A VERY hot day at Sea World

We got to feed the dolphins!! It was a lot of fun... Now I want to bring one home with me. It's so hot here... We're both sun burned. Me more so than mike. We're trying to stay cool and shaded as we wait for shamu rocks at 7:30. It's been a fun day so far :)

Step 1

Today, I bought the tool (with a 30% coupon - whoo hooo!) that will help me get started on training for the triathlon. It took me a while to decide if this is what I really want to do... but I decided to go for it and see where it takes me. I should be able to warm up with the Nike Run Hit Remix. Something fun the roommates & I will get to do together in September. it's about time i get my lazy couch potato butt up and do something about myself. I found this training guide to help get myself to run the 3 miles in 7 months.

I also got to do a little shopping with my sister at Target. They had a pretty good sale on clothes there... so we scored a couple tops and dresses. After target, we dropped by fosselman's ice cream for some yummy rum raisin. I also volunteered in the morning and had some "glo time" after at the cafe. I was advised to stay off coffee until my text on Wednesday. It's suppose to help me be less anxious. I'm going to give it a try. The thought of not having my cup of coffee in the morning already puts me in a bad mood... but i would like to be as less anxious as possible this week leading up to the GRE.

Tomorrow... we go to sea world!!! {I love San Diego... such a nice city. I think I would love to live in either San Diego or Pasadena if we stay in So. California.} We bought tickets to go there earlier in june to celebrate our anniversary... and this summer they have the buy one get one free ticket deal... so we wanna go back before their summer shows end. It should be fun.... a good way to end a fun weekend.

in the mist of the stress of studying and applying to school again... i made a list of things i would like to do before this summer ends. How many of it will i really get to do? i have no clue. we'll just wait and see...

this week started out pretty 'eh'. i tend to dwell on the negative emotions more than the positives... i'm such an Eeyore. things need to change. as crazy as things are... there has been so much positives this week...

- volunteering has been a really good experience so far... it's been so interesting meeting different kids with different things they need to work on. the therapists at the clinic are all really friendly. i get to ask questions and learn the different ways they do therapy. it totally opened my eyes to why i want to pursue this career again.

- mike has been so patient, caring and supportive. he truly is my biggest fan. he's assured me over and over again that i can do this and i'm capable of it... he's the best.

- i had a really good conversation with my sister over dinner this week. i really like hanging out with her. we have so much to talk, vent and laugh about. i'm going miss having her around when she goes back to school

- i'm blessed to have a job that let's me be creative. i'm also blessed to have awesome co workers at work to hang out and chat with.... coffee to drink as i please... and be inspired to create for 20 hours a week. i'm thinking of investing in digital kits to scrapbook and do more hybrid scrapping.

- i have great friends who pray for me, care for me, and love me for me.

it really hasn't been all bad... i need to just be more positive and remember the good things in life too.

** i miss you, maija! let's get some lunch together soon. i'll call you **

GRE

it's one of those days...

it's one of those days where things don't go the way you want it to... you waste time at the sprint store trying to get them to fix your phone when there was really nothing wrong with it in the first place.

It's one of those days where the alarm isn't working so you can't set it and should stay at home instead of go out.

It's one of those days that you just set your schedule for the next 4 weeks and it's INSANELY packed with work, volunteer and GRE studying...

It's one of those days where you really should be studying for the GRE but rather do anything else but study

It's one of those days that you just feel really overwhelmed by everything and want to sleep and not wake up for a month of so.

it's one of those days.

i'm so full.

Saying Goodbye

i hate saying goodbye.... especially to people that i admire, love, am inspired by and care for. It's already been done twice this summer and probably one more time before this year ends.

Working at Fuller is probably one of the best decisions I've made in the last 12 months. I got to learn about coffee... but more than just coffee, I learned how art is incorporated in what we do at the cafe. I learned that it takes so much hard work for the farmers to individually pick out the coffee beans that we enjoy everyday and how important it is for us to support them by drinking fair trade coffee. I learned that as much as the people I work with love coffee and tea, they also love God's creation and His people. The cafe counter was a magical place. There, we shared our life struggles, our questions, our doubts, our frustrations, our stories, our solutions... we shared moments of breaking news (like Maija being pregnant), hugs, high-fives after rushes, and most importantly, we shared community.

