Picture of the Week Vol.2

In this picture are:

a) My favorite roller coaster ever! (California Screamin')

b) One of my favorite people in the world. (Evelyn)
This is why, this wins my favorite picture of the week award.

I wanted to retreat from the retreat...

Okay...so last weekend our entire church leadership (adults, students, pretty much anyone who does anything in the church) went out to Hemet for a one day retreat. And to be quite honest I would have much rathered stayed home with my family. But there are times when one must do what one must do...so to Hemet we went!
Everyone went in their own car and many people carpooled including me! In my car was Bibi, Howard, Evelyn, Janette and I.

The day began with me peeling myself out of my bed and showering reluctantly while Janette and Bibi got to my house. The three of us headed out to pick up Evelyn and then on to the 60 to pick up Howard. We call Howard to find out how exactly to get to his house (since he hasn't had us over since he moved there)...he didn't pick up...33 un-answered phone calls later...we gave up on the fact he would be awake (please refer to LATE-ly post for details on Howard's timeliness). So we decide to wake Aaron Li up and ask him for directions to Howard's. Strangely enough Li is as gracious as he's ever been and helps us out.

We miraculously find his house and knock on the door to find out that Howard's mom just woke him up 5 minutes before we got there. So we proceed to see Grace's (Howard's mom) art, read her testimony and even see a picture of Howard as a little boy. Howard comes down, checks my car, and we are off.

We stop by McDonald's for breakfast because we knew we were going to be late for breakfast at the retreat. We get lost for a while and then finally we arrive to the retreat at the end of the worship...but right before the opening message.

As we walk in...an overwhelming scent of armpit and moisture fills our nostrils...so much that some gagging occurs. We come to find out, that out of respect for the location owners, we have to take our shoes off before entering the sanctuary. This news explains the smells.

We proceed to be bored and distracted during the message. This boredom pushes Evelyn, Howard and Bibi to construct this abstract collage on the backside of the pew that is in front of them.
Evelyn is so excited about her creation!
During our afternoon break (3 hours long) we found nothing better to do but play Taboo in the nursery.

Of course Janette, Cookie and I won :)

While we were playing Howard and some of the students climbed rocks.

We ended up leaving early and went to Chipotle for dinner. Here are Janette's and my half burritos making one whole friendship.

After Chipotle we got free frozen yogurt at the new Golden Spoon that was opening up next door.

The best part of the whole day was driving back with my best friends...it was amazing...THEY are amazing.

Weekly Prayer #11

Here are some spiritual goals I am setting for myself:

1) To put God's Word into practice.
"In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2:17

2) To fall more in love with God and His Word.
"Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'"Matthew 22:37

3) To grow in my H.A.B.I.T.S. (Hang time with God, Accountability, Bible Memorization, Involvement in the Church Body, Tithes and Offering, Studying Scripture)

I want to grow in these things; if you happen to read this I would appreciate your prayers.

What are some goals you might need prayer in?

Two of my Favorite People in the World

Chris and Tina Reed

I met Chris and Tina about a year and a half ago. And ever since we started a friendship/mentorship, my life hasn't been the same.

Some thoughts on Chris:
* He is so wise.
* He is such an encourager.
* He loves God so much.
* He makes you feel like a million bucks.
* He cares about people.
* He is so giving.
* He makes me laugh.
* He serves God with all of his heart.

Some thoughts on Tina:
* She is like a breath of fresh air.
* She is a woman of prayer.
* She always has so much wisdom to share.
* She is so loving.
* She is generous.
* She is a great friend.
* She loves/knows God's Word.
* She constantly wants the best for me and everyone else around her.

(note: these are just some thoughts...I could literally be here all day talking about these two amazing people)

I love them so much.
Not only because they constantly give me their love and encouragement, but because God has used them in a tremendous way in my life. Every time I leave their presence I feel God all over the place...I feel a sense of love, care and encouragement from them as well as my heavenly Father.

