Jeff and I are engaged!

So you guys probably want to know how it happened ;) Jeff had been wanting to to go Blue Rock Shoot so on Tuesday night we decided to go for some yummy hot chocolate. The cafe was completely empty (which ended working in Jeff's favor...haha) and we decided to sit in the back room. Once we sat down, he pulled out a Christmas card and handed it to me. I was a little puzzled because earlier that evening I had wanted to open Christmas presesnts and he told me that he had "forgotten" the card. So anyway, I opened it and started reading. The card started off with a generic Christmas greeting and near the end of the message it mentioned that the card wouldn't only remind me of christmas but of how i would be asked a question that showed how much he loved me. Then I saw him come around the table and kneel infront of me and he asked me to marry him. *GRIN* and I said yes. hehehehe. It was so perfect and I couldn't of picked a better place for this to happen.

Some more news going on my life: I'm going to Paris in March to see my friend, Shanta. WOOHOO! I can't believe I'm going to Europe and I get to spend it with one of my dearest friends. I'm so excited!!!

As of now, I'm bracing myself for 10 months of wedding planning. I'm praying that God will give us patience and perserverance and I'm trusting in Him that He will provide the very best for us. If you could keep us in your prayers as we prepare for the big day and ready ourselves in taking the next step in life, that would be awesome. =)

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Life after the races...

I'm a little relieved and sad at the same time. I've been going on shorter runs during the week and noticing that my perfomance level has dropped significantly. I can't seem to figure out if it's because my body hasn't recovered fully yet or if it's due to taking a long break. I guess all that matters is that I still enjoy going on runs and that this whole experience hasn't completly turned me off from participating in other races. The idea of a full marathon has been bouncing around in my head. They say if you can a half marathon, you can run a marathon, but what if you're on the brink of passing out after 13 miles? The thought of running ADDITIONAL 13 miles seems a little crazy to me. (Doesn't it sound a little crazy to you?) I can already feel my legs giving out just thinking about it. Right... not going to venture into this idea until next year. ;)

I went to the dentist the other day after lacking a visit in 5 years. Yeah, that's right. FIVE YEARS. Shh...don't tell my parents. It's mainly due to fear of sharp drilling objects in my mouth. (well, that and not having insurance...and I did mention sharp prodding objects, right?) Anywhos, just to give you an idea of how it went, at this rate I'll basically have dentures by the time I'm 30. No joke. I've been plagued by inheriting horrible teeth and sugar-itis and it's biting me in the butt. I'm already getting flash backs from the my last dentist visit...the drilling, the excruciating painful shots, the sight of flying tooth bits spewing out of my mouth, THE BLOOD...ooohh..the blood... *shudder*

I don't want to end this post sobbing about the pain I'm about encounter in the next few weeks, so I'm going to my happy place and focus on the fact that Thanksgiving weekend is coming up. I only have 2 days of work this week and I can stuff myself with glorious food, well, that is if my teeth can handle it. ;)

Two weekends ago Jeff and I went to a pumpkin patch and picked out three perfect pumpkins. We decided to carve them last weekend. Take a lookee!




Heehehe....the little one is my favorite :D

Meet Sophie!

I'm pleased to present the newest addition to our family!

Breed: Doberman Pinscher.
Current loves: people, chewing on just about anything, & peeing on carpets
Current dislikes: Being left alone or locked up in her kennel

:)

Yay! I did it! On Oct 8, 2006, I completed my first half marathon. It was a pretty challenging run and I'm still in shock that I acutally ran the whole thing. Woohoo! I went jogging for the first time today and it felt so good. My body has finally recovered and I'm ready to start training for my next race. Only 2 more weeks to go. Monterey, here I come!

