c-rap!! i am flying by myself for the first time tomorrow. i sound like such a kid but i'm really nervous. i already don't like flying because i get air sick and it's just not a pleasant experience. but flying by myself magnifies my worries. gahh this just shows i have a lot to surrender to God.
i am SO super PSYCHED for this week!! going to IHOP is something i wanted to do since last year after hearing about it from joshua and just hearing a little about it from other people we know that serve there. last year i went to missouri too but it was for Urbana. it's funny how i've been going to missouri for all these major conferences. i'm not looking forward to the cold weather although snow is always so pretty to see covering the floor. and i bought new boots for it too [and the rain this past week]. :O)
what i'm looking forward to the most is just having time set apart for the Lord to just sit with Him and be ministered to and spoken to. i really really need to hear from Him. i thought i had an option set for what i could do after graduating but that went away recently so now i am back to square one and have no idea what God wants me to do. therefore, i am really looking forward to seeking Him with TONS of time set apart for that this coming week. i also am excited for the 24/7 worship. how awesome is that?! and i heard they do prophecies too. i am really interested in seeing how that goes. it's funny cause i'm mostly anticipating all of the things IHOP does on a regular basis more than what they have set up specifically for the conference.
sure, it'll be cool to listen to the speakers and meet new people but that's something that is not really a priority to me. i've been planning on going to this since the summer. my dad prepares for these things way in advance and asked me if i wanted to go then. since then, i've been thinking of all the things i am looking forward to and anticipating, while at the same time leaving room for what God has planned for me. or actually, i guess it should be the other way around. totally surrendering everything and just waiting on His timing. i'm just plain excited!!
please pray for me that i will be able to find my terminal gates and everything else on time. i'm only bringing one personal item and a carry-on because check in was too expensive. but i actually was able to fit all my clothes! yay!
secondly, please pray that God will speak to me and really reveal His will for me. i just need a direction.
thanks for reading!
praise God for this awesome opportunity!! :OD
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
my ULTIMATE best friend's birthday!!
since i won't have time tomorrow, i wanted to write this post today.
HAPPY SCINTILLATING BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!! :OD
i hope you are most blessed on this day of Christmas. today is the day to celebrate you and everything God has made you to be. you are His most precious child. I couldn't be more thankful for YOUR birth. you truly have made a difference in everybody in the world's lives. that impact alone is amazing and can't begin to describe your greatness. NO one can match up to you. no one.
I hope people re-center when needed because this day is not about giving or receiving like everyone thinks. it's to celebrate you and God's goodness as well for creating you. i love you Jesus!!!
"'You are my witnesses,' declares the Lord, 'and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that i am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior." Isaiah 43:10-11
AMEN!!
cheers to Christ! <3
HAPPY SCINTILLATING BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!! :OD
i hope you are most blessed on this day of Christmas. today is the day to celebrate you and everything God has made you to be. you are His most precious child. I couldn't be more thankful for YOUR birth. you truly have made a difference in everybody in the world's lives. that impact alone is amazing and can't begin to describe your greatness. NO one can match up to you. no one.
I hope people re-center when needed because this day is not about giving or receiving like everyone thinks. it's to celebrate you and God's goodness as well for creating you. i love you Jesus!!!
"'You are my witnesses,' declares the Lord, 'and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that i am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior." Isaiah 43:10-11
AMEN!!
cheers to Christ! <3
Thursday, December 23, 2010
it's a beautiful thing
to fellowship and worship with brothers and sisters that all share the same purpose and passion!!
whenever i reflect back on Urbana and how we were sent a video message from IHOP of how they were all praying for us and wanted to say hi, i can't help but smile. i just remember seeing all those faces, some people jumping up and down out of excitement, and smiles all around when they were waving hi on the webcam.
it's so precious to know how extensive our spiritual family really is, i absolutely adore big families. the diversity represented is always astounding and so awesome to see how God has gifted us differently.
mini example:some of us FECG kids hung out and couldn't decide on what movie to watch because we all had different tastes. it took forever to decide and we finally all agreed to Star Trek. but it was just interesting how we all are so different!!
tonight, we celebrated the FEC [First Evangelical Church] family. we had a joint praise night. i looooooove how God has placed all of us in SO many different college campuses!!! we range from community colleges to universities and to private schools!! i feel like we are all spread out in so many different places and it's so awesome to reconnect when given the opportunity.
networking is like one of my faaaav things to do. :OD
but tonight was focused on God and giving Him the glory for placing us on the campuses we attend and for providing us with many opportunities, to embrace our calling. it was also a time to meet other people who used to or currently attend the same campus as us but who go to different churches. we wanted to be more connected and bridge gaps. :O) i feel tonight accomplished that goal and was a new beginning to great things.
