I'm 21! dun dun duunnnn...

it's not a big deal at all except for the fact that I get spoiled everytime my bday rolls around b/c I was smart and made really really really really good friends :D

In all serious though, b/c I seem have the capacity of a wine connoisseur -- in the sense that I can always taste the alcohol in any alcoholic beverage, no matter how little there is, and it tastes bitter and disgusting, btw -- and it severely limits my ability to party out my newfound rights to purchase liqueur. Ah me, the woes.....not really. I never drink enough to get drunk, and I never want to be drunk again. I still stand by opinion of those who drink purely to get drunk and stay drunk. I like the buzz, but I also like being able to stay upright, speak coherently, and not having to act like a ridiculous bimbo 2-year-old and needing people to take care of me while I take another look at dinner (ew). First and last time, those who were there to witness, I hope you guys enjoyed my last hurrah. I'll be there for yours, you young'uns. ;]

next thing: the australians/danish are coming!

They're already here. They keep calling my Lucy, as I've been told that's one of the names I was supposed to have. They're the extended family..great-aunt, mom's cousins, my second cousins....blah blah blah. I lose track of relatives in asian families, we're so dang huge and span the entire globe. As a result of their visit, my house is very crowded and I spend a lot of time with the J'Mi and Ryan

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I never get money anymore. :[ I'm not married yet, so I guess I'm not expected to give it yet, so..yay? I always got excited around new years b/c that was the only time I ever really got money every year. I'd accumulate all I can by doing new year's greetings and then hoard it all from my cousins/siblings and put it in my secret stash to be later depleted through the purchases of candy and other junk. Some portion of it would be invested in a 0-interest savings account named mr. piggy.

Love Story

still waitin' on mr. right, although mr. rightnow is being very annoying by being a constant presence in my life (not physically, thank goodness, but in all other respects it's getting very annoying).

Listening to Taylor Swift has only increased my romanticized idea of love. :] I still stick to the belief that people are meant to find their right person and I couldn't be with someone unless I felt an all-encompassing passion for them. It doesn't have to be love at first sight, but I have to at least be attracted to the guy. Sure, he may be awesome, chill, nice, a gentleman with good values, smart, talented, funny, etc. blah blah blah, but in the end if I don't feel it, then he's just another good friend/buddy that I'm glad to have met and have as a friend. I do also realize that feelings of attraction can also develop over time as you get to know a person, however, it still has to at least BE THERE. I can't not have that. That doesn't mean I think every mr. right-now is going to be the guy to be with b/c I happen to like the way he looks or love the fact that he loves babies as much as I do. I could just be attracted to his musk, for all I know. (haha) :D Have passion, but act with reason is the motto I guess.

HIKING IS FUN! :]

I really like it, and now that I've found we can do it without ryan, I'm even more excited! (not that I wouldn't do it without him though..it's just safer to have someone like him around..if he actually ever learns to tell the poisonous creatures/specimens from the harmless ones..until then, arms and legs close to my person.) I'm gonna get all the use I can out of my equipment, b/c you wouldn't think it, but hiking's expensive. :\

I'm a grandma...my lower back keeps hurting...I need to go get it checked. I landed 3 times on my tailbone when we went snowboarding and the pain's not going away. This severely hinders my dreams to become the world's smallest bear-wrestler (just kiddin').  I should go get it checked though...and I should let my parents know why I've been walking around like a 90-year-old woman with a severe case of hunchback-itis.

I had an old xanga before this...i forgot about that. ha. here's something I found again that I (and everyone for that matter) should always keep in mind:

LOVE FOR ENEMiES
     "But i tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
     "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons[children] of the Most High[God], because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."

Luke 6:27 - 36

and I was reading a story someone posted that just warms the cockles of my heart:

A conversation between someone and her nephew:

"What did you write about?"

He answered, "I wrote that God is good and He's the master."

And [she] said, "Wow... that's pretty cool. What do you think about God?"

He replied, "Well, I know that He's good and I pray to Him."

"How do you feel when you pray?" [she] asked.

He said, "When I pray, I feel like He's all around me."

And [she] said, "Yea, He is around you when you pray."

A little while later he came back to [her] and said, "God loves all good people."

[she] replied, "Yes, he does."

My nephew stood there for a minute thinking, then said, "God loves all good people, but I have a question: does He love bad people too?"

