Cruise to Mexico!

Got to experience my first cruise ever with the fam. Sailed Saturday night, we got to Ensenada, Mexico Sunday morning, and got back Monday Morning. Short cruise, but good enough to taste a little of everything.

The whole ship experience was great because there was so much to do and eat on the cruise. Casinos, bars, night clubs, comedy clubs, and even theater lounges were present on the ship. The funny part of the while trip was meeting all the Indonesian workers on the cruise. Out of 1000 workers on the ship, 300 of them were Indonesians. I know this because my parents made friends with what seemed like all 300 of them.  The food was good though. 3 course meals for dinner and buffets 24 hours.

  We got to see the famous La Bufadora in Ensenada, got to shop around the flea market, and got to eat fish/shrimp tacos and freshly made churros.

Great first cruise, bring on the next! (;

Infinity Ring

I've always had a thing for the infinity symbol. Horizontally, infinity means forever. Vertically, an 8 means a new beginning. Simple, but meaningful.

Moons

In light of the lunar eclipse I saw, this is pretty awesome too.

Amazing God and Family

God is good to bring amazing people into my life. I love serving next to these faithful people.

I also got to see the awesome lunar eclipse today! God's creation and how it works is amazing! A picture will be soon be posted as soon as Kevin gives it to me. (:

Long Lasting Love

I need to do this more..

Dissection week

This week and last week was brutal. 4 midterms, a paper, and a debate. But God is good that I've overcome the storm.

I got to dissect a sheep's heart, lung and brain this week. Fun! I actually enjoyed it, despite the formaldehyde smell. Maybe I have a hidden talent to become a surgeon. I will never know..

Happy National Pharmacy Technician Day!

Did not know that there was a day such as this..

Pretty cool now that I'm a California licensed Pharmacy Technician! (:

random!

Good news! After a long wait of 3 months, my CA pharm tech license came in! I can do pharmacy technician stuff now! SO, during my 1 month anniversary shift at SOS, I got to dispense my first prescription ever! I basically just count pills. It's not a big deal, but I like it because I get to see the different sizes and shapes of the drugs. Some look like cute orange candies that temps you to eat them. Others look like a massive almond, that will probably hurt to shallow.

Anywhoo... here is a video of what I did in my Physio lab.
Kevin, My heart beats for you! (:

Busy Busy fall quarter

Haven't had the time to update my blog in a while. It's my senior year of college and I think I'm busier now more than ever. New updates:
- I'm volunteering at SOS and I love it. I get to wear scrubs, which is totally cool!
- I'm not leading for the Edge anymore.. I don't even know if I'll ever join an Edge small group.
- I'm minoring in Education so I plunged this quarter with 3 education classes. Struggling to think critically in a different way other than bio stuff because I'm forced to write and talk eloquently, and do it fast. Education makes me read my textbooks and go to the library for once; it also makes me put myself out there more. I'm still struggling to adjust, but I like it so far.
- I'm taking Human Anatomy on top of my UCI classes. I have a busy schedule despite the fact that I have no class on Thursday or Friday.
- Apt. life and atmosphere is swell and better.
- I want a dog, but that hasn't changed.
- I <3 Kevin, but that hasn't changed either.

That's it for now.

Casa Hogar en Mexico!

Decided to go to Mexico on a whim. It was one of the best times because I got to spend it with some of the Skid Row family and, of course, Kevin. I helped make chocolate chip cookies for the kids. Ate mucho mucho mucho comida! Cheap tacos, frozen fruit popsicle, and freshly made churros. Yum! Great weekend to have before school starts! (:

Daniel's fast

First time doing a Daniel's fast and it was not as bad as I thought. Course, I only did it for a week. But it was a learning and humbling experience. I came into the fast not knowing what to do or why I did it. But then I figured out that I just wanted to get closer to God. At the end of the week, I had a clearer complexion, I got to talk to God a lot more, even though it feels like I'm talking to myself a lot more.. and I got to understand Daniel. What a perfect time to do so since I'm in the Beth Moore's Daniel study. I thank God for this week. I'm also thankful for garlic salt. Note to self... Always have garlic salt on handy.

First day at S.O.S!

Woke up every 2 hours because I was so excited to go in for my first day at S.O.S. As a noob at pharmacy technician or pharmacy anything, I found it kind of hard typing all the prescriptions that the doctors sent. The typing part wasn't hard, but the actual drug stuff was kind of hard. Note to self.. need to learn the generic and the brand names. Also need to relearn Spanish. Today was a great day though, I even got to sit in on an MTM. I now know how to inject an insulin. Can't wait for the rest of the year to learn and be a better pharmacy tech.

Anniversary #2

2 years with Kevin and it is oh sooo good! We celebrated by going to Skid Row and serving the homeless. What a way to spend our anniversary by sharing the love and loving on others. (:

Being poor

This is not to put down anyone, but to have a change of perspective. I am definitely grateful for what I have.

*Being poor is your kids getting excited on Dumpster-hunt day, because that’s the only time they get to eat “real food” like cookies, fresh fruit and desserts.

*Being poor is staying with a man who beats your kids because you can’t afford to keep them out of foster care without his salary.

Being poor means making decisions like “is stealing food a sin” outside of an ethics class.

*Being poor is scrambling under the car seats to make up enough change to get two happy meals to split between a family of 4 – and everyone is ecstatic when you do so.

Being poor is realizing that heating and eating will probably be mutually exclusive this month.

*Being poor is find that your landlord has tied $20 to your steering wheel out of pity.