the prayer time was my favorite where there was a representative for each school and they stood up to pray for their campus. it was really interesting hearing what each campus struggled with and yet what each campus was strengthened by. Dan [our pastor from Glendale] brought up how he and the other pastors noticed there was a negative spirit/power that was dragging each of our schools down in different ways. here are the prayer requests so you can know what to pray for [i can't remember all the campuses so i will only list the ones i remember. oh & some of the prayer requests can apply to all campuses]:
-UC Riverside: pray over the spirit of being underestimated&viewed as not academically prestigious to be broken. pray that clubs will not be the replacement for church for some attendees, pray for the clubs that outreach&evangelize on campus to be able to make an impact and a lasting one where they follow up with the ones they reach/talk to, pray for the freshmen to give Riverside a chance&to find out why God has placed them there&to realize their blessings there, pray for all the Christian clubs to come together and be united, and pray for the ministry that God is starting with the LGBT community.
-UC Irvine: pray over the spirit of feeling one can do it all without relying on God. pray that the campus fellowships [and other ministries such as dance groups] will be able to find common identity with one another through the pursuing of Christ, pray that the students will be motivated to follow Jesus and go out and evangelize, pray that differences will not get in the way of allowing God's work to prevail.
-UC LA: pray over the spirit of prestigious pressure to do well&competitiveness. pray for God to work through the many campus fellowships God has blessed them with, that He would grow and work in the lives of those who attend and those who are reached out to.
-USC: pray over the spirit of rivalry as well and how it's a dark place surrounded by an even darker place [the bad part of LA]. pray for the students there to be able to put God as their number one priority and then school, pray that academic pressure will not overtake the student's lives, pray that the fellowships will be able to reach many lost ones.
-Westmont: pray over the spirit of being stuck in their own little bubble. pray that the students will not be only going to church or chapel because of routine or cause it's the cool thing to do but because they feel called by God, pray that the students will go out of their comfort zones and achieve goals outside of their campus instead of feeling like they are trapped by the campus walls, and pray for all the social justice groups that take place on campus.
-BIOLA: pray over the spirit of attack by the enemy. pray that God would continue to do His work and bless the students who attend to obtain growth, knowledge, and experience.
-Wellesley: pray over the spirit of feminism and the pure goal of success. pray for the girls who attend [since it's an all girls school] to be able to find their identity in Christ instead of other things, pray for the women who feel lonely to find a partner in Jesus, and pray for the women to not solely pursue female success in the workplace and society but to remember or discover who they should be pursuing first.
-all the community colleges: pray over the spirit of feelings of rejection or underachievement. pray for the students to continue to strive for high goals&to not feel inadequate, pray for the students who have scheduling conflicts so its hard for them to get connected with a fellowship, and pray for the students who do have a church to invest in getting involved with their church especially if they do not have the opportunity of joining a campus fellowship, and pray for all the people who preach without love and misrepresent God on campus [the hate preachers].
i know i missed other campuses but those are just a few of the many campuses we cover!! God is so AWESOME and He really is worthy of ALL our praise. thanks for your prayers :O]
whenever i reflect back on Urbana and how we were sent a video message from IHOP of how they were all praying for us and wanted to say hi, i can't help but smile. i just remember seeing all those faces, some people jumping up and down out of excitement, and smiles all around when they were waving hi on the webcam.
it's so precious to know how extensive our spiritual family really is, i absolutely adore big families. the diversity represented is always astounding and so awesome to see how God has gifted us differently.
mini example:some of us FECG kids hung out and couldn't decide on what movie to watch because we all had different tastes. it took forever to decide and we finally all agreed to Star Trek. but it was just interesting how we all are so different!!
tonight, we celebrated the FEC [First Evangelical Church] family. we had a joint praise night. i looooooove how God has placed all of us in SO many different college campuses!!! we range from community colleges to universities and to private schools!! i feel like we are all spread out in so many different places and it's so awesome to reconnect when given the opportunity.
networking is like one of my faaaav things to do. :OD
but tonight was focused on God and giving Him the glory for placing us on the campuses we attend and for providing us with many opportunities, to embrace our calling. it was also a time to meet other people who used to or currently attend the same campus as us but who go to different churches. we wanted to be more connected and bridge gaps. :O) i feel tonight accomplished that goal and was a new beginning to great things.
the prayer time was my favorite where there was a representative for each school and they stood up to pray for their campus. it was really interesting hearing what each campus struggled with and yet what each campus was strengthened by. Dan [our pastor from Glendale] brought up how he and the other pastors noticed there was a negative spirit/power that was dragging each of our schools down in different ways. here are the prayer requests so you can know what to pray for [i can't remember all the campuses so i will only list the ones i remember. oh & some of the prayer requests can apply to all campuses]:
-UC Riverside: pray over the spirit of being underestimated&viewed as not academically prestigious to be broken. pray that clubs will not be the replacement for church for some attendees, pray for the clubs that outreach&evangelize on campus to be able to make an impact and a lasting one where they follow up with the ones they reach/talk to, pray for the freshmen to give Riverside a chance&to find out why God has placed them there&to realize their blessings there, pray for all the Christian clubs to come together and be united, and pray for the ministry that God is starting with the LGBT community.