I decided to get away for the weekend and flew down to Catalina Island to spend some time with my college friends. The sun was shining and the water was blue. It was heaven. :) The best part of the whole island is that everyone travels not by car, but by golfcarts! We saw golfcarts up the wahzoo. I felt like I was in Mario Kart, zooming (or more like putting) along the curvy windy roads and trying to pass the other carts. (or more like trying to avoid being passed) Too bad I didn't have any bananas or turtle shells. :P


The next day we went on a glass bottom boat tour. Now, as fascinating as the fish were, I have to say that this was probably the most challenging part of the trip. Why you ask? It took all my energy to prevent myself from puking either on someone's lap or on the side of the boat. I sat there praying that God would grant me magical powers and I could fast foward through time. It was THE longest hour of my life. I practically kissed the ground when we reached the dock. Yes, I have to say I'm definately sticking to traveling on LAND. :)


The rest of the time was filled with lava flows, pina coladas, and margaritas. We swam, tanned, shopped, and explored the island in our little putt-putt cart. It was the perfect weekend getaway!

Rolly


June 16, 1992 - Sept 13, 2006

I'm going to miss him so much :(

On Saturday, Jeff and I drove to Pacific Grove to see cheer on a college friend who was participating in a triathlon. It was my first time seeing how these races actually happen...and I have to say that it's crazy. The racers have to begin the race by swimming in the frigid cold ocean, which is insane to begin with. Then they hop on a bike for 30 miles and then they finish off by running around 6 miles. I don't know about you, but my muscles would be jello by the end of the swim (that's assumming that i would make it without drowning) and I'd probably wouldn't even make it past the biking part because I'd fall right off the thing. :P

On Sunday we rented "March of the Penguins". For those of you who haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it. It is incredible to see what they go through to raise a thier babies and how they bond. All I have to say is that I am so glad that I'm not a penguin!!!

I am sitting on a white sand beach, feeling the ocean breeze and warm sunlight...all of a sudden I hear a bunch of keyboards tapping away. wha?? *sigh* Yes, I have returned from my vacation and I'm so sad that it's over.

So Jeff and I arrived at the airport at an ungodly hour, 4:45 am on Wednesday, Aug 23rd. Here's a lovely picture of us early birds. We arrived in Hawaii around 11 a.m. and I couldn't wait to get out of the plane. After what seemed like eternity, we hopped into our rental car (Mustang Coupe... it was a massive car for an "economy size" car. I could barely see over the dashboard :P) and drove to Hilton Waikoloa Village. The hotel was absoultely beautiful. They had paintings and sculpture all along the walls of the hotel.

I felt like I was in a museum. The resort was pretty big so we had to take a monorail from the lobby over to our room. It was kind of a pain cuz we had to wait for it each time for it to come so we saved time and ended up walking to our room instead. That amounted to quite a bit of walking. :P

After settling in, we decided to grab something to eat at the cafe by our tower. After discovering that our measley lunch costs just as much as a dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, we decided to head over to the local grocery store and stock up on munchies. :) Later that evening we dined at a oh-so-good Itailian restaurant, Donatoni's. I also had the best glass of Reisling ever! The kind from Germany is the way to go ;) The next morning we headed over to the East side of the island for a lava-tube tour. On the drive there, the landscape was incredibly dry. All we could see on the side of the highway were mounds and mounds of dark brown/red lava rocks. As we reached the middle of the island, the landscape turned into rich, lush, greens. It was also swarming with mosquitoes. *shudder* Anywho, back to the lava tubes. We were 45ft underground and it's known to be the longest lava tube in the world. Pretty cool, eh? We saw "lavacicles" and "crusted over tube within a tubes" and man-eating cave spiders (ok, kidding on the last one, but there were spides except they were more like the size of a pencil tip)... oh yeah, and there was also a skelton of a moongoose. Apparently, it fell in the tube and bled to death. Poor thing. Afterward we ate our pb&j sandwiches and headed over to see the waterfalls.

After driving around and spotting more waterfalls, we grabbed dinner and headed back to the hotel.

