Dont keep the Good News for yourself

My grandma had a stroke 2 days ago, and she past away yesterday. When my mom told me the news this morning, I didnt really know what to feel about it. I guess i was really confused. She's the first person in my family to ever pass away. Then my dad came up to my room, and when i saw him, and i saw the pain in his eyes, i couldnt help but start crying. Have you ever experienced that feeling in your face when you just couldnt stop frowning? It's a really weird feeling. It's almost as though you've lost total control of your muscles, leaving you feeling weak.

I cried for my dad, i cried for my grandma, but most of all i cried because i know i'm never going to see her again. She wasn't a Christian, and because of that I wont see her again when i go to heaven. That's probably what hurts the most, knowing that she's gone, and condemed for eternity. I remember Justine sharing this at the prayer meeting last week. She reminded us of the story about the family who had all that good food, but when their son reached over to get some food, they slapped his hand. In the same way, if you care and love about someone, dont let them leave this earth never having experienced God's glorious feast. If God's been faithful to you, share his riches. Time on earth is short, but time in Christ is eternal, so share all the riches you have with those closest to you or even just people you know, because if you possess the salvation of God, dont keep it for yourself. Actually, how could you not shut up about something so awesome?

Psalm 29:11
The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Hope is the foundational principle for all change. People change because they have hope. If people do not have hope, they will not change. You are responsible for the changes that you make in your life, but the good news is, you can make the changes you need to make in your life.

Step #1: When you change your thinking, you change your beliefs.
Step #2: When you change your beliefs, you change your expectations.
Step #3: When you change your expectations, you change your attitude.
Step #4: When you change your attitude, you change your behavior.
Step #5: When you change your behavior, you change your performance.
Step #6: When you change your performance, you change your life.

A tribute to my Haribo Bear

Gummy Bears are probably one of the most loved confections. But you've never savored a true gummy bear until you've had a Haribo gold-bear. These gummy bears are unlike any other kind. With all other brands, the best flavor of gummy bear is usually the clear kind. Not so with Haribo. With Haribo, you cant really distinguish which flavor is the best flavor because they all are so good! After my first encounters with these bears i searched far and wide for another pack. After a month of searching, i finally found them! So i was strolling down the candy aisle at wal-mart searching for candy to bring for our first SFC meeting tomorrow when i spotted the shinny gold package of the HARIBO BEARS!!!! It was embedded between two larger packs of candy. it was the final package of Haribo gummy bears left in the section...and it was mine. Not only are Haribo gummy bears wondefully tasty, but they are also low calorie and fat free. What more could you want? So maybe i'll gain several more cavities by eating this package of gummy bears, but that's ok. I shared them with my sister, so my good deed of the day has been completed, and now that i've had my second package of Haribo bears, i just might die happy. =P

Your love makes me wanna dance.....

one of my third favorite things to do...second only to eating, would be getting the mail barefoot. Although that has a rather strange sensation when accomplished in the hot, burning streets of the houston heat. Nonetheless i'm definitely starting to appreciate the heat, especially now that school has started. I seriously think im going to die of hypothermia any day now. I love the cold weather, but i'm really sensative to artificial cold (which i dislike), such as the ac at school. I wasnt thinking straight today and i carelessly forgot my jacket at home. I honestly think i could have died, thank goodness for off campus 7th. Every arm hair was sticking straight up, my toes were in locked, non-bendable positions, and my face was completely white by 6th period. If it wasnt for the chik-fil-a sandwich there to sustain me during lunch...i would be dead by now. That'll teach me to forget my jacket ever again.

