Painting Blessings

i'm officially halfway thru my painting project. and while it was very overwhelming before i began and still occassionally blows my mind, i've been tremendously blessed by all of the help i've received from friends and family.

God's really blessed me abundantly with so many awesome friends and family i'm really blown away by how blessed i am. i'm really humbled by how God constantly provides all things and none of it is by my doing or abilities.

ways i've been blessed thru the course of this project:
- God provided friends that are a 100x better than i am in visualizing how my place will look with furniture and new colors...i'm pretty horrible at picturing how things will look and i'm really not very good with colors/designing. in fact, many of my friends have spent hours with me just sitting in my empty place discussing colors and placement of furniture. many times i'm just sit and listen as they discuss amongst themselves the best layout and design for my place (which i totally love b/c i'm not good at it nor enjoy it...i'm more of a "tell me how it's supposed to look and i'll do it" person)

- God has blessed me with friends that have lots of experience with this painting process, and i feel totally comfortable with trusting them to help me make decisions that i know nothing about. without their help and advice, i would have spent way more hours and taken even more trips to home depot. (i've already been to home depot 7 times i think in the past 2 weeks...imagine how many more times i would've had to go if i was doing this just by myself)

- i'm also very bad at math and calculating things, but God also blessed me with friends that are good with numbers and are able to draw out floor layouts with dimensions.

- i've also been blessed to have friends that are willing to share and let me borrow the tools they have so that i don't need to buy/rent my own. i've borrowed: 5 different types ladders, 3 fans, several paint brushes and rollers, an assortment of tools, a miter saw, painting stools, flood lamp...and the list keeps growing!

- i've been totally overwhelmned by the amount of time, energy and love that has been shown to me thru the help my friends have given me over the past 2 weekends. we've logged about 24 hours of physical labor...and in 80 degree heat! i'm constantly amazed and humbled by their sacrifice of time and effort to help me out. there's no way i would've been able to do this on my own. thank you, stacey, cassie, michele, steph, vera, anne, jada, brittany, kelly, mary, kevin and wentina!!!

- i'm really excited for next weekend b/c my whole family (my parents, aunty and grandma) is coming up to help me finish painting. when they told me they wanted to come and help, i was amazed b/c it was totally unexpected! i never imagined they would come all the way from hawaii just to help me out for a weekend. i'm again blessed to have family that demonstrates their love for me...and i didn't even mention my sister that has been there every single day i've painted.

yes, i've definitely been blessed by this whole experience and it's only halfway thru! man, i totally don't deserve all of this...it's only by His grace! THANK YOU!

some pics from our first weekend priming:





scary ladder to climb and paint on!

I'm Officially a New Home Owner!

as of July 15, 2005 i'm officially a new home owner! wow, i can't believe it!

yes, i really did mean to document my home buying experience, but it was such a crazy process that i didn't really get a chance to blog about it much. it started off being a slow process. i looked at maybe 20 places or so and it came to the point where i started to get really depressed b/c i wasn't seeing anything i liked and b/c houses were being sold so quickly i didn't get a chance to even look at it.

but then i saw this place. it too had a quick deadline to buy and i basically saw it on saturday, and had to make a decision by that night whether or not i wanted to place an offer for it. i decided to go for it, so i placed and offer. the offers were reviewed on sunday night and i was told that i was outbid, but they asked me if i wanted to be the back-up in case the first buyer backed out...so i said sure.

i figured it was pretty much in God's hands, and 3 days later i was told that the first buyer couldn't qualify for their loan so i had first dibs on the place if i still wanted it. PRAISE GOD! so the next week i had the inspection. there was a problem with the heater and so we requested it be fixed and we actually found out there were other problems with the heater in my building. this caused me a lot of stress and worry, but i eventually realized that i had to just let it be in God's hands, and about 3 days later i found out that the owner actually installed new heaters instead of repairing it for me (which was what i wanted since i was worried the repair would be a quick fix for a bigger problem) and i also found out that the other problems we had heard about weren't a problem in my place just in the other buildings nearby. PRAISE GOD AGAIN! then came the financing part which i wasn't worried about, but i was nervous about the big investment. i was also concerned that i hadn't locked down my interest rate before it started to go up, but when i checked with my mortgage broker i found out that he did lock it from the first time i talked to him...PRAISE GOD AGAIN AND AGAIN!

it was really a whirlwind of events, and now that i look back on it all i think God really knew what was best for me. it's funny b/c it was the most stressful couple of weeks with so many big decisions to be made, but God knew that the best thing for me was to keep it moving and just keep having me trust Him...and that's all i could really do. i'm in awe of the whole experience. i was also blessed with great friends who helped me focus on what was important when things became really crazy, and God really used them to help me focus on Him.

