HALLELUJAH!

Just turned in my last paper for the semester.
WHEW! what a relief...this semester's finally over.

What shall I do with my precious 2 weeks before summer school?
I definitely wanna get some primping done (hair, mani/pedi, eyebrows)...I also need to see the dentist! But first on my agenda is to watch some finales and shop for a bridesmaid dress (eeeek! gotta get it before June!)

I sorta wanna go on a trip, but i'm too tired to even think about planning one. *sigh*
ok. time to start my break now!
woo hoo!

Final website

Ok...so if you wonder why I'm always so busy in silly little grad school, I'm mostly writing papers and doing research. But this semester, I took an XHTML/CSS class so the final was an informational website! Mine is a Guide to Taipei. And I just finished it. (It's due tonight). It'll only be up for a few days while the prof grades. (If you refresh the homepage a few times, you can randomly rotate through the banners I created.)

Now, I just have 1 last project to go....It's due Thur night. *sigh* Just a few more days to go, and then I can look forward to 2 weeks of semi-break before summer school starts. *whimper* (yes, I'm feeling very sorry for myself.)

can't stop that icky feeling

Have you ever started the day off feeling ok and then one little thing happens, and it totally ruins the good mood? And then it just seems like a bunch of sucky things happen, that probably normally wouldn't phase you, but today, it all adds up to major suckiness? Once this happens, I find it really hard to shake the associated icky-ness and just go on with the day. For some reason, I feel the need to wallow in it and just be blah. Like it'd be wrong to let myself drop it and think happy thoughts instead. Weird eh?

On an unrelated note, my boss is out sick again today...I'm bored at work and debating if I should just leave early. What a waste of the travel time...*sigh*

awwww...

Just had to share this, cuz it's sooo cute!

What's your take on schooling?

I'm really debating upon just getting thru school as fast as possible to get a job & real experience VS. really taking my time to really learn the stuff from my classes & enjoy the process & experience.

This'll obviously impact how many classes I decide to take each semester, etc. So what's your take on schooling? Get it over with & move on? Or enjoy & savor it while you can?

checks galore

oh yes...I've been meaning to post about my new checks!
I've finally nearly used up my first batch of checks (which were super boring) and so I ordered new, pretty ones. A little too caught up with the excitement of it, I forgot that it'd taken me 8-10 years to finish the 2 boxes (~200 checks) I'd gotten originally, so I got 400!! So now, I find myself with enough checks to last me till probably 2020 (especially with online bill pay!!)...hehe *sigh* But you must agree that they are quite good looking, no? :)

VisualDNA

Got from Bob...

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

a little helpdesk humor

small praises

Today I realized something soo cool.

• It was overcast but no rain on Monday, when I had to ride the light rail and walk to campus.
• It POURED down so hard on Tues, when I had to stay in all day to work on assignments. (But the rain thankfully cleaned my car of the bird poo that I had just noticed and realized I didn't to wash off soon)
• And today it's bright and sunny, when I had to return to campus (and thus, walk to/from the light rail station)
• And Tomorrow, when I have class again, it's forecasted to be sunny as well!

Yay!! God is so merciful! In the midst of sucky projects and deadlines, He still lightens my burdens and gives me blessings. :)

DST woes

Though I'm not positive that these are all due to DST or maybe to the warmer weather, but the fact that they occurred all around the same time seems too coincidental!

1. forgot to set time on my VCR --> didn't record TAR & 24
2. legs were like rubber on Monday --> very hard to bike, so had to lighten my workout
3. really tired despite ~8 hrs of sleep each night! --> getting really late starts to my days and not getting as much work done as I want/need/plan
4. brain was mush on Wed --> ......but at least i didn't have to use it much at work yesterday :)
   

On the bright side, ultimate's back starting tonite! yay! can't wait. hopefully, my legs will be working again, and I'll remember how to throw a frisbee.

Work's been good. Mostly clerical stuff so far, but I'm starting a longer-term project that sounds interesting, so I can't wait!! But I'm discovering that even though I only work 2 days a week (5 hrs each day), I'm not gonna be able to get much done on those days cuz I've got to add 2 hrs for travel (no employee parking for student assistants!!! therefore, no guaranteed parking spaces...so, I'm not gonna get a parking pass...thus, I must ride light rail to work) and I'm not waking up before 10am (see #3 above). And I have yg right after work on Fridays. Which means that I'm gonna have to be extra productive on all the other days. *sigh* Which probably also means that my weekends will have to be productive as well, since school's picking up and I've got a bunch of projects and papers due from now till mid-May. I don't even think I'll be able to get much of a break during spring break, cuz I have 2 days of work and then leaving on Fri for a wedding in LA. Man! I can't WAIT for this semester to be over. Then I can look forward to 2 weeks of blissful break before summer session begins (yes, that's right, I'll be taking summer school for the one summer break I get in this Master's program *cry*).

Ok. Enough whining. Back to chugging along. :)

Gosh. I've been meaning to update, but just haven't gotten around to it.