... [she] told him, "God loves bad people too. Bad people need God too."

And he replied, "Yea, God does love bad people too because they have to learn sometime. They can't be bad forever."

And [she] said, "Yeah, that's true."

http://weblog.revelife.com/revelife/684079378/revelife-revisited-does-god-love-everyone-a-childs-answer.html?itemrelated <--full story here

Whilst wallowing in self-pity over the fact that it's christmas and everyone's all couple-y and I've..well never been, (esp. having been to a beautiful wedding recently) it's so easy for me to forget the most important thing in my life: always seek God first. [urgh, bad angela.]

so just in time for finals and the holidays (study and save money?) I will do my darndest not to go back to the seasonal bf kick. :D [inside joke]

christmas is for celebrating God's glory. hence...CHRISTmas..so..it'll be hard but I guess i'll say goodbye to

HIM:

and HIM:
*one last drool*
and HIM:


and...one more male friend that I've been unfortunate enough to find very attractive and ohsocharming upon our chance meeting...(i still do) bendelshnitzz.

Seeking God first will always give the greatest rewards. like the power of prayer. call me crazy, but if it wasn't for my fervent and hysterical prayer to God at the end of black friday, I would've been stranded at the mall with no way to get home lest I face my father's wrath at being absent-minded...again. right after I was done praying my heart out, I found my car key lying on the dark asphalt right in front of me. People call me picky, I call it standards and waiting for the right guy. I forget a lot of the time, that to get to my right guy, I have to go to the guy who's always right. The answer was there all along! Doesn't mean it's easy. It's so easy to get sucked into the physical world, to be led by our eyes and ears instead of our hearts and spirits. What's hard is letting it all go to be vulnerable and putting your trust in one person, in one entity, in THE ONE. I'm going to try. Feel free to throw homework at me if I wander. :]

Although, God works in mysterious ways so I'll also have to keep my eyes open if the big guy wants to throw me a hunky curveball under a mistletoe on christmas eve. :D

baby?

heh...
Water, water everywhere...but not a drop to drink.

darn..



silly.


i smell bacon. bye!

geez, my life's really not that interesting. what do i do? I go to school, work, annnndd..phi rho. hrmph. life needs too much exciting.

GG showcase/exhibition thingy. those silly but lovable kids. so proud. I still want my mallets back (but they were disguised and hiding among the new taped-over ones. curse.)

uhmm...phi sigma rhoo..? love my sisters. love the pledges this quarter. love my pearl. she so dang badass, yo. B] she did my henna tattoo at wayzgoose and i love it.

met a new and very adorable, gorgeous and badass korean girl named anna. she shreds like no other chick i know. she's crazy cause she's freakin' skinny and thinks she's fat though. CRAZY. ah well.

started entering what my big sis dubs the "party phase" hrrmm...i dunno what to think of it. less of a prude nowadays though. college really changes you, i guessss.

conana has a new grrfran and i love her. sylvia 'chigs' gunde. the two art majors. eek, her photos are amazing though. jodaiko person, yay! i needs trainin'? maybe not. maybe.

starting a workout routine. let's see if i stick to it. :\ i'm determined to get back to 100 lbs. (i know i sound crazy, but this is a 'me' thing. so step, buddy. :D i keed i keed.)

reflection: i'm really thankful for everyone i know. starting to enjoy life a lot more now that i'm getting a handle on things and mostly school. hated school last year. it's quite enjoyable now. i spend a lot more time in irvine now.

thinking of moving out next year. haven't told the parentals. i'd basically just take over conan's apt since he's leaving for japan and his roommates are outski. #1 roommate: Lyly Tran. any other takers? 2 bed, 2 bath in stanford court (around $2,000) and i'd like 5 ppl to make rent all the more affordable.

i'm also determined to get a motorcycle sometime in my life ever since i found out they do make some in my size. :D ch'yeaah!

the little bro bought a waveboard during winterbreak and he doesn't even use it. i tried a hand at it and failed miserably during all of winter break. spring break = attempt 2 and i learned how to turn. slowly getting better. i usually bail when i go down mini-hills and it gets to be too fast. eaten pavement so many times my butt and ego is bruised. ow. 'tis fun though. :]

still can't skateboard to save my life, though. >:[

i guess that's it. i facebook a lot. (it's very not-helpful for the studying, but procrastinators in training would try their hand at it.)