Earlier this summer, I had to say good bye to Alisia, Derek and Emi. There was something about Alisia that drew me to her. I was always so inspired to clean and be organize every time I work with her. She inspired me to do my best at everything. Taking over her position at work started out to be overwhelming... but I'm slowly catching on. Every time I look at the chickens on the top of my computer screen, I'm reminded of her. =)

This past week, I had to say good bye to Dave, Betsy and JJ. 3 awesome people that have blessed and inspired me more than they know. I have NEVER in my life had such a cool manager. Rarely was he "Dave - the cafe manager"... he was mostly "Dave - the cool guy that we blamed every thing on" I was so inspired by our conversations behind the counter about how to live our every day life as church. I love how much he loved his family and how committed he was to them. Betsy is an amazing women. I remember once we were talking about the topic of making money and as this family is preparing to do missions overseas, she looks at me and shrugs, "we have the rest of our lives to make money.. that can wait"

I've been struggling this year to redefine myself. To really see what my core values and goals are in life. To see what I'm about... and the past year... I've learned that there ARE people in this world that HAVE the opportunity to be rich or wealthy or even just financially stable, but give that up to serve God and His people. Those people inspire me. To not just SAY they follow Christ... but really sacrificially follow Christ.... that blows me away!

My whole life has been about material things. It has been about defining success as the world defines it. It has been about choosing my own path and dreams instead of obeying God's path for me. It has been about living extravagantly when I strive to live simply. It's almost like the core of who I want to be was being suppressed by this overwhelming race to keep up with others.

Saying good bye is hard and painful. It's hard to say good bye to good friends that move away and it's even harder to say good bye to a lifestyle you're so use to but want to change so badly. I don't claim to be able to do it on my own... but I do want to try. I want to be less superficial and more intentional with my friendships. I want to hope for people instead of condemning them. I want to strive for simplicity instead of extravagance. I want to follow my core being instead of conforming to who/what society thinks I should be or value.

So to my friends that I had to say good bye to recently.... I'm excited for the adventure God's taking you and your family on. The people that I'm so sure you'll bless and inspire (as you have done for me) along your life journey and the stories & memories you'll have to share with us when we meet again... and thank you, for making a difference in my life.

messy spirituality

'' it's amazing how few of us believe in the unqualified grace of God. oh yes, God loves us, as long as we're clean and whole and fixed. but it turns out that what disqualifies you and me from "spirituality" - the mess of our lives and our cripppledness - is what most qualifies us to be chosen by Jesus."

being lazy. resting. napping. hanging out in the pool. bachelor party. fun with close friends. nfl network. surfing the web on a 24in iMac.

Hosanna

I see the king of glory
Coming down the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes, the whole earth shakes
I see his love and mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing, the people sing

Hosanna, hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith, with selfless faith
I see a new revival
Staring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees, we're on our knees

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity

The Scotts

We spent about 3 or 4 hours just running around fuller campus taking pictures on a friday afternoon. It was TONS of fun. JJ was SOOO good at smiling big for me almost everytime we asked. here are my favorites =)

on the go

my first post from my new phone. it's great to not have to try to remember everything I wanna post cos I don't have my laptop with me or don't have internet connection... now I can post as i'm walking to the bank or sitting at the cafe.

got to watch Harry Potter yesterday and thought it was good but the story line got really dark. i'm not sure if i'll be so excited to watch the last 2 movies. we'll see.

I got to spend a couple hours wit The Scotts last friday taking pictures of them on Fuller campus so that they'll remember this place after they leave next week. can't post up pictures from my phone (boooo) but i'll do it later when I take a break from work. :)

wow... wrote all of this walking to the bank. I heart this phone plan with Sprint.