So..latest news with me is that I got a part-time job at the King Library!!!! YAY!! :) I'm gonna be working on the information literacy program (to describe & instruct on library resources/usage) that's required for freshmen. So i won't be out in the reference desk or anything...but still...i'll be working in the library! i'll even have a pass that gives me access to..um...ok. just the office...but i'll have a key card! such power! hehe my first day's today (in just 10 hrs), so i'm a little nervous, cuz i think they have high expectations of me so i really hope i can deliver!!

In other news, happy birthday to me! :D *sigh* i'm getting old. But on the plus side, that also means I get to have lots of fun for like a week cuz of all the celebrations with friends & family. woo hoo! hee hee So I think it's gonna be really hard to concentrate on school for the next week. eek!

happy valentine's day!

omg! i went to the store to get some flowers for my mom for v-day...and guess how much a single rose cost?
$6!!! a SINGLE ROSE too!!
then I went to the drug store and it was slightly better..there a teeny, tiny, half wilted red rose would only set you back $2.50. And a small bouquet of red & white carnations?? um...$7!!! i can't believe how crazy this day is. anyhow....just wanted to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a rose from me to you! :)

(oh yeah, so for my mom, i ended up going home, going to the backyard and cutting some flowers for her. thankfully, there was 1 bush of red ones and 1 bush of pink ones...talk about the perfect colors! Thank God!!)

asian singer!

i don't follow american idol...but the asian name "paul kim" (from saratoga no less!) in the same headline was enough to get me to click on the news link and find out more. check out his audition! yay! we finally have a replacement for william hung to represent us.

2/12 update: got a new youtube link...hopefully it stays up longer. :)

i'm an m&m

Me as an m&m touring the world! Create your own look here (link & distraction courtesy of Bob)!

It's so good to be a child of God.
that i can tell Him absolutely everything on my mind...uncensored, unfiltered, and as totally completely emotional as i'm feeling. and that He actually wants to hear it too!

this may seem out of the blue...don't really feel like explaining the context, just marveling once again at how easy it is to forget simple truths. Have a great (superbowl) weekend everyone!

ideas please!

I need to create a personal Web page containing any content I like excluding information-based content. This personal Web page will be added to in subsequent lessons, so the content should be rich enough to consist of 5 to 6 pages by the end of the semester. Topics like travel, food/recipes, hobbies, music, art, recreational activities, etc, would work fine - be creative! I'll be working on the project starting this week. eek! I'm far from creative so if you have any ideas, please let me know!

beauty campaign

Beauty today is soooo distorted by the media. even though it's probably something that all women know in our heads, it's still seems so hard to embrace how we look..and see the beauty in our appearance (cuz let's face it, being beautiful on the inside might be more important...but we still CARE and want to be beautiful on the outside as well!!). Check out this clip from Dove about their new campaign for beauty. I hope they succeed in making a difference & changing our perceptions!

update on my life: school started. school sucks. :)

impulsive tahoe trip

i'm not really a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kinda gal, but somehow dan & sal were able to convince me to go to tahoe with them with just 2 days notice. to some (like dan), that's planning ahead...but to me, that's totally spontaneous. here's the recap. i'm waiting for sal to send me the few pics that we took so i can post those too.

Biggest Accomplishment = buying Sal's watch
Biggest blessing = not needing to put chains on despite the storm


Day 1: Tues, Dec 26
=====================
5am = arrived at Dan's to load my car for the trip. we'd forgotten to bring any CDs so we listened to my really really old stuff and it was pretty fun cuz we'd try to guess the artist & title before the chorus. dan was really good at it. i somehow guessed right for color me badd's song even though i barely know who they are!! :) but that kept us awake & entertained for the drive up.

~9am = we arrived at Squaw to high winds...it was crazy windy...there was like just 1 lift open which was better than most other resorts which were closed!! we were assured that the storm was supposed to pass and there'd be great ski conditions the next day tho.

Plans foiled, we headed to reno and since it was still way too early to check-in, we went shopping instead! I practically fell asleep on a bench waiting for sal to try on some dress shirts so we grabbed some starbucks and continued our shopping spree. dan & sal actually enjoyed shopping and helped me decide what to get or not (um...turned out, mostly not) heh at the end we browsed men's fine watches and sal found a nice Tag Heuer watch that both dan & i agreed was by far our fav but dan convinced sal not to get it cuz it would be cheaper elsewhere.

We checked into the Comfort Inn or something like that (where i had a room all to myself!) and then headed out to look for internet to get cheaper ski lift tix (since we had been counting on getting the 2-day pass thru squaw which would have been a good discount but now we were only going for one day). There was free wireless at our motel, but none of us had brought our laptops! so i suggested we go to the library..where the internet is FREE. woohooo. So that's wat we did...and the reno public library is quite big. i was impressed. really old building and stuff, but still nice. And they had free internet connection available even to people without a library card!! i don't think they even do that in the PLs at home (which are among the best in the nation)! Anyhow, while we were there, Sal searched online for his watch and found it for like $500 less thru some place on amazon marketplace (better reliability)!! what a deal. so he quickly bought it. PLs are so great!