Being poor is finally realizing that when your Mom says you can be anything you want, she doesn’t really believe it, but feels she has to keep saying it anyway to keep the whole family from falling into despair-based lifestyles.

Being poor is learning to live with condemned-quality housing because coming up with the first and last month’s rent, plus utility deposits, you’d need to move is a pipe dream.

Change of words makes a difference

Meet my new Pet!

So my pet plant name Stewie died a long time ago. My freshman year, I even killed a cactus whom I named Bartholomew. In the beginning of the summer, Yvonne gave me an orchid plant and now it's barely surviving. I can't keep a plant alive even if it depended on my life!

So Kevin won me a beta fish at our church's Town Hall Meeting. Meet Alpha, our new beta fish!

Praise Report!

Since I wrote last, I remember  writing about the hardships of finding a job as a Pharmacy Technician. Well thanks to God that now I have a volunteer position at Share Our Shelves in Costa Mesa! Though it is a volunteer position, I am still grateful that I get to do what I'm passionate about, which is to serve the homeless and the underprivileged, AND I get to gain experience in my future career. God is good and ultimately His timing is perfect. 


P.S.  I even get to wear scrubs! Yay! can't wait! (:

Chillin' at home home

I found a french bull dog in a hip, organic thrift store. I'ma get me one of those one day.

SD weekend!

Fun times with my home church friends! 3 days in SD, 4 girls, 5 guys and mucho food! We chilled at Seaport village, walked around farmer's market in Littly Italy and farmer's market in Hill Crest, and even ate at Phil's BBQ.

To highlight the main event to why we went to SD, we got to kayak and snorkel in the ocean! Me typing this makes me remember the fun, but miserable times on the back and forth waves of the ocean. Believe it or not, I threw up after lots of swaying on the ocean and after I got capsized and thrown out of the kayak. UGH.. anyways to make a long story short because I'm starting to feel seasick again just typing this.. the whole experience was good and a once in a life time experience. Seeing leopard sharks was a plus. 

Yummy Erasers!

Cute erasers! Gives me a nostalgic feeling. (:

Last Day of Speech Class

8 weeks of Public Speaking... Who would have thought I'd actually survive and still end up with an A in the class! 

It's a whole different experience that I'm really thankful I had to go through. Taking public speaking this summer was a blessing itself. I can't thank my teacher enough for letting us in on the first day of class. Taking Public Speaking over summer is definitely a hard thing to do, but it is not impossible. One advice, email your teacher ahead of time because that's what I did and that's how I got into Public Speaking. Some teacher can be nice about it like Rachel, but others can be strict to the rules. I think taking Public Speaking was a blessing and came at its perfect time because through this class I gained more confidence, I became a better communicator and I became a better writer just in time for pharmacy school interviews and personal statements. God is soo good though to change my whole entire summer plan and shape it for his glory. 

Overall, Public Speaking a good, learning experience I will never forget. Thanks to this picture, I will never forget the people I've met along the way. 

     

SF Trip!

Three whole days with my parents and my aunty from Indonesia and it took lots of patience, but it was super fun.

Day 1: Driving up to SF
It started Friday morning when they picked us up in a rented Tahoe. On the way up, We stopped by Pismo Beach to eat Indo food and to get snacks... My dad picked up baked crickets and worms for snacks. Gross..

After lunch we stopped at Hearst Castle before going to SF. The view was amazing, the weather was cool. I never thought that California had a castle! William Hearst had a variety of animals, but many were donated to a zoo. I saw a Zebra among a crowd of cows on the way up to SF, tis was a funny sight. We toured amazing grand rooms and even vintage pools. Words cannot express the grandness of the castle. 

Day 2: Touring around SF

Today was the actual day we got to tour around SF. We stopped by UCSF, we got to see the Golden Gate Bridge, and took pictures at the Exploratorium. We walked around Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf and, Ghiradellis Square. We even drove down Lombard street and shopped around Chinatown. It was a long day of exploring and trying new things. I would say, though, that the best part is probably when a seagull took my sister's churros as she watched sea lions fight. I only saw the aftermath of sugars and cinnamon flying all over her.

Day 3: Trip back home with some pit stops
One day in SF was enough for all of us. We got to see the main tourist sites and got to try the good foods up there... good food, all except for the shady Chinese restaurant. Note to self.. Shady does not always mean Legit. haha. We headed to Solvang as our last trip before going to LA for Korean bbq... but we ended up making lots of pit stops before. We stopped at a wine tasting place, we went to Ostrichland, and then finally Solvang. All entirely different places to visit, but we all took away certain things from each place. We bought bottles of wines, we got to feed the scary ostriches, and got some yummy Danish pastries.

Ended the night with my aunty's birthday celebration. My brother, Kevin, and Thomas meet up with us in LA at a korean bbq place. The turnout was great! She cried, we laughed and everyone was happy with full stomachs. Overall, this weekend was a great trip!

Pacific Symphony

Kevin took me to the OC Pacific Symphony! I can now check off  the dress up fancy date on our summer bucket list. Being someone who was never really interested in classical music, this experience has change my perspective. I got to hear the orchestra play to the different types of animals, giving each animal a musical melody according to its characteristic. I got to hear paintings come alive, and I even got to see the 5 Browns perform. They are 5 siblings, two brothers and three sisters, who attended Julliard School as pianist. There are so many musically talented people out there. You can see their passion by watching their every head jerk as it corresponds to a stroke on the violin, or watch how the ear perks whenever there is a change of tone. It was an amazing experience!