-UC Irvine: pray over the spirit of feeling one can do it all without relying on God. pray that the campus fellowships [and other ministries such as dance groups] will be able to find common identity with one another through the pursuing of Christ, pray that the students will be motivated to follow Jesus and go out and evangelize, pray that differences will not get in the way of allowing God's work to prevail.
-UC LA: pray over the spirit of prestigious pressure to do well&competitiveness. pray for God to work through the many campus fellowships God has blessed them with, that He would grow and work in the lives of those who attend and those who are reached out to.
-USC: pray over the spirit of rivalry as well and how it's a dark place surrounded by an even darker place [the bad part of LA]. pray for the students there to be able to put God as their number one priority and then school, pray that academic pressure will not overtake the student's lives, pray that the fellowships will be able to reach many lost ones.
-Westmont: pray over the spirit of being stuck in their own little bubble. pray that the students will not be only going to church or chapel because of routine or cause it's the cool thing to do but because they feel called by God, pray that the students will go out of their comfort zones and achieve goals outside of their campus instead of feeling like they are trapped by the campus walls, and pray for all the social justice groups that take place on campus.
-BIOLA: pray over the spirit of attack by the enemy. pray that God would continue to do His work and bless the students who attend to obtain growth, knowledge, and experience.
-Wellesley: pray over the spirit of feminism and the pure goal of success. pray for the girls who attend [since it's an all girls school] to be able to find their identity in Christ instead of other things, pray for the women who feel lonely to find a partner in Jesus, and pray for the women to not solely pursue female success in the workplace and society but to remember or discover who they should be pursuing first.
-all the community colleges: pray over the spirit of feelings of rejection or underachievement. pray for the students to continue to strive for high goals&to not feel inadequate, pray for the students who have scheduling conflicts so its hard for them to get connected with a fellowship, and pray for the students who do have a church to invest in getting involved with their church especially if they do not have the opportunity of joining a campus fellowship, and pray for all the people who preach without love and misrepresent God on campus [the hate preachers].
i know i missed other campuses but those are just a few of the many campuses we cover!! God is so AWESOME and He really is worthy of ALL our praise. thanks for your prayers :O]
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
the rain cannot ruin all my plans
today was such a FUN and blessed day. really.
plans do not always go according to their original intent but they always have an outcome.
-woke up and spent some time with the King of the universe [how much more awesome could that get??]
-told instead of asked my dad that i was going to irvine with josiah [and actually got away with it! but he was still mad.]
-got to irvine safely. thank God for GPS's and google maps
-ate lunch with my chobro and he gave me this awesome trench coat!! and paid for my lunch too...sucha good brother!!
-arrived at diamond jamboree early and on time so while waiting for the others, i people watched. it was really interesting seeing what people wore in the rain and just watching people. this one couple made me laugh cause the guy was waving his hand over his girlfriend's head as if that were going to prevent rain from getting on her. but i thought it was sweet he tried.
then, i saw this mother put the umbrella in the father's hand while he was holding the daughter and then the wife grabbed on to her husband's sweater and together they stayed dry under the umbrella. it was cute.
-ate at BCD tofu house with some UCR epic people and then received a call from josiah. he pointed out that the waiter wasn't understanding me that i had just talked to and then told me to turn around and low and behold, he was there!! it was funny cause i drove him to irvine but we split ways and we ended up at the same place -_- he said he heard my laugh and that's how he found out i was there too. aha.
the guys said he looked like me. that's a first. i don't think so
-we all planned to go to ryan's to watch Inception but the rain ruined this part and the fact that mel's flight was cancelled also gave less motivation to stick together so a lot of people parted ways. i didn't want to come to irvine though for a short time and still wanted to hang out so went to South Coast Plaza with josiah, joel, and aaron. had fun looking at the rich stores ahah. also ran into allyson and anthony! that was so random yet cool!! then had an adventure walking back to the car [joel is so bad with directions its hilarious]. and i misguided us twice, woohoo! mwahaha
-drove back and was a little frightened cause the shine on the asphalt from the rain makes it REALLY hard to see the lane lines. and i had to drive near trucks too so it was extra scary but God graciously got us back and not too much traffic.
