part dos

part 2 of my supposedly long post

Break has been really good so far. Been pretty busy but loving it all the same. Time for more recaps

Started winter break off on the right foot with tickets to Wicked! It was super uber good. I was kind of worried that it was far too hyped up and the musical wouldn't meet my expectations but I did and then some. Wasn't allowed to take any pictures inside the theatre but was able to take a contraband shot of the stage before the musical began.



waited outside of the stage entrance after the musical was over. was able to snag 3 autographs. 1. Deedee Magno Hall (Nessarose aka elphaba's sister aka the wicked witch of the east) 2. Nicolas Dromard (Fiyero who was soooo nice and chatted with people asking for his autograph) 3. Teal Wicks (Elphaba who was also really nice but took a really long time to leave)

while waiting for autographs, also mangaged to walk around and take some pics





sneak peek of part 3
shopping, tofu, and cupcakes

sneak peek of part 4
city impact rescue mission

Be prepared

It is now 7:50 in the morning and I am incredibly tiredddddddddddd but not as bad as I could feel I guess since I decided to be smart and sleep at 1am! I can't even remember the last time I slept that early......I guess winter break is really good for me after all. Anyway there are going to be an onslaught of posts coming within the next several days so be prepared =]

So here's part 1. Let me take you back to half an hour ago when I first turned my computer on. Upon checking my gmail, I noticed a new word of the day, awaiting my eyes.



To understand this word I guess you would have to have been in Winchell and Lori's group at CEBC camp '06. I'll have to try to find the video of Winchell jumping up and yelling wassailin =]

preview of part 2


on another note, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

i have found myself doing anything and everything possible to put off studying. i will pay for it all tomorrow....

on a lighter note, imma cited for switchfoot!!! finally get to go to another of their concerts =) jan 9 im ready.

With this world in mind,
We strive for goals,
Always on the fast track,
Don’t want to fall behind
Or judgment will come
By the hands of others
Comparing each to the next.
And so we will mindlessly go on
Never questioning
Never wavering
From this single-minded thinking

And our goals do not satisfy
As instant gratification
Is here in an instant and gone in the next.
Yet moving from goal to goal,
We’re blind
To the emptiness,
To the complacency,
That we fall into.
This rut,
Which becomes a well,
So deep,
That light is but a speck,
When we dare to look up.

And the thought
That we're comfortable,
Our place is at this bottom,
Takes over,
And we think this is normal.

But for those who dare to look beyond,
The recognition of something more,
Something greater,
Something better,
Something that is good.
For those who realize,
We are so deep down,
We are so low,
Are pulled back up,
Out of "normal",
Into a presence,
Of something else.
An indescribable force,
That judges
But forgives,
That sacrifices
To redeem,
That takes my life
To save it.

=]

Fall 2009 semester is finally over!! Well except for finals..and reviews next week....but no more lectures or discussions =) how wonderful. Surprising how quickly the semester has gone by, though I'm not complaining. Anyhoo here's a quick photo update on thanksgiving.

we decided to go black friday shopping again this year so we met up after thanksgiving dinner, played a lot of nerts (what a super fun addicting game), got fresh donuts at bob's donuts, and headed off to old navy for their wonderful $15 jeans deal. decided we didn't want to wait in line for H&M to open at 5 so we hung out in our usually place at union square.


yeah i never understand what this guy is doing


the lights on the poles were different this year...=(


but we're always there to cheer each other up =)


lots of hugging going on.......though greg seems way more happy about it than kevin...


........nevermind hahaha


and what's a spera reunion without trapping kevin in a rotating door


2nd annual trip to the St. Francis to ride their elevators and take pictures of a wonderful view. they already had 2 giant christmas trees up and decorated! presents galore!!


H&M opened and keegan and I decided to try on the most random things we could find


i picked out a very normal set of accessories for keegan to try.....


...and she picks this out for me....oo joy....


keegan chris greg and i decided to pick out the worst outfits for each other. can you guess who won? =p


lots of fun and an overall great day. left my wallet at greg's but chris was kind enough to drop it off later.....with his trash inside of it....