anyways, now that i'm a home owner i'm realizing there's definite signs of my "transformation" into a home owner...here are some of the signs i've discovered so far...

you must be a new home owner if...
- you start going to home depot or lowes a lot (2 times a week or more)
- your conversations seem to focus a lot more around home buying/remodeling/financing
- you start carrying around paint samples and/or start really noticing other people's home furnishings and room colors
- you carry around lists (either written down or in your head) of things you need/want to buy for your new place

here are a couple of pics of my new place:

"God can undo the voodoo"

here's an interesting article a missionary my church supports sent about the ministry ("lost coin") they are involved with. on one hand, it's cool that God's work is being shared on cnn, but sad that this type of "terrorism" is happening to those that are spiritually naive.

Amazing Race - Season 2

yes, i know the amazing race on cbs just finished their 7th season (yay, uchenna and joyce won!) what i'm talking about is basic's 2nd season of the amazing race. it was even better than last year!

this year, i didn't get to help plan it since last year there was a lot of talk about it being unfair that i knew everything and was also a participant (yes, my team did win last year). so this year, i was kept in the dark and really experienced the race the way it's supposed to be experienced....and i'll admit, it was tougher than i expected but a lot more fun too!

my team came in 5th (out of 10) and i was pretty happy with that considering how many mistakes i made as a driver. it's ironic how i watch the show so much and can comment on the mistakes of the players, and then i found myself making those same mistakes today.

here are a list of things i learned about myself and things i need to remember if i make it on to the "real" amazing race:
- never ever pick the task that has to do with "counting" things. it is always more time consuming and difficult than the other task! i'm horrible with numbers to begin with and counting with pressure and other people around makes it ten times worse! as i was counting tiles i was picturing that ikea scene from last season where people would count "...86, 87, 89, 90, 93, 94..."
- always take the extra time to read the directions and understand what you need to do instead of rushing off. it's better to do it right the first time than to go quickly and have to do it several times. every time i started driving before knowing where i had to go i always ended up going in the wrong direction.
- i thought reading maps was one of my strengths, but i found under pressure i would stare blankly at a map like it was written in chinese or something. once i finally focused and wasn't trying to rush, then it magically started to make sense.
- following another team is really risky b/c as i followed another team (w/ a speedy driver) i realized that if i lost them i would really be lost...plus there's also no guarentee they know where they are going either!
- i also found out it is very frustrating when you're the team member that has to wait for another member to complete a task. i can see why people are always yelling at their partners on the amazing race...i really had to bite my tongue to keep from trying to yell advice or to hurry.

in the end, the night was definitely a night to remember, and i heard a lot of students and friends say how fun it was! and though it was tougher than i thought...i still think it would be a dream adventure to make it on the show. applications are out right now and i really want to apply! i need to find me a partner!

The Sonics Bandwagon

yes, i've secretly jumped on the sonics bandwagon this year...but i'm no longer ashamed to admit it! i never really got much into nba teams, but i started catching some games on radio and tv this year...and i got hooked. then i went to my 2nd sonics game ever this year and saw an awesome OT win. and then the playoff games started, and i found myself following the schedule and trying to catch as many games as i could on tv. and then this past friday, i actually called into a radio station and won tickets for today's game 4!! i just got home from seeing game 4 and it was totally awesome. the sonics were ON FIRE!!! yes, i'm definitely on the bandwagon and it's great! GO SONICS!!!

How Great Is Our God

so my last post was about learning to be "real" with God, and yet (in an ironic way, but not, b/c God is deep like that) today i was also reminded that no matter how down i might feel, at my very core, i can't help but give glory to God.

i just bought the new passion cd this week, and i was listening to "How Great Is Our God" this morning as i drove to work. and surprisingly, i found myself getting kinda emotional just listening and singing these words.

my CG group is going thru a study right now called "A Life of Worship", and last week we studied and talked about how our original purpose is to bring God glory (isaiah 43:7). as i was singing this song this morning i think this really rang true with me. and as the song went on you could hear more of the audience singing and less of the worship leader, and you could just sense there were thousands of people there all singing "how great is our God"! i was just blown away by the thought of all these people giving God the glory and praise He totally deserves.

it's crazy how life might bring us down at times and how tired we may be, yet by singing five simple words that gives our creator all the glory it helps us to realize our true purpose and brings us so much joy...HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!!