I feel like a good cry. catharsis always helps me. Fruits Basket is good for bringing about such things. I feel like revisiting old high school junior year feelings. not memories. FEELINGS. the aesthetic i felt from listening to Jack Johnson at 3am while trying to stay awake and finish all the work i have for the day. then napping for 2 hours and starting another day. also, the feeling of having someone stay up with me to call me if i ever slacked off and knocked out accidentally (leigh). it wasn't the security of knowing i would get stuff done. It was the security of knowing i wasn't alone at night.

i need to sort some stuff out before letting loose for spring break. BUBBLEFEST! my sister's volunteering there for key club. I WANNA GO!

yeah....off to watch fruits basket! :]

2 o'clock in the morning....and I'm not asleep.

Rediscovering old loves...reminders of my reason for recreational reading and belief in the human spirit.

LES MISERABLES HANDLES MY SANDLES! (Hugo + Broadway)

Jean Valjean is uber love <3
Victor Hugo is genius.

Happy Thursday! :]

I don't think I take Anthropology seriously enough to really appreciate the material i'm supposed to be learning. It really is an interesting class. Today, just b/c I could, I didn't get up right away from my seat when everyone started leaving 5 minutes early and in the middle of the film.

The film made me realize how much I love being asian. Our old people are so dang funny! :D [food's good too]

but seriously, it was just about this taiwanese lady's look on her family history. She basically told the story of her Ama's (grandma) life and her radical-ness. Ama is a funny lady. She's got the old-asian-woman nag about "why aren't you dressing pretty? you'll never be successful with men if you dress like that. when i was young, i loved to dress pretty. a woman's beauty is 3part natural, and 7part dress up." hooowwww true. oh the magic of makeup. :]

but she's a seriously admirable woman. The women in her family went through so much crap during the warring japanese/chinese for reign over taiwan. they had husbands who were carried off by raid police and beaten b/c they harbored injured civilians from a riot. They had sons who had to flee to the mountains because they were targetting students and academics. They had to endure the taunts and condescending treatment from stuck-up in-laws when they married into a rich family with no dowry.

freaking amazing. But then i started to think about what our own parents went through. we're all such spoiled-ass kids! I can't believe i complained so much about not getting enough sleep when my dad went through 8 years of p.o.w. crap. i'm ashamed. at the same time, though, my dad would never tell me his war stories. he wouldn't let me know if he's feeling super crappy tired from work cause he's old (i dunno). I guess it's his way of protecting his kids.

I fight with my mom all the dang time, but being her type of housewife is not easy. she's always mopping the floor with a rag and when i ask her "why don't you just get a swiffer?" she says "do i look lazy to you? this is better. saves money. no waste b/c you can reuse it"

i'm pretty sure we can afford a measly swiffer + refills, but the only presents my parents ever want from their kids is the fact that we do well in school and stay happy and healthy in life.

still working on the school part. with this in mind, I guess I'm remembering to just be thankful for all the old people in my life! haha :D so this year, i can truly wish them health and happiness during new year's greetings rather than just trying to remember some spiel in chinese that i probably butcher every year anyway. (sorry auntie)

Festivities all weekend? maayybee. definitely if my niece [and new baby nephew!] is coming down from canada! :D i miss her so much.


oh! one more thing. funny story about how 'democratic grandma' met her husband.
they were riding on the bus together, he alone and she with 4 other squabbling girls. He noticed she was the only quiet one, so he kept watching her. he followed her at her stop even though his was a ways away, and as she crossed over the bridge he kept watching her...and watching her...but he kept having to move to keep her in sight. suddenly he watched too far and landed in a sewage ditch haha! she turned around and saw an entirely handsome man drenched in sewage looking at her.
<3 cuuuuuuuteeee? (eh. just pretty funny, is all)

Medieval Times was JUST. AMAZING!

omgoodness, one of the tops bdays I've ever had. :D I feel so spoiled. :]

all that screaming and cheering and jeering did a number on my bronchitisized throat, but it was. TOTALLY WORTH IT. sigghhhhh so good.

then afterwards watching happyslip with J'Mi as official pilipino translator. Chicken Nut Bread. lawl.

pictures after J'Mi uploads them

(GO RED!)

yay for davidchoimusic on youtube! :]