Another week and they're all back again yayyyyy =]

post 100

For awhile now
I’ve had trouble putting my thoughts into words
My desire to be eloquent
For my words to have meaning to everyone
For the praises of others
This is what I struggle with

But the words that you have spoken to me
The song of love that you have placed in my heart
Remains in its true form
And when I am only seeking your praise
Will these words come out right
Will this song be yours
So you will be at the center
And not myself

I attempt to put into words
My desire for you
The blessings I have received
The calm you have given me
And I always go back to one word
Grace

Because without it
I would not be here
We would not be here

I would not have been saved
And instead would be forever lost
In a sea of faces
But now I know better
And to you I stand above it all
Because my desires in life
Are no longer monetary
Or longing for the acceptance of others
Because these things are of this world
And will not last

But you have been here before I was
You are here now
And you will be here forevermore

How can anyone put all these emotions into words
How can I sum up
Everything you have done for me
For this world
No matter what I say
I will only be scratching at the surface
And I will still be left with one word,
Grace




I always end up comparing myself to others.
They're more artistic, better with words, a better voice.
And i fall into this trap
that Satan has put in my path.
And i am consumed with timidity,
always aware, also calculating of what others think of me.
I worry about who reads this blog, what they think,
do they agree, do they think
I'm just saying words that have no link.
But i know better than this.

That God will always look at my heart first.
That even if no one else understands what I'm trying to bring across,
God will not be at a loss,
for He never is.

And this will bring a smile to his face,
because His child has felt His endless grace,
His endless love
His warm embrace
And He will rejoice,
that another has been saved

*don't worry I wasn't trying to rap or anything it actually just ended up rhyming when it was all written out*

Operation Christmas Child

Sorry this is coming so late but I was wondering if anyone was interested in doing Operation Christmas Child with me this year. The drop of days for the boxes will actually be this coming week so if you want to join me in sending a couple of boxes drop a comment or email me =]

dont know what I'm talking about?

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/

Safe

"Course He isn’t safe. But He’s good. He’s the King"

So this here was posted up before I went off to IV's Fall Conference retreat. I was given a CD full of sermons a couple years ago and one of the tracks that always stuck with me was one in which Derek Webb introduces his song, "Wedding Dress".(very blunt but good song btw. should give it a listen or ask if you want the file =]) Anyhoo he talks about how being a Christian and the Christian faith is NOT SAFE. It is NOT an easy path.

In Narnia when the kids first ask about Aslan, the response they receive is that he is not safe, but he's good. He's the King. I went into Fall Con with this thought very heavy on my heart. Did I really know what this meant or did it catch my attention because it sounded good? I didn't really understand it but God made is so known to me this past weekend that IN ALL THINGS He is still very much so present and He is AT WORK and He is GOOD

tbd

i know this video has been out for awhile but for some reason I decided to watch it again and it doesnt get old!

notebooks

=[ i have this weird habit that if I do not write down my homework I am unable to even start it. For the past year I've been using the kind of notebook observed up top and I love it! It's separated by colors and has a title box at the top where i can put the title. Sadly to say though, I have been unable to find said notebook at the Berkeley student store, in desperate need for a new one, I decided to try to find it online, just to find that it is discontinued and if I want to buy a few of the remaining ones I would have to spend $15 on shipping alone!!!! *sigh...this saddens me...so i thought i would share it =] okay that's all

giants

hehehe funnnnnny

finish last

107 year-old woman seeking 23rd husband
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090914/od_afp/malaysiamarriageoffbeat_20090914080426;_ylt=AioU9xL.DxlsWzJgN5a1cRWgOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTJ1cXJqOTJxBGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDA5MDkxNC9tYWxheXNpYW1hcnJpYWdlb2ZmYmVhdARwb3MDNARzZWMDeW5fcGFnaW5hdGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawMxMDcteWVhci1vbGQ
yeah....no comment.

its been almost a month since i've last updated and several times, i drafted posts to put up but i just never got around to doing it. but im gonna disregard all that =p

school has started and the schedule i used to have(when i only had class on tuesday, wednesday, and thursday) has been completely switched around. I only have 1 class remaining from my phase 2 schedule but I think I like my new schedule much better. Political Science is my favorite class right now. My GSI reminds me of Ochi in the whole learn the concepts to learn not to get a grade attitude. Very funny guy, chill, and encouraging. I'm sure it helps that I'm absolutely loving the subject as well. Most def made the right decision to switch over to Poli Sci.