Chris and Tina have done something in my life that I have never experienced before. When I see their lives, family, ministry, etc...I see so much of their surrender to God, dependence upon Him that it makes me want to know and love God more too.
Not only is their encouragement a benefit to my ministry but it's an inspiration to my life as God's child. And the thought that God has brought them into my life is one that brings me to tears. God is so good.

I am so blessed to have people like this in my life, examples of what God wants us to strive to become.

This is why Chris and Tina are two of my favorite people in the whole world.

P.S. If you ever find a "Chris and Tina" of your own hold on to them and never let them go!
P.P.S. I hope that one day I can be a "Chris" or "Tina" to someone.

Check's in the mail, at my door, in my hand, cashed

I finally got my federal and state tax return checks this week.

And yes...I actually get to use them on stuff I need/want this year.

Here's the plan:

1) Pay tithes and offering.

2) Buy and install new tires for my truck.

3) Finally get a digital camera!!!!!

This makes me so excited......

If I have extra money I'd also like to go to the Melting Pot with Bibi. My treat!

Oh, She Brought It!

Lillian was amazing this Sunday at her first cheer competition!

We (my mom and I, Dad was working) headed for the LBC-Long Beach City College Gymnasium to be exact-and found out that cheer leading is some serious business! The line to get in was wrapped around the block! There had to be at least 200-300 people there! Luckily we cut in where my sister was; all the way in the front.

There was so much excitement and all the veteran cheerleaders kept yelling out chants and doing flips...it was cute. Lillian is in a small newbie squad so this was their first time performing in front of such a large crowd...actually it was their first time performing. They have a great coach who apparently has MANY titles under her belt so she pumped them up.

We kept waving at her from the bleachers but she couldn't see us...I felt like if she didn't see us it would make her more nervous like we weren't there for her. After many groups doing their cheers/dances, her squad ("The Queens of La Mirada") went up. They were awesome and Lillian definitely shook her groove thang. I have never seen her do anything like that before. We were all so proud of her; especially because she's so shy.

Afterward we went to lunch at El Torito. Here are some pictures:

She got tons of love...

From Mom

From Baby Don

From Grandma

From Jeremy

They won third place in their division and Lillian said next time she wants to get first. It was great...I am SO proud of her for what she accomplished. She did something I could have never done at the age of nine.

Go Lillian! You are the Queen!

Can I Have a Side of Pitt with That?

Chris & Pitts.

Here's the historic BBQ restaurant located in Downey Ca.

Food is good, atmosphere is warm, service is charming, decent prices; I like it there.

There is only one thing that always gets to me whenever I go there or drive past the sign.

Why have the word "Pitts" in your restaurant name?

It isn't the most appetizing name, nor is it the most attractive. It actually makes me think that there might be some connection with underarms in their style of cooking.
Yesterday when we had lunch there I finally told Edgar, "Oh, I know why...it represents the fact that they BBQ in pitts, right?", his answer "Yeah, why not?".

Nothing will stop me from eating there...but still, why Pitts?

Oh, it's been broughten!

This Sunday is my niece Lillian's first cheer competition.

I can't wait...I will post an update and pictures next week!

So Natural-ized

Howard became a naturalized citizen today!!!!!

I took the morning off from work to go support him in his re-birth as an American.

It was very exciting! And I couldn't help but get a bit teary-eyed when I saw all those people attain something (that I am sure) they have waited so long for.

The fun part is, that they have the new citizens come out of the convention center in the most peculiar way. The officials set up two sets of yellow tape to "hold the crowds back" and everyone lines up on either side of the tape cheering and waving to the citizens as they walk out. It kind of reminded me of a marathon. Picture it, you're a brand new citizen and your prize is to walk out with a little plastic American flag in one hand, your naturalization certificate in the other while strangers either cheer for you or look before and after you as they seek out THEIR friend or relative. Yikes! Not something I would want to do. Especially because the "walk of fame" is at least 100 yards long.