-had a delightful conversation with randy's little bro. he's SO cute.
-can't wait for IHOP!!!! ahhhhhh!!! i need/desire those endless hours of prayer and worship and reflection. i am SO eagerly anticipating it!!
-got to finally hang out with highschool friends and saw ones i haven't seen in years!! it was really fun. we played disney's apples to apples. i suck at being persuasive :O(
-i don't know, driving back in the heavy rain was kind of fun because it was short distance and blasting Christmas music just made it all the more fun. i also didn't mind the rain as much because i recently bought awesome rain boots that are like a mix between ugg and rain boots. they're so unique, i love it!!
anywho, more fun to come tomorrow :O] i feel so spoiled by God!! even though i was suuuuper disappointed about not getting to welcome mel back and surprise her, it was still a fun day and hanging out with the epic people is always fun. i learned more about them today and know what to pray more for them about :O)
God's plans are the best!
sometimes, i can't help but feel like a little kid. or i mean act like one. i'm just really easy to please and get excited about simple things. :Op and the fact that i always write incomplete sentences, or sound like a kid, i can't help it!! i feel like my mind will always be like this and i will always process things the way i do. it's just how God made me.
plans do not always go according to their original intent but they always have an outcome.
-woke up and spent some time with the King of the universe [how much more awesome could that get??]
-told instead of asked my dad that i was going to irvine with josiah [and actually got away with it! but he was still mad.]
-got to irvine safely. thank God for GPS's and google maps
-ate lunch with my chobro and he gave me this awesome trench coat!! and paid for my lunch too...sucha good brother!!
-arrived at diamond jamboree early and on time so while waiting for the others, i people watched. it was really interesting seeing what people wore in the rain and just watching people. this one couple made me laugh cause the guy was waving his hand over his girlfriend's head as if that were going to prevent rain from getting on her. but i thought it was sweet he tried.
then, i saw this mother put the umbrella in the father's hand while he was holding the daughter and then the wife grabbed on to her husband's sweater and together they stayed dry under the umbrella. it was cute.
-ate at BCD tofu house with some UCR epic people and then received a call from josiah. he pointed out that the waiter wasn't understanding me that i had just talked to and then told me to turn around and low and behold, he was there!! it was funny cause i drove him to irvine but we split ways and we ended up at the same place -_- he said he heard my laugh and that's how he found out i was there too. aha.
the guys said he looked like me. that's a first. i don't think so
-we all planned to go to ryan's to watch Inception but the rain ruined this part and the fact that mel's flight was cancelled also gave less motivation to stick together so a lot of people parted ways. i didn't want to come to irvine though for a short time and still wanted to hang out so went to South Coast Plaza with josiah, joel, and aaron. had fun looking at the rich stores ahah. also ran into allyson and anthony! that was so random yet cool!! then had an adventure walking back to the car [joel is so bad with directions its hilarious]. and i misguided us twice, woohoo! mwahaha
-drove back and was a little frightened cause the shine on the asphalt from the rain makes it REALLY hard to see the lane lines. and i had to drive near trucks too so it was extra scary but God graciously got us back and not too much traffic.
-had a delightful conversation with randy's little bro. he's SO cute.
-can't wait for IHOP!!!! ahhhhhh!!! i need/desire those endless hours of prayer and worship and reflection. i am SO eagerly anticipating it!!
-got to finally hang out with highschool friends and saw ones i haven't seen in years!! it was really fun. we played disney's apples to apples. i suck at being persuasive :O(
-i don't know, driving back in the heavy rain was kind of fun because it was short distance and blasting Christmas music just made it all the more fun. i also didn't mind the rain as much because i recently bought awesome rain boots that are like a mix between ugg and rain boots. they're so unique, i love it!!
anywho, more fun to come tomorrow :O] i feel so spoiled by God!! even though i was suuuuper disappointed about not getting to welcome mel back and surprise her, it was still a fun day and hanging out with the epic people is always fun. i learned more about them today and know what to pray more for them about :O)
God's plans are the best!
sometimes, i can't help but feel like a little kid. or i mean act like one. i'm just really easy to please and get excited about simple things. :Op and the fact that i always write incomplete sentences, or sound like a kid, i can't help it!! i feel like my mind will always be like this and i will always process things the way i do. it's just how God made me.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Winter Break Thus Far....
phew! this week went by quick and was super fun! yet, there was a huge lack in sleep and i paid for it cause now i'm sick :O(
Monday- drove to Cz's and picked up her, chi, and amanda and off we were to Disneyland!! We brought a wheelchair with us cause Chi has knee problems if she walks a lot and that wheelchair was amazing and allowed us to get in front of several lines!! it also saved me from walking a lot too when chi let me ride in it :O) elecTRONica at California had AWESOME/poppin' techno music!!
made sure to ride indiana jones!