A couple of weeks ago Caroline was ever so kind as to impart wisdom that I will share with you.(though this is actually 3rd hand because she actually heard this from Peter Pun) When we're choosing our majors, as Christians I think there's always this period where we ask ourselves, Is this what God wants me to do with my life? And here's the interesting point(ie the point of this little paragraph) There is a reason we like our major. The Holy Spirit in us calls us to like certain things. There is a basis for our likes and dislikes and our major is included in this! I'm sure I completely butchered it but hopefully you got the idea.

Last...last week? yeah...well it was Cornerstone's annual youth rally musical! very entertaining and the high schoolers did a wonderful job. The name of the musical was Finish Last (I assume after the song Finish Last by Stellar Kart? ...which was one of the songs they sang). Anyhoo, so this morning I kind of woke up thinking about the song. Weird right? But the first thought that came to me was one of the lines in the song, "I wanna finish last, last in the world's eyes". From the time I first heard it to now, I find it a very hard concept to grasp. I mean cmon right? We live in a society that tells us that we need to finish first, that we need to be the best at everything we do. We are judged by this standard, by how we compare to the rest of our peers. So how are we supposed to be last? Why should we? And then oddly enough, I thought about KCDC. More specifically, leading the kids in line during KCDC. So the set up is usually 4 leaders. One in the front leading the line, 2 on the side and then one in the back. And I thought, well maybe God wants us to be last because of how important it is to have someone last in line.

So the leader in the back is simply that, a leader in the back of a line. But that leader is crucial. When you're in the back, you're responsible for making sure that all the kids are in front of you, that way you won't lose one. You make sure the kids catch up if they're lagging behind. You have a view of all the kids in front of you(supervision is key) The leader in the back helps to usher the kids onto the sidewalk when crossing the street. If someone is feeling sick, the leader in the back will usually walk with them, keeping a close eye on them. Not sure how this all relates? Well maybe this is a stretch but when God calls us to be the last, maybe it's not simply being last. Rather, maybe God tells us to be last to give us the responsibility of others. Just as the leader in the back of the line has all those responsibilities, don't we have Christians have the responsibility to help bring others to know God, and to help further their walk? Are we given the task to help guide? When our brothers and sisters have fallen, are we not called to bring them back? Our society tells us to look out for ourselves, finish helping ourselves and then help others. Maybe it's not about us finishing last, but rather about helping others to finish "first". anyhoo that's my two cents. comments?

BASIC

a month or 2 ago, anthony bong said something that really hit me after combined singspiration one fellowship night. it was something along the lines of, if you are truly my brothers and sisters in Christ, then I should know about your walk and you should know about mine. again it was something along those lines. but those words have stuck with me ever since then and I cant help but think that as fellow brothers and sisters, we are not always open with one another when struggles and trials come our way. im sure that doesnt hold true for everyone but i know i definitely dont always share about what I'm going through. that being said, from camp, there were 3 main things that were brought to light for me. the first of which is the need of a conviction, a foundation, a faith. if you do not know what you are believing in, then is it really faith? if you are not standing for anything, then what exactly are you doing?

second. praise. up at camp, singspiration is pretty crazy. you have people shouting at the top of their lungs, people standing on chairs, hands clapping with all their strength, and even people running around the room. but then i think, what is their purpose? is it all for fun, or do they feel so moved by the spirit that they are doing what they're doing? i definitely struggle with this one too. i stand when others stand, i clap when others clap. all i can do is try my best to sing not just words, but truth right? to sing and praise with the sole purpose of glorifying God.

third, honesty. when things in the church or in fellowship or of fellow believers bother me, i tend to not say anything, keep it inside. recently however, ive been trying to be more upfront, truthful about my opinions, and perspectives. yeah..........we'll see how that works out.

this day has been definitely a memorable one. i havent felt such pure joy in awhile. more to come.

it's been awhile

wow i have really been slacking when it comes to updating this blog. to sum up the last month or so.....

