as they are to write...

i was *mad* that i had to return to work this week (my shortest vacation ever!)... but you know what? seeing the kids again totally makes a world of difference. gosh, i missed them!

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i feel illiterate.

not having read/finished LoTR & The Brothers Karamazov has always made me feel that way, but this year in particular, i've read fewer books than ever. i used to be someone people asked when they wanted book suggestions. sadly, i no longer am.

i've reflected on why and i guess the reason's not all that bad... spending more and more time reading the Bible + journaling has killed my evening hr before bed but in the end, i'd say that's a good thing.

nevertheless, anyone have any good book suggestions?? i'm dying for some good reads!

let me say, though, that there were still quite a # of notable favorites this year:
Biography: The Heavenly Man
Literature: East of Eden (wow, Steinbeck has such a beautiful way with words & insight into human character...but you gotta get past that 1st chapter - boring!)
Modern lit: The Time Traveler's Wife
Sci-fi: anything by Asimov
Book in the Bible: 1 & 2 Kings
Re-read: Narnia series

here are some other Best of 2006 lists (w/ totally arbitrary categories)

Movies
Foreign: In the Mood for Love
Action: Casino Royale
Re-seen:Love Actually

Series
Foreign: Dae Jang Geum (hands down the best series ever...such an amazing depiction of a great disciple. go Korean dramas!)
Domestic: Firefly
Anime: Honey & Clover

Compliments
Foreign: "You're adaptable, accomodating, and easy to live with." from the Scott's this summer
Domestic: "You're beautiful." (obviously) from my daddy. =)

taken during xmas break...this is the 6th try w/ the timer. i look just like my dad...no wonder he thinks i'm good looking. =) that's my morning face - for some reason, i'm always more "puffy" in the mornings. if i ever get married, i need to be an evening bride.

Food
the mangoes in the Philippines. whoa, i miss them!

Quotes
Online sermon: “God loves us where we're at, but He never leaves us where we're at.” (by Paul Matthies)
PCC sermon: “A good community group is one where you can dare to be a sinner and hope to be healed” (by Rankin Wilbourne)
Devotional: “Unless we can look at the darkest, blackest fact full in the face w/o damaging God’s character, we do not yet know Him.” & “Have we come to the place where God can withdraw His blessings and it does not affect our trust in Him?” (by Oswald Chambers)

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i changed my guitar strings for the first time in ~5 yrs. i put Elixers on my very cheapo Tak and it reminds me how God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things b/c my Tak sounds *fantastic*! it's also a lesson in how i can get so used to "mudpies"/the unimpressive low standard when there's a whole other level out there.

so in the hopes that i won't get stuck in a mire & remain content as i am, i made some goals for 2007:
-stepping up my leadership and service for God (perhaps leading a team this summer???)
-learning skills for conflict management & resolution - i realized that i'm no good at it in the classroom, partly b/c i don't know how to do it in my own life - so this is definitely an area of needed growth
-cooking & exercising

i actually loved a lot about 2006...a good learning year for me in many ways and though hitting 2007 includes a HS reunion (can it already have been 10 yrs??), i'm looking forward to the new experiences God will bring my way.