Sunday, December 21, 2008

X-Mass Approaches

Well, I tried to put pictures to this, but the computer is not cooperating with me.
Anyways, I can't believe Christmas is just days away! This year has gone by so fast--so much so that it doesn't seem like it is Christmas time. I am having a difficult time trying to get into the "mood". I usually love this time year--getting ready to entertain, buying/making gifts, decorating...but all I'm feeling is the stress and crankiness! I think it is because I haven't seen friends or family in a while. After all, what is all the hustle and bustle without loved ones? :) I am praying that I will be in the Christmas-cheer by Christmas.
I am looking forward to seeing everyone and having a wonderful time. It seems ages since we were all together last and though I love being all grown up (...hmm, are we ever all grown up??), I miss seeing family and friends everyday. Josh and I are counting down the days to have the Warren Brunch and exchanging gifts and just hanging out. Can't wait!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Marriage Retreat

Josh and I went to Faith's Marriage Retreat this past weekend. It was a great experience and a great time to just spend time together with each other and other couples.

At first, I was really uncertain about whether we should go...I felt like we would be the youngest couple there--and we were. We also were the only couple without kids. However, after the first few minutes, it was much more welcoming.

It's amazing how God's timing works. At the retreat, I thought how Josh and I had it "together" now, since we had to work through so many issues the past year. Well...guess what? The work's never over! I learned just how arrogant and prideful I was (lol) and that there is SO much MORE to work on. I didn't feel overwhelmed, but rather excited at the propsect! Wow! God does work miracles...haha!

I am so thankful we went and I feel like God has revealed so much to me over that weekend. I hope and pray that His Spirit continues to work in our lives and our marriage to glorify Himself further.

The biggest lesson I learned was no matter how righteous I feel in my anger toward Josh (when we have a fight), he and I are more alike in our most sinful moments than I would ever be righteous. Even if I am right, the suffering of Christ on the Cross is more important than my indignation of being wronged. Wow!

Monday, July 21, 2008

How long has it been?!

I can't believe how long it has been since I've updated my blog. Time passes by so quickly!

A lot has happened since May. Josh and I moved to our new place--thank you everyone who helped! It was a blessing to have such generous family and friends. Josh also bought me a blue baby grand piano so I can start teaching from home. I haven't started yet, but very hopeful that it will happen soon.

God has been working in great ways to bring Josh and me closer to Him and us to each other. It never ceases to amaze me God's provision for us in all we do. He has slowly been making us aware of our dependence on Him through our everyday-lives and it has been such joy to see it unfold. Josh and I are so thankful for Pastor Tim's wisdom, his understanding of God's Word and his gift of relaying that on Sunday mornings. Christ has been unveiling and making Himself known through Tim's teachings and I am humbled and grateful for that.

My downfall is (and always has been) trying to reach perfection. When I fail, it frustrates me and I get so angry and upset that I couldn't make it on my own. I think sometimes I fail on purpose to feel in control, to say that I did that on purpose in order to maintain some semblance of pride, arrogance...and control. For the longest time, though I thirsted for God, I wanted to maintain my grip on life--to do what I want and not let God reign supreme in me. However, I've come to realize that cannot happen--it is either God or me.

Sometimes the lessons we learn are so painful and this was one of those times. There have been so many situations in my life when I was powerless and because of those situations, I have been fearful of giving all of myself to God. But the joy that comes from the release of the burdens I carried is worth far more than any fear that I have had or will have. It hurt for awhile and I am sure I will fail many more times, but I can only be awed by God's grace and forgiveness for my shortcomings.

That was the highlight of my week. Josh and I are having Anna and Yo Jung over this weekend. We are excited for all the activities that are planned--hopefully we will have great weather for it.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

So it's down to crunch time for us...packing, moving, cleaning.
I am absolutely amazed as to how fast time flies when there
is so much to do! However, since many of my students have
dropped off for the summer, I am able to devote a little more
time to the packing. Thankfully, Josh has the week off before we move to help. So far, I've packed the living room and the front closet. Sometimes, I get so overwhelmed when I look around and see all the "stuff" we've collected the past two years.

On a more fun note, Josh and I got to spend all day Sunday with Mom and Dad. My hands got dirty playing in the dirt weeding and Josh spiffied-up the car. :) Over all, it was a nice, relaxing Sunday for us.

Even though there is so much to do, I am definitely looking forward to moving into the town home. I can't wait to put everything in its place and make it into a home for us. Yay for more space and storage!


Thursday, April 10, 2008

Life-change

It has been a very calm week for me, which is great! Not to say that I don't enjoy being busy, but it is nice just to take a deep breath before the craziness starts up again. I never realized how much I enjoy others taking spring break until I started teaching piano. :)

In the midst of this slow week, I decided that I wanted to make a few life changes. I had some rough ideas at the beginning of this year, but never wrote them down...so I decided to write some goals this week.