kcdc is now over
college camp at koinonia has come and gone
and i am packing to go back to school

kcdc was definitely a different experience this year but nonetheless it was fun and i was continuously being taught various lessons, one of which is humility and dependence. but more about that some other time

umm college camp was.....well it was good. again a different experience. i am very thankful though that this has been the first year i did not get the so called "spiritual high". i think in previous years i have somewhat just expected to get one from camp but it always results in a slow gradual crash. this year not having one has reminded me to stay grounded in my faith and convictions which i would say has been good so far.

i definitely have a love-hate relationship with school right now. on the one hand im excited to go back and see everyone again and kinda live on my own but at the same time, it's school..... oh well, we'll see what happens. one thing i really am looking forward to is that my cousin will be at berkeley next year as well so i hope i can take advantage of the opportunity and share Christ with her. gotta remember though, i am merely the messenger, He will ultimately be the one to change her heart.

been finally catching up on sleep that i was definitely lacking during kcdc and camp. it's been really nice but kinda makes be sad to be wasting my day away.

dum de dum....ooo so yesterday we had a fellowship outing to great america! last day before caroline headed back to usc. it was pretty fun. lots of rides. lots of walking. and more importantly lots of good fellowship bonding time.


didnt take too many pictures but these kinda sum up camp this year

fun in the cabins


lots of praising


brought back the tradition of mattress sliding...


which was new for some people


in other news..my cousin got married(not shown in pic) but it was pretty cool to have a big ol family reunion

finally

kcdc has officially started!...3 weeks ago.... yeah i know im pretty slow on updating but that can be expected for the next month or so. bur for now, here's the scoop

kcdc has been tiring. thats not a very big surprise but for some reason, this year feels even more draining. maybe its working with kids that are older or maybe its the new site but for the first week, i would end up not being able to move once i got on the couch. it was pretty bad. thankfully im getting used to it and i've been able to actually get things done after kcdc is over.
i
but yeah for sure this year has been a struggle but at the same time its been a really big blessing. i have the same group i worked with for 3 years now and so it was kind of disappointing to see the numbers go back down to those of my first year with them but i think it forced me to see the urge of sharing God's love with each individual child because in all honestly there is always the possibility that they choose not to come back to the program and then what happens right? so ive kind of decided to take a no inhibitions attitude this year. i refuse to let my own comfort zone or my limited ability to love, stand in the way of sharing Christ with these kids both in words and in action.

jump of topics but for those who remember, last june was the month that ctbc held our youth praise night, "Hold up wait a minute". For the praise night last year, band decided to perform 2 original songs. I had the chance to write one of the songs but honestly, i was pretty uncomfortable about it. It wasn't a matter of humility, but more simply I didn't think the song was very good in comparison to the other one, i didnt' feel like i could really sing it, and all in all, i was just embarrassed by the whole thing. but one of the things that i feel God has really taught be in this past year is that it isn't mine, nothing is. The words that come out of my mouth are not mine, they are the sole property of God. I am merely a tool, an instrument if you will, of God and I should be so honored that He would choose someone as lowly as me to take part in His plan. If i were ashamed or embarrassed, wouldn't that mean i was ashamed or embarrassed of God? I would like to think not.

gonna end with this little note. I encourage anyone who reads this to do something. in everything that you do, BE BOLD!

take 2

first week of kcdc

inhibitions

reservations

and song writing take 2

standing on a curb

as i was standing on a street corner, waiting for the light to turn from red to green, there were several people who decided it wasnt worth the time to wait and proceeded to jaywalk across the street. to where you may ask? simply across the street to the bus stop...where there was no bus coming. it made me wonder, what was the rush? did they simply cross the street to make it seem like they were closer to getting on the bus than they actually were? did they think that being at the bus stop made the bus come more quickly? or did they even realize that their impatience was completely unnecessary?

though i waited to cross that street, i must admit that i AM STILL that jaywalker, not content to stay where i am and wait, but rather impatient to rush towards my goal, no matter how empty that goal may be.