How Great Is Our God (Chris Tomlin)
The splendor of a King, clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice
All the earth rejoice

He wraps himself in Light, and darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice
Trembles at His voice

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

Age to age He stands
And time is in His hands
Beginning and the end
Beginning and the end

The Godhead Three in One
Father Spirit Son
The Lion and the Lamb
The Lion and the Lamb

Name above all names
Worthy of our praise
My heart will sing
How great is our God

Something To Think About...

i read an article online a couple of days ago that has been on my mind lately. i've been struggling for the past few months with the road God has called me to follow. some days and weeks are better than others, but i realized a while ago that there isn't a "quick fix" to this and that this is probably one of those times in my life where God is doing some "refining" and i just have to wait and trust him to see me through it.

but then i read this article and it made me think and gave me some encouragement b/c it reminded me that my relationship with God isn't about doing all of the "right" things and saying all of the "right" words to Him. but instead, like in any relationship, saying the "right" words when you don't really believe it just makes the relationship worse.

"We sometimes think that God only wants to hear nice, adoring things from us. Our prayers are often limited to praise, repentance and requests. But how often do we tell God how we really feel? How often do we tell God that we’re scared, and it doesn’t feel like He’s calling the shots? The absurd thing is that we act like God doesn’t know. If God knows the number of hairs on our head, He certainly knows how we feel. When we come before Him and offer nothing but praise when we’re angry or frightened, we’re lying. Don’t get me wrong; praise is often most important during our darkest times, but we can’t lie about how we feel."

i think i've gotten to the point as a believer where i feel like i've been through enough dry and dark times that i assume that i just need to hold to what i know about God and wait it out. but i was reminded that God doesn't want us to just "survive" these times, but he wants us to be refined and to be changed by them. he wants us to come to him with our frustrations and feelings so that he can take them and change them into true praises.

i also read this quote recently from C.S. Lewis:
"God is always comforting but never comfortable."

keep talking, God, keep talking...

Friday Night Lights

so...we played hard and lost. it was kind of a shocking loss especially since we did so well during the season, and even beat this team twice during the regular season. but, the other team just improved a ton, and i think our team was just not used to playing from behind and with pressure. despite the nerves and tension, though, i thought we still played pretty well.

for most of us this was our first season playing volleyball, and i think next year we'll be even better now that we have some experience. i can't wait for next season! the thing i enjoyed the most, even though it was probably part of the reason we lost, was that our team just had a lot of fun playing together. as one friend put it, we're like the smiling little kid in outfield that is just happy to be in the game.

ok, maybe i shouldn't speak for everyone on the team, but that's definitely me. the reason i love to play games and sports of any kind is b/c i enjoy the competition and playing with friends...yeah, winning is fun too but i'm usually just happy to be able to play. it was a great season...i'm going to miss it.



Friday Night Lights

Saturday is Almost HERE!

i'm so excited for this saturday i woke up on wednesday (yes, WEDNESDAY!) thinking it was saturday! i was so sad to find out i had to wait 3 more days.

why am i so excited? b/c this saturday is the semi-final and championship games for the michael chang league. and my team, Friday Night Lights, totally ROCKS! this entire season has been so much fun, i still can't believe i didn't discover how much fun it is to play volleyball until this year.

anyways...if you're free on saturday, come on out to blaine methodist church at 12pm to cheer on our team in the semi-finals. if we win that game then we'll be playing for the championship at 4pm!!! (we'll be the "stylin'" team in the red team shirts)

Help! Calling on my "Fix-It" brothers out there!

grrr...i've had enough with our lame toilet...we need help! i had a conversation with a friend today regarding our house's toilet problem, and i've decided that i have NO problem asking a guy for help...i just don't know who to ask! so i'm calling out for some help from my brothers out there. if you know anything about fixing leaking toilets...could you please help some sisters out?! (now, i'm not excluding or saying that other sisters can't help us out too. it just seems like there would be more brothers out there that like fixing things, and yes, i know we could call a plumber. but i really don't think it's that big of a problem yet, and i would hate to get a $$$ bill that could have been easily fixed with some help from our friends.)

ok, here's the problem: our toilet is constantly leaking water into the bowl and our water bill is going sky high! i tried replacing the (red) "flapper" thing twice, but no luck. i think the problem has to do with that gray, rubber seal thing that is surrounding hole in the tank. please help!

UPDATE: Yay! Our toilet is now fixed...Thank you soooo much Ryan! You Rock!

More Than Fine

tonight i gave a lesson at basic, and i just gotta say "yay God!". this past week was pretty stressful for me b/c i did not have a clue on what to share on, and i usually like to at least have a general idea before the week before i share. i did a bunch of brainstorming and talked to some friends, but it didn't really all come together until today. yay God!