Herm..so i've decided not to drop physics. The year wont be too bad. All i need to do is some studying here and there.....i mean.. Phil 4:13 right? and as the little Train that Could stated "I think i can i think i can" maybe i could modify that to "i know i can i know i can". All the studying i did for physics really paid off... in fact.. it's like.. my favorite class. Not that i love the material or anything, but the juniors in that class are so amusing...was i that big of a wack as a junior?

currently im seriously craving some running. I havent run in so long! i still remember back in the day when i had membership to cbrc, it was so easy to get myself to run. First of all i loved the indoor track above the pool where it was like 100% humidity and it felt like you were running in a sauna. Secondly, i always swam after i ran... so that was great. That totally contrasts the conditions here. Nowadays, if i went to run outside in the real humidity, i would probably faint. Although i have access to a pool, i've only been to our community pool twice. i miss running all the time...but i dont miss track. but a big woohoo is.. Rankin isnt coaching this year....hopefully it wont be like.. slave labor to run. so... i've decided.. tomorrow night im going to run. Tonight on the other hand will be filled with most undesirable studying. But studying is my duty....and heck you can glorify God even when you're studying.

*tears of joy* i cant believe it... tomorrow is FINALLY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok nap time.

turn back the hands of time.....

ever in one of those ubber random moods. today was a very blah day. Everything in classes was really relaxed and there wasnt much hw. It's weird, cuz everytime i start to get the feeling that the week has worn out it's welcome on me.... it's almost time for it to come to a close. Tomorrow is finally thursday after my 3 previous days of whining. One thing that helps is to be reminded and in everything that i do... do it all for the glory of God. In fact that's probably one of the reasons i can get up in the morning. It's the energy inside me to glorify God somehow in the day to come. At tonights prayer meeting we got to reflect on the blessings of this past summer. Just looking at all the things that have happened, they constantly remind me of God's faithfulness.

it boggles my mind to think of the change that's happened in the past day, past weeks, 6 months, year. Although i know everything happens for a good reason, im always anxious to see what that reason was. anyhoo...i got skool tomorrow
school is both emotionally and physicaly draining.... but thats kewl... life isnt about school....all of life comes down to just one thing.....

Who's house? God's house!!!! SHOUT it OUT!

I think the best experience i've had as a senior was tonight at club night. It was awesome just standing out among the other clubs, but being something more than just the president of a club. I am a representative of Christ. The whole experience was really uplifting, especially when people came to ask us what we're about. We got responses ranging from "Im not a Christian" to "whoa cool" and God even brought around athiests. Although it was frustrating not knowing the words to say to some people, I know God was moving tonight. All i can do is thank him, praise him, and pray for those that dont know him. I really hope God uses each of us in SFC to be a light in our school. I believe that God has great plans this year. So if you could, remember SFC in your prayers. Pray for a direction for the club and also for each of the members to live a life reflecting what they believe in. Friday is our first meeting, so yea.. it'd be kewl to pray for that too. thanx a ton. good rest~

Love the moment, and the energy of the moment will spread beyond all boundaries. Corita Kent (compliments of cyndi)

I gotta stop anticipating the weekend when the week starts. If i keep thinking that way, my week will only be unbearably long. Although my week seems to drag by sometimes, there never seems to be enough time in a day. Herm... maybe that's just the early stages of senioritis. *gasp* and it's only the second full week of school. anyhow.. not gonna think about that.

well today was a fairly decent day. Nothing bad, nothing spectacular. It was difficult to get up around 6:45 though. But i suppose getting my chem lab done was worth the 6:45. But then the 6:45 got to me when i came home. Maaan... SO tired. After dinner i went to the park with my family. It was good times. It's fun playing with my kid sister. In fact, it even makes me feel like a little kid again. We raced each other, ran around the park, jumped on the play sets, slid down slides, and swung on swings. It's moments like those that i wish i had more time in a day, cuz after the park i went straight home and got to business and worked on this tedious figurative language wkst.

herm.. so as my time runs out, i should study for my physics quiz. I've discovered that great satisfaction comes with figuring out how to do a physics problem. So tomorrow's quiz will make or break me.... we'll see how that goes.

so much to accomplish... but so little time....