We waited for so long to see Howard come out of the convention center but nothing. I tippy-toed to see over the crowds and try to spot him in the midst of the other 4, 800 people that were becoming citizens...nothing. Finally, after 1 hour of waiting, he came out...looking so proud, it was cute.

We took him to Chris n Pitts to have a real American lunch after becoming a real American citizen. He chose the steak and ribs, Edgar and I got baby back ribs with potatoes.

Today brought some things to mind:
*I am so thankful to have been born in the U.S.A.
*It's really exciting to go to an event like this!
*I feel really bad for not being able to make it to my mom's naturalization ceremony.
*Patriotism is a value rarely taught now a days-one that I greatly value (BTW).
*Wow, today was hot!
* I feel so privileged to be sharing this special day with Howard.

LATE-ly

I've noticed a recent trend in the people around me lately. Maybe it isn't lately, maybe it's been going on for a while but I never really payed too much attention.

People have the habit of being really late all the time.
I know that people are usually late, but lately I have noticed excessive tardiness.

Today at lunch Edgar, Howard and I discussed the fact that Howard has had a bad run for the last couple of weeks. He's late to almost everything. And I mean LATE. Like hours late. Then Edgar started naming all the people in our ministry who are late to meetings, lunches, gatherings, etc. After going through the names we realized that at least 75% of the people in our ministry are late and only 25% are actually known for being punctual.

I thought...Why be late? What can you possibly be doing that keeps you from keeping your appointments, promises, schedule?

For all of you out there who have the habit of being late, I have some words for you:

We are all busy and have many things to do. You aren't the only one trying to do many things with your day. Have you ever thought that while you are late, the other person is just losing valuable time waiting for you? And the fact that they have to start their meeting/lunch/whatever with you late means that, they will probably be late to the next thing on their schedule. So you are making many people late with your tardiness. Please be considerate of others. Because when you are late what you are saying with your tardiness is: "I am more important than everyone else...deal with it."

Thank you. Now, I can go on with my life.

Picture of the Week Vol.1

A new segment for my blog.
Today I initiate a new segment titled "Picture of the Week".
It will be my favorite picture taken for that week.

Here's this week's picture. Taken at Mulligan's this Sunday.
It's so adorable. Angie was so excited when she saw this loop. And her golf ball was the only one that made it all the way around!
Go Angie!!!!

P.S. My ball made it half way and then pathetically fell to the AstroTurf :(

Weekly Prayer #10

God,

Can I have some SLEEP please?

Thank you!

Ode to Mulligan

Before I tell you about what happened at Mulligan's I feel compelled to give you a bit of my small group history. Our "small group" has 20 members, which is why we haven't been able to go on a successful outing, which is why I needed major car help to get to our final destination, which makes this outing (that was out in Torrance) a miracle.
Okay, now for my Ode to Mulligan:

Last Sunday, all 22 of us headed out of the church parking lot at about 1:45pm (almost 20 minutes late) and got to Mulligan's at about 2:20pm. When we got there (this-our safe arrival-, was as exciting as the actual time at Mulligan's) I found out that the package that was sold to us was meant for children (8-9 year old's) which limited the number of attractions our students could enjoy. Of course many were disappointed, but thankfully we pulled through and just decided to make the best out of it.
Here are a couple of pictures to highlight the most exciting parts of the day.

Because Howard always wants to be ready he took a look at the map of the grounds.
I'm almost positive that the entire location was probably as big as 2 of our church parking lots :)
First we headed for the batting cages. Gus and I decided to pose for a baseball card-esque picture...just in case we ever had an opportunity to go into the major leagues. BTW, On Monday morning I woke up with the sorest arms ever. There were parts of my arms that hurt that I never even knew existed!