Not only did He help me put together my sharing, but he also spoke to me and taught me about things i've been struggling with in my own spiritual life. i've been struggling and kind of arguing with God these past few months about why i'm still serving in the youth ministry. i've been tempted to follow my impulses and just drop it all, and just doing my "own" thing. but then today God reminded me again of the life i chose to live when i decided to follow Him. it is not an easy road, but it is not one that is void of blessings and good times either. God met me where i was at today and that's why He is so awesome and worth following! yay God!

here are some crazy pics from tonight's electric fence game (not the type of pics you want the student parents to see):


yes, that is someone being thrown over the rope!

Spring Youth Retreat 2005

last weekend was our spring youth retreat, and i got home and realized i didn't take a single picture while i was there. pretty lame, huh? but at least a lot of other people did!

some things that stood out to me this year:
1) i was a jr high small group leader and was reminded why i enjoy working with both jr high and high school students...they're both special in their own ways
2) i didn't sleep in the same room as all of the students...i think i got the best sleep ever at a retreat this year
3) i was also thoroughly impressed with the retreat accommodations...no, it wasn't like the berachah "hotel", but i enjoyed the setup of the cabins, appreciated the "little" things they did to make the cabins "nice" and i even enjoyed the food! (ok, yes, i've gone to many, many retreats and have become quite a retreat critic)
4) God really challenged me with the group of girls i had...they were asking a lot of science type of questions...i'm not a science type of person, and i was once again amazed how God can appeal to and draw so many different types of people
5) God was seriously amazing Saturday morning when we stepped outside our cabin and saw that the weather was absolutely gorgeous even after it was predicted to rain all weekend

Yay God!

2 More Days To Go...

man, this has been a tough week. our youth retreat is coming up this friday in 2 days, and i'm starting to see the light at the end when friday will finally be here. i've kinda forgot what it's like to plan a retreat and work full-time at the same time. last year, i was totally blessed to be able to focus on planning the retreat without having to work too.

but this year, God's also been sustaining me and teaching me even more about relying on Him and not on my own strength. well, i'm pretty much forced to since i couldn't do it without Him! i just pray i continue to seek Him for strength, and that i focus on the blessings and joys and not on my diminishing patience and energy.

keep on praying! cause God's listening and has already answered many prayers!

The Search Has Begun...

yes, it's true, i'm finally starting my search for a place to "call my own". i've finally come to that point in my life where the idea of owning a place or being committed to a location doesn't seem to be so bad anymore...at least not that bad.

i actually started looking a couple of weekends ago. cassie took me around the different beacon hill areas and we went to a couple of open houses. my first open houses ever! i still can't believe i'm doing this. i have to admit, i'm pretty overwhelmed with everything and i have a kinda nervous laugh everytime i talk about it. hopefully i'll get more comfortable with the idea as the search gets going.

this week i contacted a real estate agent and setup an initial talk with a lender. there's so much new jargon to learn and all of these numbers to remember. i'm soooo NOT a numbers person. i pray that God will give me a lender who can talk "my" talk. at least i feel totally comfortable with my real estate agent.

i'm also finding out how i should have sympathized a lot more with those friends of mine who went thru this process already. it's a pretty crazy process...it's overwhelming, exciting, stressful and fun all rolled up into one andrenaline filled emotion. or maybe that's just me...i get really caught up with things.

anyways..i guess this means i'll be blogging more...or at least i'm going to try. you only buy your first house once, right?

Easter 2005

hmmm...easter this year was a bit different. i didn't go to good friday service this year...i scheduled something on that night before i realized it was good friday. that's kinda how it was this year...easter arrived quickly and was over before i knew it. really kinda lame...totally my bad.

i did find the "american celebration" of easter quite intriguing this year. i remember my first easter after becoming a christian. i was amazed at how i had grown-up celebrating easter every year with a big family get-together, but no one in my family is Christian. i wondered on that first easter, what were we celebrating and why didn't i question our celebration earlier?

now that easter has a more real and powerful meaning to me, it still amazes me that so many people in this country celebrate easter without the real meaning. one person at work on friday even said to me, "isn't there some holiday this weekend? oh yeah, easter....we should have an easter egg hunt or go to dinner or something." i wanted to ask them why they felt compelled to celebrate it, but didn't know how to say it in a tactful way. i was also surprised to learn that the stock market takes good friday off, and that shopping malls are closed on easter sunday.

it intrigues me that easter is such a recognized holiday...i mean it's a good thing (i think), but weird that many people celebrate it but don't realize what it is that they are celebrating. but i guess that's the same with christmas. but i don't think it's SO weird for christmas b/c it is the "nicer" holiday...marketing-wise. hmmm...it's sad that we (me included) are so easily blinded and can't see God standing there right in front of us with open arms...he's standing there with the gift of forgiveness and life with Him, paid with His sacrifice for us b/c of his love for us...and we just walk (and often times run) on by...