dont cry because it's over...smile because it happened ^_^

i've been hearing that a lot lately. How true and how sweet. This past weekend has truely marked the dawning of a new era. To start it off, got to celebrate some special ppls bdays (glores, simon, lex) then the HIS team retreat. The retreat was definitely a big turning point for me. God opened my eyes to show me so much about the things that i've been thinking about lately. It's definitely been difficult letting go of all the wonderful blessings of this past year. But going to the retreat and sharing in fellowship with the team got me so pumped for God's AWESOME work ahead in the Focus ministry. Another thing that's been really encouraging is reading what the '03 seniors have to blog. It's definitely AWESOME seeing how God has worked in them, IS working in them, and WILL work in them. God has truely equipped u guys well for the world. I'm EXTREMEly excited to see the AWESOME plans God has in store for each of you to "prosper" (jeremiah 29:11) in ur walks with Him. You guys are all a bunch of EXTREMEly AWESOME ppl that's been so richly blessed and dearly loved by God. Not to mention EXTREMEly appreciated and loved by everyone at home too. Thanks for all the AWESOME memories that have been made, and i sure hope and am confident that the future holds many memories that are yet to be made. So God bless and God speed to this new chapter of each of your lives.

so another mark of this new era wud be the dispersal of my wonderfully AWESOME sunday school class. Man i love all of those girls in there and we share something extremely special in that class. Altho at times we can be...herm... wuts the word to describe us? hehe.. well ms. fong wud know... and i also love ms. fong for having that patience, as one of the girls pointed out today, to deal with our quirkiness and wutnots. However, teary-eyed the situation of our separation is, I know God has plans for us to "prosper" as well. So as we part in our separate ways, may we bring that warmth and closeness we share with one another into our new sunday school classes.

dude.. i almost feel as though each of us are warriors and we're out to wage the battles of life with God on our side.... maan.. we're fighting a war that's already been won! awesome

some things will change, but some things change only for the better.

a maze of grace

it's so intriguing how people can feel the same way about something. it's funny how there are so many emotions out there and everyone knows how each emotion is suppose to feel. i mean... it's pretty kewl if u think about it. for example, the feeling that this week has been going by incredibly slowly. the most commonly asked question this week has been "dont you think this week has been going by really slowly?" I just thought it was really weird how a large majority of people felt the same way about that question. Yes, this week has been going by really slowly. it seems perfectly normal when you answer the question cuz everyone is feeling the same way....but isnt it weird how everyone feels the same way about the duration of this week?

so this afternoon i went out to look at calculators =P when i got home i looked under my parking break and i found this fortune from a fortune cookie "to get what you want you must commit yourself for sometime." when i read that i thought.... u kno that's quite true. If you wanna get or achieve something, it's gonna take time. But i think if you're willing to make the time commitment, it's worth it in the end. I guess that's just really pertinent for me cuz i've made some commitment this year, and they all require time and effort to achieve them. so i guess that was a really good reminder. heh...definitely a keep-worthy fortune....

so im cleaning my room this afternoon and suddenly i get this phone call from Phil. And apparently, him, jeremy, and annie were trying to find their way to my house....and annie forgot how to get to it. haha.. somehow they still managed to find it. so then they literally bummed at my house for like... 2 hrs. in fact, i think Phil even took a nap, while jeremy played with isabel's toys, and annie lounged around on my stairs. house calls are fun, even if it's just bumming around.... sorta reminded me of how summer felt like....gosh i miss that feeling. (which.. im sure u know what that feels like ^_*)

ooo a lil tidbit, did you know Veggie Tales might get folded? What a total disappointment!!! it's one of the only watch-worthy cartoons out there these days. *pooh* apparently Big Idea production only sponsored them to make episodes, but then they decided to start making movies and that was somehow against their contract. so... Big Ideas sued whoever and now..... VeggieTales might get folded ......

this week is going by SO... slow... but i like it...

let the tears turn to rivers...and rivers to oceans......

maan... so many people have lost the joy of blogging. i for one, your devoted blog fan, am deeply and tragically saddened. however, i will applaud those who have continued on this tedious journey of blogging ^_^

recently i discovered that if u put the following types of apples: red, granny smith, gala, fuji, or yellow, apples in my mouth, i can distinguish between them. haha.. i guess my 7 years living in the apple state really payed off. =P

another discovery, i work well under pressure. so after i got home from school and eating pretzels, i was SO tired...which caused the next thing to happen, nap. after napping, i picked up my sis and met up my parents to eat pho. went grocery shopping with my dad, then came home and did hw. Although i had more hw than any other day of school this year, i finished quicker than usual. I guess i was working at maximum efficiency. I finally got to talk to my dad about stuff that went on at camp. After i jabbered on for quite a while, he said, "maan... ophelia, you are so blessed." i thought to myself... YEA.. i AM so blessed. thinking back on summer..... all that chill time, Atlanta, washington, camp, and other stuff. WOW... i stand amazed.....

