I WISH...

It was May 2008. I haven't gone through a day without thinking about my "sabbatical." I still laugh at some of the things that happened during the trip. I recall the people I've met. I crave all the good food I ate...especially the chocolates and crepes! I long for the freedom to do whatever I wanted. I loved the fact that I was by myself for half of it and with a group of strangers from all over the world for the second half. I cherish everything God taught me; it still plays out to this very day. I especially miss this place...

Annecy, France

and I REALLY miss this place....

L'Abri in Switzerland

Life truly was perfect that month.

GREAT QUOTE!

"God doesn't call you to hope in a person. He calls you to wait on Him." -J.D'Arc

WOW.

I have a blog?????????????????????????????????????????? :)

GOD, YOU'RE UP TO SOMETHING...

Recently, I've found a new appreciation for being born in Taiwan. That new appreciation is my Taiwan passport. As many of you know, I was never fond of my heritage/culture just because of the way I grew up. God has been dealing with me on that in the last couple of years and just within the recent months, I've discovered how lucky I am to have dual citizenship.

I'm in the process of getting my Taiwan passport renewed. It will allow me into countries where having an American passport is looked down upon, harder to get in and costing a whole lot more due to visas. I love this country for all the freedom that we have and compared to a lot of the other places, we have a pretty good government...only when it's compared to other countries. :) But even with all that, traveling abroad with an American passport is actually not as safe as you think.

I've gotten a lot of comments lately from work how lucky I am that I have a Taiwan passport and that I need to take advantage of it. So, I am. God is definitely up to something...I know it. I can't share all the details yet, but little by little I am appreciating the power of being born in Taiwan. THANK YOU GOD!

So, if you can just pray for this process to go smoothly and for God to keep revealing His plans to me, I would greatly appreciate it!!!! Love you all!

HOMEWARD BOUND

"I will run, I will run this race.

And I will do it all for love.

Your love compels me,

for your love controls my heart

and I just can't,

I can't not get away.

So I will fight,

this good fight of faith.

And I will do it all for love.

You are my great reward

you're so worth fighting for

and I can't wait to see your face.

Hallelujah."

-Kristene Mueller

A FEW THINGS ON MY MIND. :)

1. How does someone hit a parked car? Did they notice that it wasn't moving at all and just sitting there? And why after hitting it not own up to their mistake by leaving a note and information?

2. How is it that my insurance "might" go up just because someone else hits my car while it was parked during the night?

3. Three earthquakes in 3 days. Pretty scary. Gotta replenish my earthquake supplies.

4. I've come to realize that I'm not a person that can just sit around and be ok with the mediocre of life. I have to constantly be on the move. I actually become more stressed out and depressed when I'm bored with life.

5. I MUST travel...somewhere...very, very very soon.

6. Why am I still in California? I've been pondering a lot on this lately.

7. I CANNOT believe that May is almost over. I haven't accomplished much this year and it's almost halfway over!

8. I still have one last Christmas present to send out. It's been sitting in a box...on my floor since December.

9. I want to be a skilled ninja so that I can fight crimes at night. (Chad...this is for you!)

10. Wondering why my Wii is sitting in a box and why there are still boxes from my move that hasn't been unpacked. Do I not need what's inside of it? What is inside of them?????

GOD USES EVERYONE.

Moses stuttered. David's armor didn't fit. John Mark was rejected by Paul. Hosea's wife was a prostitute -- what must his friends have thought? Amos's only training was in the school of fig tree pruning. Solomon was too rich. Abraham was too old. David was too young. Timothy had ulcers. Peter was afraid of death. And Lazarus was dead.

John was self-righteous. Naomi was a widow. Paul was a murderer -- and so was Moses (two people who transformed the world, yet could have been on death row). Jonah ran from God. Miriam was a gossip. Gideon and Thomas both were doubters. Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal. Elijah was burned out. John the Baptist was a loudmouth. Martha was a worrywart. Mary was lazy. And Samson had long hair.