You're Fired!

No, not me...and not you (i hope). But some people are getting the ax for their blogs. crazy!

on to a similar subject, the company i'm working at has some super nazi-like security restrictions. i've been cut-off from all web based email sites and instant messengers. and then, when i finally thought i had found a tiny opening to the outside world...i discovered the new web versions of instant messengers...they cut that off too!

what's going on with companies these days! do they really think they are improving productivity with all these restrictions?! hmmm...i hope i don't get axed for these comments...

Welcome to 2005!

9 days into 2005, a few months since my last post and several comments from fellow bloggers that have noted my lack of blogging...this is where i am today:
- still working at safeco insurance in redmond on a project that is finally getting interesting and dare i say "fun"
- starting to get back into the "groove" of basic and prime time after a seemingly long winter break
- hoping for a snow day during the work week so that me and the roommies can play
- wondering where is my life going, what are my "goals", what are the plans God has for my life, what are the next steps He is guiding me to take...

this weekend the "goals" thing came up several times, and i'm not talking about "new year's resolutions", but rather where do i see God leading me and what is He challenging me to do this new year? what "theme" or direction has he been leading me in thru the lessons i've been learning?

sadly, i have not thought much of goals over this past year or years, and i wonder have i become so complacent in my life, and why am i lacking the excitement and hope for the plans God has for my life. to clarify, i did switch jobs over the past year, and God provided direction and provided abundantly for me...the area i'm really talking about is "ministry". i've never questioned this area of my life in the past six going on seven years i've been serving...why is it coming up now? am i where God wants me to be? or am i choosing to be where i am?

hmmm...much to pray and think about...

MIA

wow, it's been about 2 weeks since my last post! life's been pretty full lately. but it's been a "good" kind of full except for a cold i caught last week.

in fact, i got pretty sick i guess cause i actually took a sick day on thursday...my first full fledge sick day for as far back as i can remember. yeah, being sick like that is no good...can't do anything except lay around. but it was pretty "well-timed" in a "God" sort of way. it was good to be able to catch up on some much needed tv time (i hadn't been able to watch any of my shows for 3 weeks! but luckily i have tivo!), and i was also able to spend part of the day reading and researching for my basic lesson this past saturday.

anyways, what else have i been filling my time with? hmmm, i got lots of pics i need to post but here's a quick summary: jumped on the seahawk's bandwagon and got to go to the home opener, finished 2:7, celebrated steph & hi-d's b-day, friend's wedding shower, organized corn maze night, started bowling thurs nights in a league, craft & chat, basic lesson...um, that's it, i think.

well that's it for now...gotta get to bed so i can get rid of the last of this cold.

NOTE: breaking news! the seahawk's just traded for Jerry Rice!!! yay! i was a huge 49er fan back in the day, and i loved watching jerry rice play! i gotta get me some tickets to another seahawk game!

P-Town & Graceland

i went to p-town this past weekend to meet up with my family that was visiting the area. it was, of course, a whirlwind shopping tour...what else are you supposed to do there! i spent a bunch of money on things i might not have bought had i not been in portland. it's definitely the "asian" in me that makes me start to rationalize buying something "now" when i can save on tax b/c i'm going to "need" it sometime in the future.



tonight i went to graceland, a small live music venue that hosts shows for local bands. i went there to see the audiobiography...abe's band! some other friends and i went to go be "abe groupies"...we were really excited to finally get to see his band perform live. an added bonus to tonight was that we also knew people in the two bands that performed before abe's band...arick is the bass player in autumn sonata and the second band was cody who (the lead singer performed at a past co-hi). all of the bands did a great job, and it was a fun AND deafening night!

So So Tired

man, i just can't get used to this "working" thing. i keep trying to go to bed earlier to get more sleep, but it never works or it's never enough!! as each day passes, i find myself more and more tired. i'm struggling to stay awake at work and i even find myself trying to sneak in some long "blinks" cause i can't keep my eyes open.

how tired am i? let's look at today, i had to make myself stand up at my desk today to stay awake as i tried to read a document. and it's really sad, but i'm finding myself planning out how i can evenly spread out my trips to get more water and to go to the bathroom so that it breaks up my day.

i really hope my project picks up the pace soon and gets rolling...i don't think i can stand more "slow paced" days like today. and i definitely need to either get my body "trained" for less sleep or figure out how to get more.