you ever get that feeling where.. u can help but smile? Kinda like.. nothing really had to happen, and nothing really did happen, but then you're just like.. ubber content... or ubber happy...and then...u smile or.. feel fuzzy inside...and you just dont know why? it's almost like that feeling you get when you hear ur favorite song on the radio in the car.....or like.. when u get to eat something really new, strange, and tasty..... or when u drink water after you run 3 miles.... or when you go to sleep after an extremely long day knowing that all your hw is done.

and now i will go study chem..... so i can get that content feeling when i sleep knowing all my hw is done ^_*

and yet i wonder......

i've come to the conclusion that most asian moms are very similar. They all posses a very critical characteristic. This characteristic would be that the general majority of asian mothers are painfully blunt. And one reason why im thankful for my mom is cuz she's asian. Having an asian mother has taught me one thing, it's quite difficult for me to be offended by their painfully blunt remarks. Actually now whenever i hear some of that stuff from asian moms it's sorta funny. It's funny cuz they notice things that other ppl generally wudnt notice. heheh... yea ... just my random thought of the moment.

oh.. more randomness but... have u ever gone back and read your old blogs? like say the very first entries you wrote when you became a devoted blogger? now that i think about it....i've been blogging for a REALLY long time..... and it seems like, my attitude about a lot of things have changed. I seemed almost half dorky back a year or two ago. =P But yea.... just reading some of the things that were written in the past, makes me wonder what was i thinking?

I think this goes for the rest of the senior class as well, i dont really feel like a senior right now. Even the word still seems a bit foreign, mabbe it's cuz i dont feel like living in reality right now, and being a senior is very real. I guess besides actually going to school the only somewhat senior-ish thing i've dont is think about friendships. I've realized how blessed i am with all the friendships i've kept over the years. Although i've spent so much of my life moving around, it may seem like i havent been able to keep many of the friends i've made over the years. In fact that's far from the truth. Friends that i met mabbe 13 years ago, I've still kept in touch with today. We might not be as close as we use to be (for some we're even closer now =), and we might live in different parts of the nation, but we're still definitely actively involved in each others lives. It's awesome to see how they've grown and changed. Besides having a God centered friendship, another key is aggressively pursuing the friendship. Both parties have to be truely interested in continuing to cultivate the friendship that's been formed. I was just hanging out in my room the other day and i saw all the snail mail i'd received through out the years. Snail mail is so awesome. And then the other day, a long lost friend of mine decided to return my emails. It was so exciting and i was extremely overjoyed that she'd written me. "Friends are friends forever if the Lord's the Lord of them and a friend will not say never cuz the welcome will not end." Not only are true friendships God centered, but true friends stick around.

Jesus, Lover of My Soul Shelley Nirider

It's all about You, Jesus
And all this is for You
For your glory and Your fame
It's not about me
As if You should do things my way
You alone are God and I surrender
To Your ways

Jesus, lover of my soul
All consuming fire is in Your gaze
Jesus, I want You to know
I will follow You all of my days

For no one else in history is like You
And history itself belongs to You
Alpha and Omega, You have loved me
And i will spend eternity with You.

as we go on... we remember....

so my first saturday as a senior. why is it going by so quickly? I managed to clean my room, check some stuff online that i needed to, and started on some calc. while doing my calc hw, i realized how much i miss ms. stephenson. for one thing, i gotta give it straight, ms. beck is not the greatest teacher in the world..perhaps on the opposing side of the spectrum. for one thing, she forgot how to use her TI89 in class on friday. Then she decides to give us hw, altho none of us remember how to do transformations (thus we are in the calc ab class ^_*) so now, you wonder why i miss ms. stephenson, i guess it's more of a "i appreciate" ms. stephenson. In order to do my calc hw, i had to bring out my pre cal notes from last year to help me. Lo and behold, they were a GREAT help. It pays to be the typa person that keeps everything. so now i wonder, maybe i shudda taken bc. heh...naw.

