3 performances this weekend:
1. by a bride: an entrance in this~

as Susan stepped off the Cinderella carriage and onto the aisle, everyone gasped and clapped. isn't it so pretty? i guess that's the perk of getting married at Disneyland - a real fairytale entrance...

2. by me: the bridal party needed a stand-in female for the 1st dance and somehow i was volunteered. of course, i was more than happy to oblige, except it was a bit awkward considering the attendant-of-honor didn't even know who i was... serendipitously, he ended up being a stanford grad who had taken all the social dance classes! it had been sooo long since i'd cross-stepped waltzed! what fun!

3. by me (again): knowing i was needed for the 1st dance, i left the reception to use the restroom beforehand. however, as i walked down the hall, i thought i heard the attention being drawn to the center of the room (it was, for the cake-cutting)... but thinking i was late for the dance, i started running back. my 3.5" heel caught on the carpet, and i slipped out of my left shoe and slid 2 feet flat on the floor! clumsy me now has a huge ugly scab on my knee. As i picked myself up, i wasn't thinking "How did this happen?," but rather, "Gosh, this hasn't happened in a while!"

the girls who helped set-up the reception. can you tell i spent 40 minutes straightening my hair?

4 times in life when i'm really useful:
1. when you need to keep a baby distracted. i will play, play, play!
2. if you need someone to laugh at your jokes or cry w/ you (i know, i'm kinda extreme in my emotions...)
3. if you need a date who will be comfortable w/ anyone and in any setting
4. when you're moving. i *love* to organize and pack and even unpack. so put me to use!

3 recent things:
1. i've done this twice in the last 2 weeks~

& boy do i stink! i used to be somewhat decent but now breaking 100 is a big deal... and yesterday, i pulled a muscle in my back releasing the 1st ball of the evening. oh brother.

2. i went running today. yes, ME. for all of 8 minutes. =) i really really wished i liked running.

3. i've been somewhat down lately & i find that when i am, i'm horribly scared to be alone. i wish it wasn't so. i know it's a symptom of my extrovertedness, but doesn't it also show a lack of awareness that i'm never really alone b/c God is w/ me? anyways, i made no plans tonight so that i could spend time by myself. not all that scary...there's light at the end of the tunnel.

p.s. - i AM going to china this summer and i promise to get my support/update letters out soon!

lots of firsts...

since i've updated, i've been busy w/ a random assortment of activities
1) a 3-day field trip to Catalina (the week before it burned down!) with 45 fifth graders

we went to the non-civilized side of the island & did a bunch of water activities. i thought i'd be totally useless on this trip - no upper body strength, not a confident swimmer, never snorkeled before, etc... BUT, i was pretty proud of myself. i did way better than i thought i would!

the scariest part was night-snorkeling b/c it was pitch black in open water. but, not only did i not freak out (it helped that i got to keep a boogey board! that's me on the far left earlier in the day.), i was able to keep watch of the kids and encourage them, although most of them were a lot more adventurous than i. it was definitely worth it - there are these bioluminescent plankton that light up when they sense movement - so when i waved my hands and feet, it was like seeing pixie dust in the water. so delightfully amazing!

2) i broke out in hives. i've never been allergic to anything before but while at Catalina, i had red welts and bumps all over my arms and legs after each time i peeled off my wetsuit! eeek.

3) a field trip with my 3rd graders:

it was fun - we hatched grunions and saw some of the cool marine life near San Pedro. but not all of the trip was fun... a handful of my 3rd graders got booted out of the aquarium because they were running around! and i broke out in hives again... i started thinking, could i be allergic to field trips?

4) i baked a strawberry shortcake from scratch:

isn't it beautiful? =) it was for glo's bday.
actually, while at her bday dinner at a restaurant near the ocean, i broke out in hives again... was i allergic to the ocean? but how ridiculous is that? i asked my dr. friend and apparently, the most rational explanation is that my hives are stress-induced. it's so interesting to me that something mental could affect me in such strange physical ways.

5) i went to a k-pop concert at the Hollywood Bowl!

i went b/c i got some nice tickets from a parent at my school. in fact, they were the nicest seats i'd ever had at the Hollywood Bowl - i went more for the chance to sit that close than for the actual music. but i had a decent time...lots of good laughs at the Korean-ness of it all.

there were crazy outfits like the one above - what is he wearing?? but the 18,000 koreans there that night seemed to just eat it up!

thanks, J for accompanying me to this strange event. (and thanks to my roommate for letting me borrow her warm jacket)

6) i actually spent my bday money (normally i would just "save it" and never use it for anything fun). i bought a new high-tech camera...

i was playing w/ the zoom function and this is zoomed out...

and i promise i didn't move an inch...but this is how powerful the zoom is. crazy, no? this pic also shows my bad eating habits. and i know if you're not Asian, shrimp flavored chips sound like the most disgusting thing in the world, but try them...they're pretty good! =)

something that's not new is that i've been appalled at how much my identity and worth is still placed in other things besides God. this is the Christian walk, that i realize more and more how far from perfect i am...but sometimes it can get overwhelming and feel like i'm a hopeless case. thank goodness for friends and for the purity of the gospel that remind me i'm not beyond hope. that, in fact, this is the only way to grow closer to Him.