Tuesday- woke up at 7:20am to move my car from the market. freaking alhambra's parking rules!!
watched Tangled with Cz, reina, chi, amanda, and brian. it was really good and HILARIOUS and cute!! loooved the lantern scene. so gorgeous. then Cz and i went Christmas shopping for a little at the Arcadia mall. later on, we went to Eugene's choir concert at Pasadena Highschool and then stopped off to look at the Christmas lights draped around HUGE trees in San Marino.
Wednesday- woke up at 7:20am again to move my car from the market. freaking alhambra's parking rules!!
back to Disneyland and this time with a bigger group-there was 10 of us. Angeline graciously drove and so i was able to give it a rest. Brought the wheelchair again, was very useful. Met up with some r'side and usc friends. watched World of Color again and the Tron part at the end was amazing!
made sure to ride indiana jones again!
Thursday- woke up at 7:20am for almost the last time to move my car from the market. freaking alhambra's parking rules!!
last Disneyland trip before blocked out dates :O( we went late cause we waited for Crystal to get out of school [ah to be in highschool again. NOT!!] and had to run some errands. TRAFFIC WAS HORRENDOUS. have never had to sit in such traffic for such a long time. i was SO restless and getting sleepy and sooo irritated from the stopping and going.
got to disneyland when it was dark. ate DELICIOUS spicy clam chowder for dinner with some benets [i don't know how to spell it] for dessert. then we watched the fireworks. met up with some r'side and usc people again. ended the day with Matterhorn which was a BLAST!
made sure to ride indiana jones for the last time of the year! my FAV ride!!
Friday- woke up at 7:20am for the last time of the week to move my car from the market. freaking alhambra's parking rules!! i think that is what got me sick. started having a sore throat on wednesday. drove to kady's house and played with doggie [love that one-eyed pooch] and then we picked up nubi and ate at the 101 Noodle Express place with the delicious beef rolls for lunch [mike joined us]. i tried chinese cheese cake for the first time and it was delicious like sarah lee poundcake. we also went to get boba with mike and then split. all that liquid had me and nubi ready to explode and needing to pee extremely badly!!! then after dropping nubi off at her casa, kady and i hit the freeway for a 2.5 hour traffic ride [curse traffic] to irvine to meet up with our hallmates from freshmen year! went to Dave and Busters for the first time [finally!] and had fun almost like the old times and relived some freshman year memories. on the rainy ride back, had a good talk with kady. made it safely back home. awesomely fun week of winter break!!
and the best part yet, more to come!! :O]
thank you, God.
Monday- drove to Cz's and picked up her, chi, and amanda and off we were to Disneyland!! We brought a wheelchair with us cause Chi has knee problems if she walks a lot and that wheelchair was amazing and allowed us to get in front of several lines!! it also saved me from walking a lot too when chi let me ride in it :O) elecTRONica at California had AWESOME/poppin' techno music!!
made sure to ride indiana jones!
Tuesday- woke up at 7:20am to move my car from the market. freaking alhambra's parking rules!!
watched Tangled with Cz, reina, chi, amanda, and brian. it was really good and HILARIOUS and cute!! loooved the lantern scene. so gorgeous. then Cz and i went Christmas shopping for a little at the Arcadia mall. later on, we went to Eugene's choir concert at Pasadena Highschool and then stopped off to look at the Christmas lights draped around HUGE trees in San Marino.
Wednesday- woke up at 7:20am again to move my car from the market. freaking alhambra's parking rules!!
back to Disneyland and this time with a bigger group-there was 10 of us. Angeline graciously drove and so i was able to give it a rest. Brought the wheelchair again, was very useful. Met up with some r'side and usc friends. watched World of Color again and the Tron part at the end was amazing!
made sure to ride indiana jones again!
Thursday- woke up at 7:20am for almost the last time to move my car from the market. freaking alhambra's parking rules!!
last Disneyland trip before blocked out dates :O( we went late cause we waited for Crystal to get out of school [ah to be in highschool again. NOT!!] and had to run some errands. TRAFFIC WAS HORRENDOUS. have never had to sit in such traffic for such a long time. i was SO restless and getting sleepy and sooo irritated from the stopping and going.
got to disneyland when it was dark. ate DELICIOUS spicy clam chowder for dinner with some benets [i don't know how to spell it] for dessert. then we watched the fireworks. met up with some r'side and usc people again. ended the day with Matterhorn which was a BLAST!
made sure to ride indiana jones for the last time of the year! my FAV ride!!