so after 7 months of a messed up cell phone, my dad finally decides that it's time to get a new cell. it came in yesterday AND it's so kewl! i played with it all morning, figuring out all the nifty functions. i even attempted to compose my own ring tone... i got it to play as best i cud (still sounds sorta funny) =P

After post camp, ive finally decided how important it is for me to enjoy my senior year. im not excatly sure why i decided that...i guess u cud call it a "devine revelation". It's funny actually cuz as i cleaned my room today, i came across my yearbook and read stuff that ppl wrote me. about 95% of the '03 seniors wrote "enjoy senior year, make it count." it's quite bizzare thinking that this is it..... final year of high school suffering. =P For one thing i'm both curious and excited to see the wonders God has in store. And i'm also ready to go extreme with my commitments. so now i must go.... commitment 1: ban procrastination. oiy.. gonna needa pray a lot for strength in that area. ciao~

All my life......

post camp rally was great, but ultimately God is awesome. God definitely made himself present through worship, testimonies, and sharing. Just when i thought camp was super awesome... God comes in with a BANG yet again. He never ceases to amaze me with his awesomeness. With the hands lifted high and the voices raised, the Holy Spirit was so evidently moving through the congregation. The definition of worship that i really appreciate is the one i taught the vbs kids: showing God how much you love him. Worship is not to us... it's all for His glory. *sigh* tonight God really just left me smiling like a maniac, sighing like never before, and speechless, yet so much to say at the same time. God has so generous revealed himself to me in the recent weeks, but He is so faithful, and we can be sure that this is only the beginning, God has so much more to show us, so much more to teach us. All we have to do is ask and seek. God is awesome.

*and i will love you all my life
you are the reason
the one that i live for*

Every new beginning has a name........

c/o '04 woot! I began this day all for the glory of God. after an entire summer, it was quite difficult to wake up at 6:45 due to lack of practice. Although, advisory was insanely long, my entire schedule is messed up, got all the teachers i didnt want, have C lunch, and discover that i have a locker partner and there really isnt a use for my locker cuz it's in the middle of nowhere and i have to find myself a backpack now, it was definitely a hectic, good, and challenging day. I can see that God is already challenging me. Everytime something went wrong with my day, i had to remind myself, "God has a reason for everything," and "face every challenge as an opportunity to draw near to God."

I've had to make some tough decisions with my schedule today. Instead of the 6 classes that i requested, i only got 5 classes and ended up with 2 off campuses instead. While that is a good thing, i cant help but feel uneasy about it. But after some deep contemplation and prayer i realized God messed up my schedule for a reason. After changing my schedule several times this summer, i guess mabbe this is the schedule i'm meant to stick with. Basically there are no other classes i can take 1st or 7th period in place of either of my off campuses in order for me to take 6 classes (with the exception of decathalon... but geeze.. decathalon!??!). but in no way do i feel like i'm slacking off. for starters, my schedule is probably the most challenging schedule i've ever had in my entire high school career. there are so many legitimate reasons just to keep my schedule but at the same time i want to change it. I guess i'll keep praying. as the acronym P.U.S.H states: Pray Until Something Happens. something is going to happen......

on a lighter note, my sister looked quite chic for her first day of school. I didnt know they made low riders for 7 yr old girls. But nonetheless...she looked cute today. She wore her hair in pig tails, a white collar shirt, and low rider dark blue jeans with white sneakers. heck...she even matched =P totally inheriting the wong family women fashion sense ^_*

and thanx to annie, mok, xiao, simon, peter for showing up at school today. definitely made having C lunch much more enjoyable..if not super enjoyable =D.. gosh.... i havent eaten a fruit roll up in so long......almost forgotten how much i like those things ^_^

man 30 min of aim time sure is difficult, please leave kind tag messages so im not completely deprived...haha
better day tomorrow.