First is to be more positive. I feel like I'm an optimist, but I seem to get into a negative mind-set lately. It's so difficult at times to trust God when things seem uncertain--and as many of you know, there are a lot of unknowns in my life at this time.

Next, I don't know about everyone else, but I've come to realize how important it is to have a "healthy" lifestyle. And I don't mean the fad diets, eating oats and grass-type of thing, but truly changing our minds and our habits to be good to our bodies. It's so easy to get caught-up worrying about how I look, if I'm overweight--just what other people think. But, I've been reading Scripture and really praying about it, and I feel like God has really challeneged me to become a better steward of my body; not for vanity, but for the fact that it is a gift and we should treat it with respect. So yesterday as a start, I joined Lifetime and signed up for various classes like: kickboxing, yoga, pilates and a spinning class. Knowing myself, trying to get up to just "exercise" wasn't going to cut it, so by signing up for these free classes, I feel like I have the motivation to go. :) After this, I went online and found some great low-fat, low-calorie recipes that I'm going to start cooking. It would be awesome if we could all encourage each other to live healthier. I know that when I'm working out regularly, it helps me to have a more positive attitude and more energy.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Friends

Wow, this past weekend has been crazy for me! I started a second job involving social work and unfortunately, due to different circumstances, I couldn't get around to it til this past weekend. I had to visit 9 residents within a 2 day time and, I must say, it was very intense. In addition, some of my friends were getting together (people I haven't seen for awhile) so, of course I stayed up into the wee hours with them on Friday and Saturday. Let's just say I'm extremely sleep-deprived!

This posting is about my thoughts on friends. It has been so hard, getting older, to make new friends. I have 3 friends that are very close to me, but not more than that. So, when they are busy and I have some free time, its difficult to know what to do with some of this time--especially if Josh is busy as well. I have come to realize that I really need that "girl time" chatting and laughing--even if it's about nothing. Very late Friday night...around 2-3am at Perkins, my friends and I were hanging out, and I overheard a conversation of two girls in the next booth. It wasn't anything important...just two girls talking. Call it late-night craziness or a large dose of friendliness, I turned around and started talking with them. They were sisters, Lindsey and Abby. Lindsey was waiting for a phone call from a guy in Hawaii. So, while they waited, we visited.

To make the long story short, Lindsey and I exchanged phone numbers and wow! It's one of the neatest thing that's happened in awhile...I made a new friend out of the blue! I think that God knew I needed another friend in my life--and we'll see! It was pretty strange, because I am NOT an extrovert at all and it scares me a little to talk to strangers, but I guess it pays to be friendly and be a little outgoing.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Guess What Happened??

Yesterday, one of my student's mom ran in to the driver's side of the red car. As you can see in the picture, it's pretty scraped up...I can't even open the driver's side.

So, today I'm going to drop it off at the auto body shop and pray that they do a great job. :)

It was rather an adventure, trying to figure all this out and fortunately for us, the family is footing all the of the costs, including the rental car. I suppose it is as it should be, but I still feel awful about what happened. The funny thing is that the car was parked and I was inside. This will definitely make me a more cautious driver.

I hope y'all will have a great day! Oh yeah, I still haven't heard back from the company...will post it if I do.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Sad, sad story