(Yes, God can use people with long hair!)

But here's the thing. God doesn't look at our financial gain or loss. That's not what it's about with Him. He's not prejudiced or partial. He's not judging or begrudging or sassy or brassy. He's not deaf to our cry or blind to our need. As much as we try to work for them.

God's gifts are free.

-Author unknown

AMBITION.

I'm taking a 6 weeks course at Biola. It's been quite interesting. So far I've learned about the balance of work and life and yesterday we tackle the topic of ambition. So, I wanted to raise the question to you:

Is ambition sinful? Discuss. :)

DECISIONS=STRESS

Which one should I pick???????????

I really want a new computer. If I go that route, do I get a PC or invest in a Mac? But then do I really need a new computer? I also want to go back to school for another Masters. Do I save my money for that? But won't I need a reliable computer for school? And then, I really want to take a vacation because thinking about these decisions: computer or no computer, school or no school, school and computer is stressing me out!

Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LEMON-CREAM CHEESE CUPCAKES

DELCIOUS! Well, that's what I hear. I haven't tasted them due to some restrictions this week. I needed to bake something for the office, but didn't want to bake the "usuals." So, I went to Kraftfoods.com and found this incredible recipe!!!!! The best part of it...It's super cheap and you get to frost the cupcakes! I love frosting cupcakes! Enjoy! :)

Prep Time: 10 min
Total Time: 1 hr 34 min
Makes: 24 servings, 1 cupcake each

What You Need:
1 pkg. (2-layer size) white cake mix
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Lemon Flavor Instant Pudding
1 cup water
4 egg whites
2 Tbsp. oil
1 pkg. (16 oz.) powdered sugar
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Make It:
HEAT oven to 350ºF. Beat cake mix, pudding mix, water, egg whites and oil in large bowl with mixer on low speed until moistened. (Batter will be thick.) Beat on medium speed 2 min. Spoon batter evenly into 24 paper-lined 2-1/2-inch muffin cups.

BAKE 21 to 24 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 min.; remove to wire racks. Cool completely.

MEANWHILE, beat sugar, cream cheese, butter and juice with mixer on low speed until well blended. Frost cupcakes.

Kraft Kitchens Tips:
Substitute: Prepare as directed, using PHILADELPHIA 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese.
Special Extra: Stir 1 tsp. lemon zest into frosting mixture.

PURE GENIUS.

I've been looking at different things on YouTube for work regarding North Korea and I found the clip below by Hanvoice. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Whoever came up with it is a PURE GENIUS!!!! I still get goosebumps everytime I watch this. So amazing!!!!!!

Plus, this is why I am doing what I can and able to do to raise awareness about the situation in North Korea. For more information about North Korea and how you can help/do, please visit:

Open Doors USA's website::www.opendoorsusa.org and

Open Doors Blog:: www.spiritualcourage.wordpress.com.

I'M THINKING ABOUT...

Getting BLUE contacts. Yes or no?

A QUOTE.

"The real measure of our lives will not be all the things we obtain or all the goals we achieve or all the successes we acquire. Real success will be the relationships we have built the lives we have touched the people we have loved and who have loved us and invested in us."

Wide Awake, pg. 230

PUBLISHED. CHECK.

So...I wrote a book review for Open Doors USA's blog. It's about North Korea. Of course, my friend Ange had to edit it for me so that I actually sound good. :) You should read it and then order the book HERE or Amazon.com. After you read it, you should really recommend it to someone. :)

Anyway, I've never had anything published. Although one of my grad professor did tell me that my paper on the Dutch family structure for my anthropolgy class should be published in an Anthropology magazine. (Because so many people read that!) Of course, she said it again when I used the same paper for her other Anthropology class. (Don't worry, she gave me permission to use it and I had to add more to it.)

Enjoy!!!!!