Friday- woke up at 7:20am for the last time of the week to move my car from the market. freaking alhambra's parking rules!! i think that is what got me sick. started having a sore throat on wednesday. drove to kady's house and played with doggie [love that one-eyed pooch] and then we picked up nubi and ate at the 101 Noodle Express place with the delicious beef rolls for lunch [mike joined us]. i tried chinese cheese cake for the first time and it was delicious like sarah lee poundcake. we also went to get boba with mike and then split. all that liquid had me and nubi ready to explode and needing to pee extremely badly!!! then after dropping nubi off at her casa, kady and i hit the freeway for a 2.5 hour traffic ride [curse traffic] to irvine to meet up with our hallmates from freshmen year! went to Dave and Busters for the first time [finally!] and had fun almost like the old times and relived some freshman year memories. on the rainy ride back, had a good talk with kady. made it safely back home. awesomely fun week of winter break!!
and the best part yet, more to come!! :O]
thank you, God.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
oh me, oh my!
this past week sure has been a STRESSFUL week...finals, giving out Christmas cards and presents before everyone leaves for break, car problems, getting barely any sleep&sometimes sleeping in increments, and much more!
finals went BOOM and then BAM for me. i had 2 on the friday before finals week and i found out that week so i was suuuper stressed that week cause i had a paper also due that week. i preferred to have my finals on finals week so i could have more time to study but that didn't happen so i made do with what i had to work with.
then on finals week, i had one final on tuesday and spent the WHOLE monday at Starbucks studying. i had never done that before and stayed a whole day there. it was gross. i was tired of sitting, super restless, and forgot to take study breaks so that made everything worse. it was horrible. so much went on that day, i was studying, dropped people off&picked people up, had an argument with one of the parentals over car problems i was having, and drama with a friend and then as i was driving back, my car was so unsteady&made a very cringing noise and i knew i could not drive it anymore. so this ALL happened on monday.
after finals, i still had not caught up with sleep and my body needs sleep or i literally cannot function. i ended up staying up late the day after finals cause i was w/one of my roomies while she studied at a friend's and then i had to get up early the next day to meet with someone. after that, i also went to Disneyland with Lori that day so i was SUPER exhausted at the end. but it was fun and so many people [those who were still studying&in finals] were bitter at us ahah.
i had also planned to play santa and drop off gifts&cards the next day. so it took a lot of work contacting people and matching schedules to see when i can drop off stuff to save gas. and i had to stay up late finishing cards to be able to drop them off before people went home!! i was SOOO tired :Op
the next day, thursday, i had previously planned to make Spam Masubi for my roomies and others because i finished finals and wanted to cook for them. well, making Spam Masubi takes a long time [but is worth it. and it's the ONLY thing i can make that turns out good/tasty aha]. and i was kinda frazzled not having all the ingredients but was blessed by friends who had substitutes!!
then, after that, i finally was able to get my car looked at with some awesome friends [Randy, Grace, and Annie] and we had quite the journey on the way to the mechanics [my car was so scary!!] and quite an annoying journey on the way back when my car had a piece loose and it scraped against the cement causing cars and people to stare at us.
as soon as we got back to the apartment, grace and i and others had to scramble to go babysit the three Hino kids [who are SUPER adorable by the way]!! it was so much fun and the house was gorgeous and all decked out in Christmas decorations. we got fed a yummy dinner and took back home delicious mint cookies and a movie ticket :O] the Hinos are so nice!!
Friday, had to wake up SUPER early at 7amish cause my dad was coming to look at the van. we drove to 3 diff mechanics and finally got it fixed at the 3rd one. i still had not caught up with sleep and took a nap when i got back but didn't get to nap long cause i needed to drop off more Christmas cards and had to pack for winter break!!
packing took me, no joke, about two and a half hours. i know, i've turned into sucha princess :Op not proud of it and packing has always taken me forever cause i never want to forget stuff and want to plan everything out! but sheesh it took forever folding clothes and going over lists. oh my lists, i love you. :O) Brian Lee knows how much i appreciate my lists! ahaha.
THEN, to end the night, it was the negative highlight of my stressful week cause i wanted to see the Mission Inn Christmas lights with my roomies and other friends for the last time since i'm graduating soon and i had to be home in an hour. i decided to go, took 2 friends with me in the process, and drive there&then leave from there to home [idea also convinced by friends who shall remain anonymous]. BAD IDEA because we totally forgot to factor in how crowded it would be and all the traffic and by the time i found some parking, i had to leave or i wouldn't make curfew! so i basically drove there to drop off my 2 friends. i guess that made it worth while and i got to see some lights. but MAN THAT WAS SO STRESSFUL driving through&around mission inn with horse carriages and cars coming from all over and streets being blocked. my stupid gps also told me to go the opposite way back to the freeway and so i decided to forget it and follow my instincts which actually took me to the right freeway! sometimes gps-es suck and do the opposite of their job!!!!