now sometimes its better to be impatient, to want to take initiative, to have a goal in mind and let nothing stand in the way of reaching it. for the past few months, that is how i feel like concerning my walk. ive been impatient, wanting change within myself, as well as within fellowship and the church. but what is my goal then? am i simply rushing to the other side, only to have to wait longer, accomplishing nothing while making myself believe i have accomplished much? or am i being told to stand and wait, and let change come on God's time rather than my own? we'll shall see.

bad memory

yeahhhhh im gonna start being bad at updating now. and the things i was gonna update about.....well if you really want to know you can ask me but i think im just gonna bypass most of it. but yup summer is here early this year and im getting back into the hang of being home full time. its definitely different. but as i was cleaning and organizing my room, i came across some pretty interesting artifacts. and yes i do consider them artifacts. the first of which are these tshirts.


now they may not been much to most all of you but these tshirts were part of the best years of high school for me. got one every year i participated in the world affairs challenge. the simple decision to do this project has basically changed the course of my life. and i kid you not when i say this. now i could always find a few of them but this is one of the first times ive had all of them together at once and it was just a nice sight to see for me.

artifact #2

.....stupid photographers who always make children pose oddly......but like it or not(more like embarrassed by it or not) its cool to have a tshirt with my 4/5 year old face on it. definitely worthy of being considered artifact #2

and though i found many different random things this was probably one of the most significant


back in sophmore year for modern world in vedars class, he had us do up an identity chart. it was a pretty simple assignment. take a picture of yourself(i took the picture off to put on my identity chart for his class the following year- 8th grade softball pic) write down 10 things people see me as as well as 10 things i see myself as. simple enough. it just meant asking people on aim. lastly we had to complete the 3 phrases, i can, i value, and i need.

i guess you can say that the 10th grade judy and college judy is pretty different from one another. back then, i had "i need a good eduation", "i value my relationships with my friends and family" and "i can always find comfort in my friends" on my identity chart. if i were to make one up now, i would like to think my answers would be slightly different, slightly more centered on God. my priorities have changed, as have my ways of thinking and my attitude. seeing this poster again has made me realize just how different i am than the person i used to be. not really sure where im going with this post. and maybe for now, ill just leave it at that....

time to go white?

i dont usually post up articles but this intrigued me

"Making roads and roofs a paler colour could have the equivalent effect of taking every car in the world off the road for 11 years"

read more here

patience is a virtue

okay so it seems as if im busier now that finals are over than when i was studying for them! what with all the packing and unpacking and then cleaning of the multiple rooms and all that stuff. update will come....eventually i aim for before wednesday. but for now im just enjoying the end of school(though it is sad that people are leaving =( ) but yeah its been a really good year, got lots to be thankful for, and am definitely realizing that ive truly been blessed this year. end with that for now. actually ill end with a congrats to the class of '09 (specifically matt and tiff..though i do not believe they read this)

blog update part 1

okay so i realized that i actually do have a lot of things to talk about. so much in fact that i decided to split my post into 2 parts. and so to avoid studying and sleeping, i shall post part 1 up today and then part 2 after my final.

anyhoo, to address my first mini outline blog, things im looking forward to:

1. possible TB or not TB presentation take 2? we shall see if we can set it up ( its okay if you have no idea what im talking about. im sure thats pretty common)

2. inductive bible study! for those of you who don't know, I've really gotten on board with inductive bible study. i just feel like its really unbiased. like usually certain passages are known to cover certain topics but when you go through a passage inductively, you get such a different perspective and plus i always feel like when i read a passage to do for lesson or whatever, i manipulate phrases and different parts of the passage so that i get a specific message at the end but with inductive bible study, you get what you get and you just take the word for the purpose it was written. that being said, i was so moved by the bible study that we've done these past 2 semesters that i've asked a couple of people(both christians and non) if theyd be willing to have some bible study during the summer and so far everyone is up for it so yay!

very much so connected to that is what i wanted to talk about concerning pride.
i think going into trying to share Christ with non believers, I always feel like I need to be eloquent or I need to be able to answer all their questions etc etc. I think the mentality I had was that I should be a good enough Christian that I should be able to bring others to Christ. but the problem with that is pride. I think I have to constantly remind myself that it is never what we can do. In the end, it will all be God. Nothing we say or do can really change anyone's heart. Rather, it will be in God's time and God's will when people come to know Him. Sure we are used by Him and He has a purpose for us and He wants us to share the good news but remember, it is not what we do but rather what He does through us.

