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.................
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
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
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
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
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
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 =)
Friday, April 10, 2009
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?
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?
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
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
href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HFbPBbv37ZU/Sd0FMxymuDI/AAAAAAAAAnk/R3x43TQ4AF8/s1600-h/DSC00429.JPG">
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
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
href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HFbPBbv37ZU/Sd0FMxymuDI/AAAAAAAAAnk/R3x43TQ4AF8/s1600-h/DSC00429.JPG">
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