FLy LittLe zEsTY: so
FLy LittLe zEsTY: when are we going to get that book
OpHeEeNieEe: *shrug
FLy LittLe zEsTY: the book of life
FLy LittLe zEsTY: the answers to everything
OpHeEeNieEe: Bible?
OpHeEeNieEe: u have one ;-)
FLy LittLe zEsTY: yeah that one
FLy LittLe zEsTY: haha
FLy LittLe zEsTY: i knew that..

you may be there, but your heart isnt......

i realize that going back to school is my next step of faith. so much has happened in the past few days that i just cant ignore. God has blessed me so richly and i'm ready, ready for something new. It's bizzare thinking that tomorrow i'm going to be a senior. Tomorrow i'm going back to school to finish off that final year. Tomorrow i'll be living the future i've dreaded and looked foward to the entire summer. I'm ready, ready for something real, and something new. Tomorrow is it. gosh....if there was one moment i wish time would stand still.... that would be right now.

i had the most amazing experience tonight. I got the chance to chillax with my fellow sunday school gals before the school year started. we shared some great lasagna, french bread, coke, and ice cream. Then we watched Bringing down the house (good, but rather had many...inappropriate jokes) and What a girl wants (definitely up there in my "best chic flick of all time" category.) What was amazing was what happened as i drove home. As i drove down Elkins i looked up at the moon, and it just totally took my attention away from the road. It was an amazing sight. Then when i got to the Commonwealth/Elkins intersection, i decided to take the long way home instead, so i could listen to this one song i liked on the radio. As i drove past Fort Settlement, i saw two deer cross the street side by side. Then i saw their sillouettes run around the lake. It was so beautiful. And all this happened under the moon. There was this totally awesome peaceful sensation that came with that whole experience. At that moment, i'd never felt so at peace of the fact that the year is coming and in a few weeks everything is going to be so different, but that's ok because i dunno what the future holds, but i know who holds the future.

Blessed be Your name........

Something i want to experience everyday is the feeling that you just cant shut up about God. One of the most encouraging things for me is to read peoples' blogs or talk to people and see how they use God in every sentence. I love hearing about how God's power has impacted each one of our lives so differently yet in the same way. I love knowing that it's not over, and every day is a new opportunity to live for God, share about his awesomeness, and experience his power in action. Ultimately, i love knowing about God's love.

One desire i've had for as long as i've been a Christian is to truely know what it means that God loves me. And until two days ago, i knew that God loves me in my mind, but i was finally able to grasp that God loves me, in my heart. Going to camp, i knew that God would do amazing things, because he's faithful like that and if you ask for him to reveal himself to you, he will. But one problem i had was holding on to my burdens and not truely letting go and letting God handle the situation. I realized that often times, when you let yourself think for yourself, it's all out of emotion and how you feel. But if you let God think for you, you're letting God control your thoughts and actions. In a nutshell, you're allowing everything to be God centered. God centered thoughts, God centered actions. Someone very dear to my heart told me that we have to train ourself to separate our thoughts and emotions. Emotions will blind us of what we know in our thinking to be true, right, and God centered. The moment i let go of my burdens and let God handle them was the moment he showed his love to me. The very things that were weighing me down, God easily lifted because i asked, and he loved me enough to take my cares from me. And maybe you dont know what it means in your heart that God loves you, but i urge you to persistantly pray that God will reveal to you the amazing love he's given. Knowing in your mind is not enough. Knowing in your heart and soul is how we can live an extreme life for God everyday.

I wont ever be able to show my gratitude to God for the people he's blessed me with in my life. I thank God so much for the counselors at camp, i thank Him for the wisdom, patience, and love they show each and every one of us. I thank God for my friends, for their open hearts and open ears. I thank God for my parents. The very people God placed on this earth to express to me in a tangible way the qualities that he is. I thank God for my parents that they've had the patience to deal with all the dishonoring things i've done. I thank God for my parents because they love me the way God loves me.