The next morning we set out to go snorkeling at the "Place of Refuge". We found out from the hotel that it was one of the best places to go snorkeling because they had seaturtles there. Unfortunetly we didn't get to see any sea turtles *boo* but we saw tons of "itty bitty yellow tangs" that weren't so itty bitty and a few puffer fish. Afterwards we drove all the way down to the tip of the island called "South Point". Now I can say "I stood in the southest part of the U.S" cuz it is :) Here's a shot from South Point:


We decided to call it a day and headed back. I have to say, the drive wasn't so fun. Everything on the island is spread out so it takes a few hours to drive to each destination. We planned on going to the Volcano National Park but after all the driving we've already done, I wasn't too keen on spending another 6 hours in the car to melt to death on an active volcano. We decided to save that for another trip. :) On Saturday we set out to go hike to Kohala Bay. This was probably my favorite part of the trip. We hiked along the shore on black rocks and saw sea turtles basking and swimming in the sea. (there's a pic below, the turtle looks dead but I swear, it's not. I even have photo proof!) We reached the bay and swam around. There was a mixture of cold water (from the bay) and warm water (from the ocean). It was a weird sensation. Nonetheless, the view was breathtaking.
On Sunday we attended a luau...and it was open bar... amy had a bit too much to drink BEFORE the meal. Oops. To say the least, my stomach wasn't exactly very happy that night. The food (of what I remember) was delicious and the show was a lot of fun.

Monday was a sad day. It was our last day in Hawaii. We checked out of our hotel room at noon and realized we had about 8 hours to kill before our flight. Hmm... what to do?? You'd think there'd be plenty to do, but the weather was hot and humid. The idea of walking around in sweat and not being able to shower before boarding the plane was not very appealing. We drove to the northern part of the island and visited the Polulu Valley and then stopped for "the island's best ice cream" which really was the best ice cream ever. Here are some shots of the valley and ice cream :)

That only killed about 2 hours so we drove to Waimae and wandered around in a grocery store...yes, we were that bored. On the way back we browsed through a few gift shops and headed back to the resort for a last goodbye and then headed to the airport. The flight left at 10 pm and we arrived in chilly and gloomy San Jose at 8 a.m. That ends my trip and I'm so so so sad that it's over. Seeing that it took up 2 hours of my time at work to write this entry, I don't feel quite so bad anymore. haha. There are so many more photos I took. You can find them here: Hawaii Pictures

Aloha!

As promised, here are a few pics from Yosemite :) Enjoy!

Just got back from a weekend in Yosemite! I beginning to think that I have a love/hate relationship with camping. I love taking in the scenery, breathing fresh air (that is, if I can even breath in the high altitude), eating, the hikes, sitting around the campfire, and spending time with friends. However, I DO NOT enjoy having to get out of my cozy sleeping bag and stumble in the darkness to find the bathroom. By the time I get back to my sleeping bag, it's ice cold. I'm wide awake and I can hear every critter nearby. I begin to have nightmares that a bear will walk by and eat me.

Another thing I could do without are the million mosquitoes buzzing around. Can someone please tell me the reason why these horrid things exist?!?! Arrghh...

We decided to eat out the first night there. We went to a gas station/restaurant. It's combination of a gas station and a restaurant in one, hence the name "Mobile Restaurant". The whole idea is ingenious and a little comical. Who would of thought to have a gourmet meal of lobster and steak at a gas station?? To say the least, the food was phenomal and satistfying.

I'm glad to be back! A shower is a wonderful thing ;) It's trips like these that make me gratful for hot water and warm beds. On the other hand, it's also a reminder of how amazing creation is but for now I think I'll stick with our local state parks to get my dose of nature. Camping once a year is enough for me, and I will be looking foward to it again next summer. Photos to come.

3 more days until I'm in Yosemite and 7 more days until I'm in Hawaii! WOOOOHOO!!! :)

Congratulations Alli, Derek, & Mia!