After that we did a little laser tag which didn't end well for my team. I did have two little boys on my team (whom I had never met before) that proceeded to give us the game plan saying that Elizabeth and I would be defense and the rest of the boys would be shooters. Needless to say, we aborted the game plan soon after the game began. Which is probably why we lost. Sorry, no pics of laser tag.

But the following pictures should make up for the lack of the laser tag pics.

We needed to relax after laser tag so we went to the miniature golf course and engaged in a lean battle for the mini golf "invisible" trophy. Angie and I (team Italia-because of my sweatshirt)went up against German and Janette (team German E.-because of German's name). They were fierce competition but still not strong enough to take us on!

Our victory was exciting but one scary moment during our mini golf adventure was facing a very realistic haunted house. Pictured below.Not only did it look scary, but scary noises came from the interior of the house, too. Like creaking, cats meowing, people screaming, children crying, etc. Here's the best part, a bit after we completed the first part of the haunted house hole I saw 4 year old kids running up to the house, knocking on the door, not scared at all. Needless to say, I was still scared every time I heard a noise come from the direction of the house. There was even a graveyard next to the house which made Angie and I uneasy. Who has a graveyard as part of a mini golf course? Apparently Mulligan's does.

Of course not everyone took mini golfing as seriously as us. Here are Caro and Alex in what appears to be a wannabe sword fight.

Here we are, after completing the course. Our competitive spirit was hard to drop.

He had our traditional road trip In-N-Out lunch (I had a #2 and extra order of fries with a Dr. Pepper...I know...Dr. Pepper? Where's the Coke? you ask. I was feeling adventurous after my victory.

Here's everyone!

I had so much fun and I know that all the students had fun too.

Needless to say, it'll just be a while before my small group goes out again :)

If you are already asleep by now...please don't complain, this post was extra long because I haven't posted in 4 days.

Little League

The charming little man pictured below is my nephew Jeremy. Jeremy is 4 years old-about to turn 5 on May 4th-and he just started to play t-ball with a league in his city. These are pictures from his first game.

Here's Jeremy, ready for the big game!

Scoping out the field.

Whenever we ask him what position he plays he says, "cena feeud" AKA "center field".
He loves to play.

I learned that children's sports aren't too bad. They're actually kinda fun. I did observe some things while out on the field.

Things that 3-5 year old's like to do while playing t-ball:

#1 Pick their noses.

#2 Cry when they don't get things their way.

#3 Pick their murfs.

#4 Wave at their parents from the out field.

#5 Run after the ball (even if it isn't anywhere near them), then do a doggie pile on top of the ball until someone finally gets a hold of it and throws it to home plate.

It was fun, and I can't believe Jeremy is actually playing an organized sport! I am so proud of him! He is growing up so fast.

From 100 to 300

Last night Edgar and I went to watch the new epic movie 300.

It was the second time that Edgar got to chose the movie (I usually get to pick the movie when we go out to the theater). The first one he ever chose was Van Helsing like 300 hundred years ago. I think that movie went into VHS retirement even before DVDs became mainstream.

Anyway, we saw it and I'm going to attempt to do a review of it.
Pros
-Good story line (interesting and took new, different turns).
-Attractive, Spartan, bare chested warriors on the screen for 89% of the movie.
-A love story weaved in between the fighting.
-Cool slow motion moments.
-Had me on the edge of my seat...like I was really in the middle of the battle.
-Evoked emotion in me (tenderness, fear, anger, you get the idea).

Cons
-Had some racy "physical" scenes.
-Expressed every one of the deadly sins through the course of the movie.
-Had some "why don't we look away" moments.

For a manly movie...it was good, but I left thinking:
"Why are Spartans speaking English? And why are they speaking it with an English accent? And why is it that any time a movie that is situated in a foreign land the characters speak perfect English with an English accent? Shouldn't they speak in their native tongue? And if they can't because then we (the viewers) won't understand them, shouldn't they at least speak English with an accent from their native country?".

I give it a B-.