:(

I'm not a HUGE baseball fan, but I like going to games though. Anyway...this is a very sad day for Angels fans. :( Read it HERE to find out why. He was only 22 years old.

And this ARTICLE makes me sad, angry and sick to my stomach all at the same time. The part that gets me is:

"Witnesses told police that the victim was fighting with a man when another man came from behind and punched his head, causing him to fall and hit his head on the concrete step. The two assailants ran away before security and police arrived, Martinez said."

I don't care who started the fight and who was in the wrong, but I hope that the cops catches the two *boys (I wanted to use another term, but thought that I should stay PG on my blog. :)) and punish them to no end. I would've have more grace if they actually fessed up, but since they didn't and chose to run away instead, I really don't care what happens to them when they are captured. They just better not plead NOT guilty and walk away with a ton of money due to emotional damages or something. Just like those who pleads NOT guilty in rape cases or murderers who does it as well. Yeah...I'm sorry...they knew exactly what they were doing. If you can't tell already...INJUSTICES gets to me EVERY SINGLE TIME! :)

Hmmmmmm...I am summoned for Jury Duty in May....maybe it'll be their case. Watch out boys. I'm not even going to hear or pay attention to your plea. If I'm picked to be on your case, you are automatically guilty. Enjoy! :)

CAFFEINE + CHURCH

Caffeine: Today I had a lot of caffeine. A LOT. I had a cup of Starbuck's coffee because I was desperate and it's the only thing we have at the office. So, I made a cup, added some water and sugar and downed it. Then, I decided to go to Peet's and get a soy latte. I ordered a small cup and it had 2 shots of espresso. Then, I had a virgin Margarita that contains a bunch of sugar, ate candies and cookies and now I'm very jittering. I feel like my heard is beating fast and it's about to pop out. I've never had this much sugar in my life in ONE setting!

Church: A few days ago I posted a blog about church. I just want to clarify one thing...I'm not quitting church or God. I'm just simply questioning it to kind of help me make sure that my motives are right. I also posted the status on my Facebook and Twitter account. To my surprise, I had people texting, emailing, CALLING me to check if I was ok. I just want to say that I AM OK. :) Really. I'm not trying to cover it up or anything. I simply wanted to hear what others had to say. So, once again... I AM OK. I am not drifting away from God or my beliefs. I'm just taking a little break from my "usual routine" to experience other way of "church."

THIS IS WHY I DROPPED OUT...

I read an article this morning about becoming a billionaire. I knew I was doing the right thing when I dropped out of school last month! So, now I'm just waiting for the money to start rolling in!!!! Click HERE to read the article. Enjoy!!!!!

WHAT IS CHURCH?

I've been battling with the definition/meaning of church recently. It has been a mind battle for me. I feel guilty when I don't go to "church" on Sunday mornings and when I do go to "church" I feel like it's more out of force and make sure that I make it so that people can see that I was there. Going to "church" has been feeling more and more like a roll call in class for me. If people see me there, I wouldn't get questioned. If they don't see me there, I can expect a few texts in the days following asking where I was. Granted, they care about me, but at the same time I hate the feeling that I have to go to "church" just so that I won't get questioned. And when my answer is simply "I didn't feel like going" and/or "I wanted to spend time with God...alone," I get this appalled look as if I just committed a crime or something.

I don't believe that "church" is about Sunday mornings. I don't believe that "church" is a building. I don't believe that guilt should be associated with "church." I don't believe that I need to give an excuse to why I'm not at "church." I don't believe that I need to attend "church" in order to earn brownie points with God.

I do believe that CHURCH happens every day and in every and any settings. I'm still learning...

What are your thoughts????

MY FUN FUND!

If you would like to contribute to my fun fund, please feel free to do so! :) Thanks so much friends!!!!!!

MY INBOX.

Look what came through to my inbox today. MEET ATTRACITVE ASIAN SINGLES NEAR ME!!!!! Ummmmmmmm.....Ok. Hmmmmmmmm......how did they fine me??????????????????