been lacking of sleep so that will be all of part 1

things to look forward to in part 2?

love - what it is, but more importantly, what it is not
what went down during our last bible study group time and community time
*ill post up some pics soon too but if you really can't wait that long then just check fb*

update outline

ive had quite a few mini posts these past weeks but i will do a serious update some time soon ie after my finals are over...well not that im really studying at the moment anyway.

so i am once again back in the city......though ill be here for less than 24 hrs before heading back to school..........but these past few weeks ive been bringing home more and more clothes and i finally could no longer ignore the pile of clothes on my couch that needed to be folded and put away(and no the clothes does not stay in my living room i have an old couch in my room.............) but anyhoo i decided to totally clean my closet and what not and i have found quite a few gems. preview?

my super old track sweatshirt(from way back in the day)
my old softball uniform
all my WAF spera tshirts..... if i dont remember, someone remind me to posts some pics

okay thats it for now

ooo actually wait. so i just opened a new tube of toothpaste and its the colgate blue gel ones with the white strips. you know what im talking about? well anyhoo i really like how when you first use the tube, it comes out like really nice and the stripe and blue gel is separated and it looks just like the picture on the box.........................that was my nerd moment =p

free to be

oo so much to update one.........

coming up

i seem to be doing everything possible to not get my work done................

next blog update will be about.......

1. things im excited for this coming summer (part 2)

2. pride

update

okay so quick recap of the weekend.

rain rain go away come again never. or maybe just not right now.....anyhoo though it was still sprinkling friday night, CK 1 and 2 made the trek down to ATT park for a giants game against the rockies! fun game. lots of laughs...and food...and major failure eating sunflower seeds. totally forgot about my camera until practically the last inning so the only pics i have are these



lots of lots of birds....reminds of me lunch at wash when those sophmores used to throw food around the seagulls.....

edit on fun fact #2: thinking back i actually remember more about ap testing than just physics. like the fact that i was in a shop building that was super ultra stuffy and everyone was uncomfortable in the room while the other testing room had AC on the whole time...... oo and then during the test the paint from the ceiling kept chipping off and falling on mine and meng's desks....

scary fact # ichi: i get carsick so whenever my dad drives me back to berkeley i try to just go to sleep and i always wake up on my own accord once we get off the freeway. but tonight i couldn't really fall asleep but i was getting to the point where my eyes were feeling heavy and then i see the car in front of us drive over a black circular thing. initially i thought it was just a black piece of poster board that was curled a little bit but then right when the car in front of it drove over it i got a closer look and it was a tire with the metal parts still in the middle! and of course at this point my dad couldnt do anything but drive over it. woke right up. quite scary actually and my father was not pleased at all.

okay that's all dum de dum de dum

oo actually ill leave you with this.


canon rebel xt1i dslr. not a big fan of the name but the specs for the camera itself are quite nice

mini update

okay so this will be an outline of my next update which will come up in roughly.....4 hours i wanna say? first off giants game on friday was very fun! pics and full details to follow.

fun fact # uno: giants are now in second place of their division, 4.5 games back from the dodgers with a percentage over .500. m-a-zing yes i know

fun fact #2: this time last year was the 2 weeks of 7 AP exams........yeah i most admit i hardly remember any of it...except for the fact that during the 2 physics test i studied for econ by proving that it was actually more beneficial for me to fail physics....strange but true.

more fun facts to come

jealousy runs through my veins

So for those of you who don't know, my parents recently purchased a new cafe! well....i call it a cafe because i have no idea how to classify it....its got....viet sandwiches, a few rice plates and soup noodles...smoothies.....sushi.....and of course mitchell's ice cream! yum.. anyhoo i have been mia these past 2 weeks from church helping to get everything ready and we had a grand opening party for family and friends today.

so now you might ask, what does all this have to do with your title? easy. like i said a family and friends event so this meant almost all of my cousins were there (college midterms and ...china prevented the ones who weren't there). met my cousin tim's fiance which was nice (wedding a week before my birthday) but i got to see my cousin Thomas who just so happens to be a a professional photographer on the side( along with working for Intel, owning his own computer consulting company, working on the hybridization and fusion of ...(stuff i don't remember) amongst other things) *sorry for that slight brag but hey i'm proud of the guy*. anyhoo so my cousin who is the pro photographer just so happened to bring one of the cameras he uses along with a very nice 35-70mm lens and i got to use it for hours and hoursssssssss! soooooo much fun! he was teaching me all this stuff about figuring out the best settings for dslr's and using focus and doing all this stuff manually instead of on automatic (like i usually do).