Day 2: Wed, Dec 27
=====================
Got up & checked out by 7am in order to grab a substantial breakfast at Denny's before hitting the slopes.
It was COoooooold and SNOWing all day long. I was so glad i was able to borrow bob's ski mask, otherwise, i think my nose woulda frozen over & fallen right off. the powder was super fresh and it was the first time i'd ever boarded while it was snowing. i can't say that i'm eager to repeat the experience. i wore every bit of clothing possible and i was still cold. and my board kept getting stuck in the powder, so i fell a lot and it was hard to get back up cuz i'd be buried in the snow...and visibility was bad for me...so it was hard to see the bumps in the trails, thus causing more falls. and i was pretty much messing up all day. it was like the board had a mind of its own and i couldn't control it. i know it's probably all in my head, but i didn't get over it by the end of the day and so i sucked real bad all day. i feel sorry for dan who had to wait for me for most of the day (sal was off on his own taking a class). i finally gave up and called it quits around 2:30p so i could eat lunch and lick my wounds (mostly figurative, except for one fall where i just had to land on the one spot of rock-hard ice available). *sigh* yeah. not my ideal day of boarding. ah well.

so i've already achieved my goal of going up to squaw once this season...but since it was a bit of a crummy experience, i haven't really satisfied my boarding itch for the season. so i'll probably go up again! :) hehe and yes, i'll post a recap of my maui trip with pics eventually (before school starts i hope)!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody!
i know, it's so belated...but i was in maui, so i'm sure you'll excuse me. :D
just got back this morning (flew in on a red eye, ouch) and have yet to unpack. haha
but so devoted to my avid readers, that i posted first! :)

Thankfully, i had a brief moment to look back on 2006 before 2007 began and was stunned at just how much has happened in the past year. The biggest of which was quitting from Intel and starting grad school. i also started dating bob. i served my first year as a youth counselor. i became a member of Canaan. i finished reading thru the whole Bible for the very first time. i traveled to central europe with near strangers and volunteered to stay behind an extra day on the overbooked flight to get a $1000 voucher! i went to NYC with di, nan & al to visit shar and had a blast. i got the honor of serving as a bridesmaid at sherry's wedding and then became a bridesmaid for the 4th time for another friend who got engaged. and i continue to learn what it means to put God first and started really desiring to seek solitude & silence in order to listen for Him. Wow. it's been eventful to say the least, and through it all God has been so faithful. I feel so beyond blessed. He has given me courage to start out on an unfamiliar path, patience to wait on His timing, and enough trust in Him to believe even when sometimes i lose sight. I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions, but i'll make an exception this year. My one & only resolution for 2007 is to continue seeking after God and fulfilling His desire for my life.

So farewell 2006, and welcome 2007.
May this next year bring much joy & love to you all!

an explanation of sorts

Man. things are a lot busier during break than i imagined...anyhow. here's something i wanted to write a while ago but never got around to posting...

=========
Ever since I embarked on this journey to become a librarian, many people have expressed their confusion as to why I wanted to do something so boring. Or why I even need a Master's to become one. And what do librarians DO? Being unprepared (and perhaps even a little ignorant myself) I know that I've only given very vague & unsatisfactory responses.

Right now, I'll attempt to answer...Why library & info science (LIS)??

Besides being able to help people directly as an everyday part of the job (a big perk after being completely disillusioned with corporate america), I really didn't look too deeply into the job description before I dived right in (altho, I did talk to some librarians to get their views, looked into job security & salary a bit too). Perhaps that makes me seem very naive, impulsive and maybe even a little stupid, but after years of floundering about for direction and coming up empty, I just knew it when I saw it - that becoming a librarian was the path for me (that's saying a lot since every other path i'd considered or been asked to consider got an almost immediate "no thanks" response from me). I really believe that I have the talents and interests I have for a reason (that God made me who I am for a purpose) and the dissatisfaction I had with my work was because it was truly not a good fit with that promise. And LIS might work out better.

I know there are a lot of risks (what big change doesn't have 'em?), but I'm generally confident that this will work out, and I'm really looking forward to making a difference in my job. Whether librarians become extinct in the future or not, I've also got confidence that God's got it all under control, that this is where He wants me to be (for now) and everything is going to work out. And hey, I think the biggest step for me was to finally & actually have enough courage to quit the job that was making me miserable and move on to something less certain but with lots of hope & promise.

Ah well. So hopefully, that explains my thought process for being where I'm at now...and actually, I really appreciate everyone's concern for me about this path I've chosen. I don't know what's going to happen with it, but I know that my friends & family are gonna be here to support me thru it all and I'm truly thankful for you all. And please keep asking me your questions until i can answer to your satisfaction, cuz until then, it's obviously something i still need to work out, and you guys will help keep me honest. :)

thanks for reading that little spiel. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!