This is a sad story of one of my friend's friends. I wanted to share it because I could empathize with her pain. I changed the names.
Anne is a Korean adoptee like me, abused in every way imaginable before she was adopted. It scarred her, leaving her bitter and distrusting of any love offered. Funny enough, as she grew older, like me, she vowed to never marry and to never have children that could get hurt the way she did. But one day, she met a man. No matter how hard she tried to get away, he pursued her with diligence, patience and kindess and won her heart. He seemed like the handsome prince she longed for and she felt no fear being with him. Anne had never been so happy and she and her handsome prince married. Two years into Anne's marriage, her handsome prince turned from an adoring, attentive husband
into demanding, self-righteous, mean man. Never harming her
physically, but hurting her heart and spirit with harsh tones
and cruel words. So once again, Anne vowed to never trust another with her heart. She turned against the man she once loved and she tried to start anew...new job, new place to live, new life...and wondered if there would be any happiness in this life for her.
Slowly again, a new man came into her life. He was unlike she had ever known; he seemed so very beautiful to her, not only physically, but in every way imaginable. Anne fell in love again, but this time, fearfully. His eyes were so bright and full of life, and his smile like the sunshine. She felt her heart slowly melt. Anne wanted to give him all the love she had inside, to ease his hurts and give him everything he could ever want. She wanted forever with him, to be able to look in his eyes, to be held and loved by him and to share his love for life and all its adventures. One day, she told him of her love and hoped with everything in her that he felt the same. When she declared her love to him, he smiled his smile and told her he knew, but did not tell her that he loved her back. Anne had never been so embarassed, or so horrified with herself for speaking her feelings.
In desperation, she went to another man's arms to try and forget her pain and him. After, all she felt was more pain and disgust with herself; she had betrayed herself and the man she loved. When Anne could bear it no longer, she told him of her actions. He was grave, hurt, and jealous. How could he not? Did she not speak of her love, then gone to another? Even though this happened, they still talked, shared parts of their lives with each other, and again, she told him she loved him. When he told her he loved her, she felt as if she could fly and that nothing could bring her down again. I wish I could say they are together and happy, but they aren't. Anne went to other lovers' arms again, even though she loved this man. Even she can't answer to why she acted this way. So she went to him, ashamed, hurting and asked him to never speak to her or talk to her, because she couldn't bear it. It hurt too much to be near him and know that nothing could ever come of it except friendship because she acted horribly. Selfishly, Anne asked to never to see each other again. However, in her heart of hearts, she hoped he would refuse, jump up and hold her, tell her he loved her still and that he wanted to be with her. He didn't. He told her that he wanted friendship and wanted to talk as before, but the choice was hers and she couldn't decide when she looked into his eyes.
Maybe after reading this, he will realize just how sorry she is and that if he could ever trust her, maybe she could still love him, talk to him and even be with him someday.
This is all I know. I wish I could give it a happy ending because I like good endings...you guys all know that I like romantic stories (sadly, ;)). This story really got to me because I kind of understand how she feels. The emptiness that one feels inside when you think no one loves you. After you read this, if any of you wants to talk about my past, please call me and I will share it with you. It made me realize just how precious all of you guys are to me and that yes, even though I don't say it often, I do love all of you. One more thing, you know who you are, so please talk to me after reading this.

Thursday, March 13, 2008


I just wanted to update you on how my interview went on Tuesday. When I arrived to the office, I met with Phyllis, the office manager. I'm not quite sure how to word it, but she basically told me that she thought I would get very bored with this job. The people in the office know me pretty well, and while I appreciate her honesty, I really didn't want to hear that. To make the long story short, I do have a second interview in the near future (next week or so). I'm just praying really hard, trying to trust God to provide.


Anyway, I really liked this picture as it reminds me of summer. Can't wait! Blessings!

Monday, March 10, 2008


Yesterday, Josh and I arrived to church just in time for the early service at 8:45. We had stayed up late the night before, having forgotten about daylight savings, Josh played his birthday present and I read. We stayed up until around midnight (which in actuality was more like one, since the time change), then had to get up early to make our trek to Hudson. Let's just say it wasn't pretty when it was time for me to get up. :) After the service, Josh went to lifeshaping while I read Frank Pretti in the church library. It was nice to just sit in the quiet and read a fun book. We then stopped at Mom and Dad's for tater-tot hotdish, which was AMAZING! Josh and I were able to see how Anna was faring as well, since she has been so sick lately. It is wonderful how drugs are available to us...Anna was doing well and I got to help her study her chemistry test. It was a fun time to be had.

Jerry, Josh's dad, drove up to Maple Grove to take us out for dinner that evening. It was a late birthday get together for Josh's 27th birthday. It was great to catch up with the news from Des Moines and the food was yummy as well.

I would love it if you would all think of me tomorrow. I have an interview with the company I work for now for a different position. We'll just see what God has in store.

Hope everyone will enjoy the lovely warm weather that is coming our way. I can't wait for warmer weather--to be able to go outside without a jacket--that would be a blessing! Lol!

Thursday, March 6, 2008


Well, I am very psyched about blogging. I've been experimenting with Photoshop and trying to be creative using computers. I was amazed at how much you can alter a picture using this program! Josh was kind enough to take some time last night and show me tricks and whatnot to make my pictures even more wild! :)
As usual, last night, I couldn't keep a secret and I asked if Josh would like his birthday gift right then or if he wanted to wait until morning. He was kind enough to open it then and...well, you will have to ask him what he got. And no, it was not the RAM (although it was a part of it). I'm hoping that he will enjoy playing with his toy.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Happy Birthday Josh!!!


Tomorrow is Joshy-Poo's 27th Birthday!!! Wow! I can't believe he was only 23 when we first started dating-it is so amazing how the time flies. Thankfully, Josh was able to get time off from work to relax at home and do whatever he wants to for his day. After I am done with work, we're having Jamie and Elliott over for Sushi and some birthday cake, although I'm not quite sure if that goes together. It pleases the both of us to try and find sneaky ways to hook them up together...hopefully it will go even better than last time! LOL!