One of the most beautiful wedding ceremonies I've attended. Simple, sweet, and intimate. I'm so happy for the three of you! :)

I wish I lived on the coast so I wouldn't have to suffer in my 90 degree stuffy apartment. (note to self, make sure that the next place I live has air conditioning!) I think I'm more concerned about my pets than anything else. The last thing I want to see is my turtle boiling itself to death in his tank or having my cat pass out. *melting*

My weekends have been pretty relaxed. Last week Jeff and I went hiking at the Henry Cowells State Park. I love seeing the enormous redwood trees and nature's beauty. I'm always awed by God's magestic creation. On the flip side, I think I've caught video game fever and have been making great use out of my game cube . *grin*

I've also discovered that my work is less than a mile away from union square. I'm so excited! I have new places to explore while I'm on my lunch break and I have to make a mental note to leave my wallet behind or else I'll be in trouble =P

This is Jeff when he turns into a full blown geek. =D

I did it! I ran Bay To Breakers and was able to run the entire thing on 3 1/2 hours of sleep. =) I think next time I'm probably going to try to get more sleep and bring something to munch on afterwards. A banana and a few gulps of Gatorade isn't exactly the most fulfilling breakfast. =P We got up at 6 that morning (ugh, that's WAY too early for my brain to even function) and rode the bus from Berekely to San Francisco. When we arrived to the starting line, I saw people busting out with Bloody Marys and throwing tortillas everywhere. (dude, what's with the tortillas???) The combination of lack of sleep, motion sickness from the bus ride, and seeing a 70 year old man's wrinkely white butt almost made me want to hurl right on the street. Despite being temporarily blinded/traumatized by more than a few neon nasty buttcheeks, this is something that I'd want to try again next year and improve my time by 10 minutes. =) One race down, one more to go! Woohoo!

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Happy Easter!

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There are woman who are able to wear 3 inch heels and walk flawlessly down the street. And there are woman who wear heels and look like they're about to fall over in a second. I belong in the second category. Needless to say, I ended up spilling coffee all over myself because I can't hold a beverage and walk in heels at the same time. Now I probably have a huge dry cleaning bill and sore feet. Not a good way to start the day.

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Sleepy...

Day Light Savings blows for people who have to get up early for work. I wish my desk would turn into a huge pillow...

So with all this rain, I've decided to think positive. There are a few good sides to a cold rainy day. It's a perfect time to spend time cuddling on the couch, napping, and catching up on reading :) I'm currently reading "The Mists of Avalon" and I only have 200 more pages to go!!! Wooohoo! (it's like a 900 pg book) I'm usually not into "King Athur/Camelot" readings, but I have to admit, it's one of those "can't put down" books. I definately recommend it to anyone.

I signed up for my FIRST half marathon! Good bye junk food and laziness. *sniff sniff* Only 7 months to go! Wish me luck :)

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Sudoku has officially ruined my life. I addicted!

Bad California Weather

With all the news on TV lately about the subzero weather and snow that the east coast and upstate NY areas are experiencing, we shouldn't forget that Southern California has it's share of devastating weather also. I've attached a photo illustrating the excessive damage caused to a home from a west coast storm that passed through the Los Angeles area a couple of days ago. It really makes you cherish what you have, and reminds us not to take life for granted!!!




Yep... leave it to us Californians to freak out over a little rain =P

Four jobs I've had:

1. Ice cream scooper
2. Clerk
3. Checkout lady =)
4. Art gallery assistant

Four movies I can watch over and over:

1. Sliding Doors
2. Happy Gilmore
3. Cutting Edge
4.

Four places I've lived:

1. Omaha, NE
2. Saugerties, NY
3. San Dimas, CA
4. San Jose, CA

Four TV shows I love:

1. Food Network Challenge (er.. or anything on the foodnetwork)
2. 24
3. Desperate Housewives
4. The Office

Four places I've vacationed:

1. Taiwan
2. Toronto
3. Cape Cod
4. Lake Tahoe

Four of my favorite dishes:

1. Spinach Salad w/ cranberries, avacados, and bacon
2. Pancakes
3. Cereal
4. Salmon w/ dill and cous cous

Four sites I visit daily:

1. Yahoo Mail
2. Gmail
3. iStock Photos
4. MySpace

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Outside (It's sunny!!)
2. Paris, exploring the shops and cafes
3. My bed, napping :-D
4. A bookstore, picking out a good book

Four bloggers I am tagging:
1. Pavstheway
2. Jenguin
3. Caliparisen
4. Things Untouched