One Thing
Charlie Hall

Dear Heavenly Father, may I be:

Single minded, whole hearted, one thing I ask

That i may gaze upon Your beauty, Oh Lord
That I may seek Your Holy Face
That I many know You in an intimate way
And follow after You all of my days
And follow after You all of my days

All of life comes down to just one thing
And that's to know You, Oh Jesus,
And make You known

In Jesus' name i pray
Amen

LIVE out LOUD

God's awesome. i've been extremely busy these past few days....and i'm still alive. Im thankful and happy for that. As much as i like being busy, i'd like to be finished reading my summer reading books.....the one year i actually have to read them is the year i've failed to be done during the summer. Time to hone up the nerdification skills before the skool year starts. gosh.. i feel chumpy already.

maaan.. i forget wut i was gonna say. i think i mite be tired. arite camp tomorrow.... the agenda is packing *sigh..... YEA! BEA IS COMING BACK!



OpHeEeNieEe: yo woman.. will i be seeing u at camp tomorrow?
froggerinthesky: yes maam :-)
froggerinthesky: ehhe i'm excited!
OpHeEeNieEe: PRAISE THE LORD!!!! our prayers have been answered
froggerinthesky: hahehehe :-) you guys are too sweet
OpHeEeNieEe: see.. told ya u were coming back ;-)

You bring out the best in me........

maan... this summer's been awesome. and when i say awesome, i mean God is SO awesome. I've been able to spend a good amount of time with my friends and a good amount of time with my family, although i wish there was more time in a day. I guess this past weekend, i've spent a lot of time with my family and i really appreciate the time we do have together. For the most part, I'll always have my family, but i wont always have this time, right now. And i know that i miss out on stuff when i spend time with my family, but it's totally worth it. When i spend time with them, i feel like I'm at the right place at just the right time. If I were to live again and I got to chose my family, I'd keep the one i have in this life.

so last nite, my sister had her second bday party, joint with Sumi. had some good viet food. i gotta played with this crazy kid named Justin. He stuck this chinese yo yo in my hair and then..he kept making my hair static, but he was cute....funny kid. then today after i got home from supply shopping and impulsive shopping, i went swimming for my second time at the avalon pool. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay this time, although i was attacked quite viciously by some 7 and 8 year olds *cough* elyse, eucharist, chelsea, and isabel *cough*, and managed to conjure up a few blisters on my big toes, but i had a great time roasting and getting somewhat tanned in the summer sun while being attacked.

every blessing You pour out i'll...turn a back to praise....

as i wait... You make me strong...You come.... and fill this place

today was a good day. Somehow it felt sort of like "in the movies". very typical summerish, simple, and just plain good. woke up to the sound of the phone and the shake of my sisters hand. apparently my parents forgot that i dont have a car currently and cudnt take my sister to her last day of school late. So Mok was so kind as to take her, big thanx goes out to him. Then i sorta bummed around for a while, doing some much needed stuff.
Then during the afternoon a few of us went boating around my neighborhood. It was raining but the rain helped keep cool and stuff, very nice heat stroke preventage. altho we were all pretty wet, the boat was well manuvered and floating on the lake was a blast. Definitely a shud-do summer thing. After that, to top off the summer fun, went to my garage to eat some popsicles that had some... not-Juice-comparable jokes....on them.. but tasty nonetheless.

When nightfall came, i went out to Fungs Kitchen with the family unit. We had some quality family chillage. and also ran into Zaneta's family. I knew that my parents played tennis with an uncle Leonard, but i didnt kno it was uncle Leonard Zaneta's dad.... so yea... the dude that has awesome tennis skills that my parents talk abt playing tennis with is Zaneta's dad. ^_^ After finishing dinner, we took a walk around that mall area. We also got a chance to sit down and catch some Beignets. Those topped off our meal nicely, so we decided to take a walk at barnes and noble where we i followed my sister around for a few hrs trying to pick out a book. But that's ok cuz she found a book, and i got to buy a postcard (sean connery!!!! ^_^)

so yea... i'm pretty content with my summer. God's blessed me richly this year.....awesomeness. and to think...camp next week. One busy but eventful and wonderful summer. ptl