*sigh* i must admit i have not thought about getting a dslr seriously for awhile. i hardly take my regular point and shoot out anymore but using that camera today has really revitalized my desire to get one........booooooooo and that is where the jealousy begins. *sigh* oh well.... i guess one day right? okay i will go and try to get work done and let this jealousy eat away at me.................

flashback

havent celebrated a spera birthday in a really really long time! the last time we really did anything was before school started....well before school started for the quarter system folk. that being said, ive decided to try to do "this week in history.....of my life =)" posts. have no idea what im talking about? thats okay you'll get the hang of it.

so this week in the history of my life....

celebrated the first 18th birthday of spera folk!


started the day with a beautiful singing balloon


anybody remember that hair?


our first time eating at tofu house....yummmmmmm




and there was the "whipped cream incident".... =p


dont worry we werent entirely mean. got him a cake to match his balloon


and a lightbulb too!

from here on out, there is at least a birthday a month....yummy cake

its all coming to an end

school is almost over! i had my last lab today an we were already talking about when our final review session would be.....what a scary thought. but i can not wait for summer! what i'm looking forward to? let's see.....



oo yes i am most def looking forward to this movie FINALLY coming out!

other things?

maybe a trip down to visit the socal folks. unfortunately, the most convenient time for me also equals a ucla fellowship retreat....so iono we'll see. i guess i can always go anyway....

first year of college camp!

and the best of all. free time1 super long break between end of break and the beginning!1 yayyyyy

betrayal

hahahaha oooo michael.........

imeem

after a year of telling myself, i finally got around to trying out imeem only to find.......... it's cool! so cool that i found this song! so yup i'm happy. but that's not the only reason for my happiness, i finished my last midterm as a college freshman yesterday! feels good. you know what else feels good? softball practice! ......okay that is until it's over and then the pain kicks in....but still it was pretty fun going out there again on sunday. oooo one last bit of happiness? my econ discussion got canceled! first class that has been canceled........i know it might seem like a minor deal but it feels really good to have only one class at 330 =)

It's a pretty good friday

So today is good friday and for those who don't know, this is the day of Jesus's death. This death on a cross and resurrection is celebrated above all else, not even Christmas compares (though our society says otherwise). Most of the time, I'm still so lost as to why and Christ can willingly and obediently give his life up for someone as undeserving as me. Don't understand? Here let's put it in context

Say you had a test and you just didnt understand the material no matter how hard you studied. Your friend, instead of studying for their own test, goes over all the material with you until you understand and are ready to ace your test. The downside? Your friend hasn't studied at all and gets a failing grade. Pretty good friend right? So willing to help you with totally disregard for their own studying.

So you might think, okay you're right that's a pretty good friend. but...I'm sure there are people out there who do that. It's a pretty big deal but not THAT big of a deal. So let's take this one step further.

You're walking with your friend and your friend stops to pick something up. You walk out onto the street and a bus is coming at you. Your friend, seeing this, rushes over and pushes you out of the way.

Once again, a great friend right? To have a friend that is willing to disregard their own safety to save you. That's a true friend. But wait, you might be thinking......well iono I have some pretty close friends and I'd like to think I'd die for them.......and this is true. there are people in all of our lives that we love and would be willing to die for.....hmmmm i guess we gotta take it another step

This time you're by yourself, walking across the street, and again there's a bus coming right at you. (remember you're supposed to look left right left when crossing the street!) this time, no friends are around, but you feel yourself being pushed out of the path of the bus to safety. you turn back and a stranger has saved your life.