if that wasn't stressful enough, i started to feel sleepy when driving back&just felt physically exhausted. and when i got home, i had gotten into an argument with the other parental. i was angry, stressed, tired, and plain MAD at all the events that had taken place that day that caused me so much stress.
today, or saturday, to end my stressful week, i babysat again for my church's mandarin congregation and there were 14 kids that showed up. there was me and one other babysitter [2 parents stayed though]. now, these kids are not normal and well behaved and a LOT of them are SUPER rowdy, jam-packed-with-energy, disobedient/rebellious, and have soooo much attitude!!! now, of course there are some good things about them like they're cute, they can entertain themselves sometimes, and they're funny. but man, we [me and crystal] babysat them for 6 hours and were exhausted from running around [they kept begging us to play tag with them], coming up with ideas for them to do stuff cause they were so bored all the time, having to watch all of them cause they liked to go places without telling us, and just stuff like that. oh man, i don't know how parents do it. i seriously get WIPED OUT every time i babysit a kid.
in the end, we got paid and i felt bad but at the same time, i am really needing money so i decided to receive their gift :O)
amidst all the chaos, stress, frustration, and hopelessness, God has shown Himself to be my continuous provider, my Father who will always love me, my God who always gives grace when we totally don't deserve it, and my friend who will always be there for me.
here are some blessings of the week [i always have to add in positive! writing out my negatives help me focus even more on how great God is amidst chaos!!]:
-success in passing out Christmas gifts&cards
-going to Disneyland with loribean
-having a free-er week since i ended finals early
-God always provides me with a car when i need one [marissa generously allowed me to use her car when i needed to give out cards and my car was broken]
-excessive bonding time with roomies that included studying and pigging out tremendously. i LOVE them!!
-getting to play with adorable kids and get good laughs out of the silly things they do
-eating a ton of YUMMY junk food [this can probably be argument-able for something positive]
-getting to see a lot of friends before winter break
-finding out others are going to IHOP as well!!
-finding out our [UCR's] attendance at Epic conference this year is going to grow again!! God is so good&amazing!!
-getting to bless friends with my cooking. something i always want to do but never have the opportunity. thank God for spam masubi :O)
-getting my car fixed. i was tremendously in despair when thinking how things would be if i didn't have a car. it's SUCH a blessing and necessity for ministry and everything else
-giving out gifts&watching the reactions, receiving Christmas gifts
-seeing the beeeauutiful yellow trees all around
-the nap times i got and 2 days where i kind of got to sleep in
i could go on and on but you get the point. there are ALWAYS things to be thankful for that God blesses us with. our Lord is good and i couldn't be more grateful for what He's been doing in my life. i learn a lot about myself when i get stressed. :Op
please don't forget to look to Christ this CHRISTmas. ;O]
finals went BOOM and then BAM for me. i had 2 on the friday before finals week and i found out that week so i was suuuper stressed that week cause i had a paper also due that week. i preferred to have my finals on finals week so i could have more time to study but that didn't happen so i made do with what i had to work with.
then on finals week, i had one final on tuesday and spent the WHOLE monday at Starbucks studying. i had never done that before and stayed a whole day there. it was gross. i was tired of sitting, super restless, and forgot to take study breaks so that made everything worse. it was horrible. so much went on that day, i was studying, dropped people off&picked people up, had an argument with one of the parentals over car problems i was having, and drama with a friend and then as i was driving back, my car was so unsteady&made a very cringing noise and i knew i could not drive it anymore. so this ALL happened on monday.
after finals, i still had not caught up with sleep and my body needs sleep or i literally cannot function. i ended up staying up late the day after finals cause i was w/one of my roomies while she studied at a friend's and then i had to get up early the next day to meet with someone. after that, i also went to Disneyland with Lori that day so i was SUPER exhausted at the end. but it was fun and so many people [those who were still studying&in finals] were bitter at us ahah.
i had also planned to play santa and drop off gifts&cards the next day. so it took a lot of work contacting people and matching schedules to see when i can drop off stuff to save gas. and i had to stay up late finishing cards to be able to drop them off before people went home!! i was SOOO tired :Op
the next day, thursday, i had previously planned to make Spam Masubi for my roomies and others because i finished finals and wanted to cook for them. well, making Spam Masubi takes a long time [but is worth it. and it's the ONLY thing i can make that turns out good/tasty aha]. and i was kinda frazzled not having all the ingredients but was blessed by friends who had substitutes!!
then, after that, i finally was able to get my car looked at with some awesome friends [Randy, Grace, and Annie] and we had quite the journey on the way to the mechanics [my car was so scary!!] and quite an annoying journey on the way back when my car had a piece loose and it scraped against the cement causing cars and people to stare at us.
as soon as we got back to the apartment, grace and i and others had to scramble to go babysit the three Hino kids [who are SUPER adorable by the way]!! it was so much fun and the house was gorgeous and all decked out in Christmas decorations. we got fed a yummy dinner and took back home delicious mint cookies and a movie ticket :O] the Hinos are so nice!!