Wow.....that's... pretty incredible right? what a great person this is who would save you without knowing who you are. a really good Samaritan. there are still good people out there in this world.......but wait. maybe youre thinking...i'm a pretty good person....i'd like to think that i'd instinctively try to save someone if i had the opportunity....maybe? ....and true. maybe instinctively some of us would. but then again maybe some of us wouldn't. there are always feel good stories out there about kindhearted people right? good point. one more step then.

imagine that you are the scum of the earth(sorry i know this sounds harsh). you're a pretty bad person. you lie, you cheat, you've stolen before. you treat people differently than you should, youve hated people. you're unfair and prejudiced, quick to judge and anger, stubborn and a hypocrite! you've hurt others and about some, just didnt care. these characteristics only skim the surface of you. oh wait but .....you consider yourself an okay person right? overall nice? so you were mean to that person, you were nice to someone else so that makes up for it. you just told a....small lie... it won't hurt anybody? it doesn't REALLY count as a bad thing does it? it might be hard to hear but we are all these things. no matter what we do, we can not make up for all the bad that we have done. with all this being said, what do we deserve?

some of you may think, well i DESERVE my laptop because i need it for school. my parents work hard so i DESERVE to be able to have nice things. the list goes on and on. but the truth is, we don't deserve any of this.... keep that in mind.

this time, imagine this. Christ died for you, not as a perfect stranger, but rather, he knew and knows everything about you. he knows your past and all your faults and shortcomings. if someone were to look at you and judge you, they would easily come to the conclusion that you DO NOT deserve to be saved. and yet Christ willingly, obediently, and above all, lovingly, died for you. that is what Easter is about. it's the FACT that Jesus Christ, would know that I am the scum of the earth, the lowest of low, and still without any hesitation, die for you.

It can't help but humble me. And it makes no sense to me, why this would happen because knowing myself, i admit that i do not deserve any type of love and i do not deserve the gift of grace. it's astonishing to me, that this can happen. and it really makes me question, how can He love me that much?

Picture Update

Alright lets take a stroll down memory lane.....back to a couple weeks ago when I was still on spring break! *sigh* spring break....how i miss you..anyhoo prepare yourself for a very long posts with lots of pictures


so spring break started out with a sleepover in my room with keegan and chris =) lots of snacks and random oppositeness


met up with everyone on sunday night for some sushi and of course mahjong - chris wouldnt share the blanket...


had lunch with spera in the afternoon before going to visit the track team


went to greg's to see if his wisdom teeth made his cheeks swollen but.....darn no change - all of us are back again!


guy love ...or i guess bromance


flashback to last june and i swear we have this exact same picture .......


it was really nice weather


and no one could really see anything


but meng's eyes are kinda open...


not even greg could see


they made me go answer the door and took weird pics on my camera


luong goes straight for the food


for some reason we kept throwing out the chinese numbers.....


uhhh molded!


thursday was lunch with andrejeff....unfortunately we forgot to take pictures with her before she had to get back to class

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but still we had a good time


no idea what he's doing though. but he was sitting very isolated from the rest of us


waited around to sneak into wash to visit teachers


hung out in andrejeffs.......unfortunately it was just me and the guys.....

Friday was our trip to Davis...but times got mixed up so we decided to take a detour


in the car about to head on our mini road trip


stopped at zachary's pizza! yummy. took lots of pictures while we were waiting for our pizza


no love from kevin?


surprised?


really yummy pizza


our driver for the whole week! thanks chris


greg wouldnt be unsafe with us and decided not to go up to davis....but we found him there anyway!


we also found a really cool duck....we think hes where kevin got his inspiration for his new hair


lots of bench pictures by this really nice lake


lots of laughing lots of fun


sitting around enjoying the view


and what a view


ladybugs were attacking keegan


and finally, we got to fuji's


ate a lot!


kevin's food baby.....


chris's couldnt even come close to kevin's


decided to walk around to digest


mengs trying to get into our pictures






i thought we were taking a normal picture.... guess not


keeg's turn to sneak into our pics


the guys

overall awesome spring break. nothing in particular made it that special but just a lot of good hang out time. can't wait for the next reunion. may maybe? socal trip? we'll see. okay now gotta go back to studying for my many midterms