Friday, had to wake up SUPER early at 7amish cause my dad was coming to look at the van. we drove to 3 diff mechanics and finally got it fixed at the 3rd one. i still had not caught up with sleep and took a nap when i got back but didn't get to nap long cause i needed to drop off more Christmas cards and had to pack for winter break!!
packing took me, no joke, about two and a half hours. i know, i've turned into sucha princess :Op not proud of it and packing has always taken me forever cause i never want to forget stuff and want to plan everything out! but sheesh it took forever folding clothes and going over lists. oh my lists, i love you. :O) Brian Lee knows how much i appreciate my lists! ahaha.
THEN, to end the night, it was the negative highlight of my stressful week cause i wanted to see the Mission Inn Christmas lights with my roomies and other friends for the last time since i'm graduating soon and i had to be home in an hour. i decided to go, took 2 friends with me in the process, and drive there&then leave from there to home [idea also convinced by friends who shall remain anonymous]. BAD IDEA because we totally forgot to factor in how crowded it would be and all the traffic and by the time i found some parking, i had to leave or i wouldn't make curfew! so i basically drove there to drop off my 2 friends. i guess that made it worth while and i got to see some lights. but MAN THAT WAS SO STRESSFUL driving through&around mission inn with horse carriages and cars coming from all over and streets being blocked. my stupid gps also told me to go the opposite way back to the freeway and so i decided to forget it and follow my instincts which actually took me to the right freeway! sometimes gps-es suck and do the opposite of their job!!!!
if that wasn't stressful enough, i started to feel sleepy when driving back&just felt physically exhausted. and when i got home, i had gotten into an argument with the other parental. i was angry, stressed, tired, and plain MAD at all the events that had taken place that day that caused me so much stress.
today, or saturday, to end my stressful week, i babysat again for my church's mandarin congregation and there were 14 kids that showed up. there was me and one other babysitter [2 parents stayed though]. now, these kids are not normal and well behaved and a LOT of them are SUPER rowdy, jam-packed-with-energy, disobedient/rebellious, and have soooo much attitude!!! now, of course there are some good things about them like they're cute, they can entertain themselves sometimes, and they're funny. but man, we [me and crystal] babysat them for 6 hours and were exhausted from running around [they kept begging us to play tag with them], coming up with ideas for them to do stuff cause they were so bored all the time, having to watch all of them cause they liked to go places without telling us, and just stuff like that. oh man, i don't know how parents do it. i seriously get WIPED OUT every time i babysit a kid.
in the end, we got paid and i felt bad but at the same time, i am really needing money so i decided to receive their gift :O)
amidst all the chaos, stress, frustration, and hopelessness, God has shown Himself to be my continuous provider, my Father who will always love me, my God who always gives grace when we totally don't deserve it, and my friend who will always be there for me.
here are some blessings of the week [i always have to add in positive! writing out my negatives help me focus even more on how great God is amidst chaos!!]:
-success in passing out Christmas gifts&cards
-going to Disneyland with loribean
-having a free-er week since i ended finals early
-God always provides me with a car when i need one [marissa generously allowed me to use her car when i needed to give out cards and my car was broken]
-excessive bonding time with roomies that included studying and pigging out tremendously. i LOVE them!!
-getting to play with adorable kids and get good laughs out of the silly things they do
-eating a ton of YUMMY junk food [this can probably be argument-able for something positive]
-getting to see a lot of friends before winter break
-finding out others are going to IHOP as well!!
-finding out our [UCR's] attendance at Epic conference this year is going to grow again!! God is so good&amazing!!
-getting to bless friends with my cooking. something i always want to do but never have the opportunity. thank God for spam masubi :O)
-getting my car fixed. i was tremendously in despair when thinking how things would be if i didn't have a car. it's SUCH a blessing and necessity for ministry and everything else
-giving out gifts&watching the reactions, receiving Christmas gifts
-seeing the beeeauutiful yellow trees all around
-the nap times i got and 2 days where i kind of got to sleep in
i could go on and on but you get the point. there are ALWAYS things to be thankful for that God blesses us with. our Lord is good and i couldn't be more grateful for what He's been doing in my life. i learn a lot about myself when i get stressed. :Op
please don't forget to look to Christ this CHRISTmas. ;O]
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