$19 ski lift ticket

yea- another wednesday i got to spend with my husband. i am so grateful that he sacrificed his precious day he was supposed to prepare for his sermon for me. So-if you are in the Loma Linda area, come to Calimesa Church for a challenging sermon about religion and politics this Saturday!

Most people who know me know that skiing is my favorite sport. I grew up spending every christmas break in Tahoe. In college, I would ditch school to ski 20-30 times a year. My passion in skiing left me with many adventures: tumbling like a snowball at Dodge Ridge, church ski trips with Amy, saved by three little boys from skiing into a stream at Northstar, many ski teachers like my jr. high teacher Mr. Nelson and my college bud Justin Dye.

For some unlucky reasons: my dad getting older and not enjoying skiing anymore, moving to southern california, meeting a man who doesn't ski often have limited my skiing experiences the past couple years. Therefore, I begged and cried to Isaac to take me skiing at least once this year. So he graciously offered to take me on my day off. Originally, we found on slickdeals that Jeep car dealerships were giving away free lift tickets to Snow Summit. Some dealerships might still offer this, but the Redlands dealership were out.

As we headed out for Big Bear, we fouund a smaller resort called Snow Valley that offered $19 lift tickets on Wednesday. Wow- what a deal, don't you think? Due to the avalanche recently, most of the lifts were closed, but I still was able to have fun for a couple hours. Hey- it was worth the $19 of fun.

grooving at a 90th b-day party

Have you ever been to a 90th b-day party? Well, I was fortunate to attend my grandma's party at the Oxford palace hotel in Los Angeles. Its always nice to see your family. However, unlike any family function we had previously had, it was our first get together with some fun action with the adults and children together. We had worship, sharing time, awesome slideshow, karoke and dancing. It was so cute to see the uncle and aunts slow dancing and see the younger cousins get their groove on. Even grandma had her own couple preformances! I really hope the postive interactions will continue to follow in the future.

the echoes of a dentista

What's one word you catch yourself using multiple times a day? Recently I have noticed that I say one particular word repeatedly at work. Every time I repeat the word to various people, it doesn't get watered down. I acknowledge that my occupation is not favored by the general public. From the moment a patient steps into the chair, many are apprehensive and nervous about their dental treatment. Throughout my interactions, I end up saying, "sorry" over and over again.

"Sorry, I don't know what your insurance covers, but my TC will tell you." "Sorry, about that annoying dvd that keeps on freezing." "Sorry, about the tragedy in your life." "Sorry, I have to numb you." "Sorry, sleepy juice will sting only a minute." "Sorry, you'll feel better soon." "Sorry, the crown doesn't fit." "Sorry, our cerac machine is down." "Sorry, for spraying water on your face." "Sorry, for drying your sensitive tooth." "Sorry, your denture is not working out." "Sorry, it took so long."

What do you say throughout the day?

american idol fan

When I first started dating Isaac, he wouldn't watch American Idol with me. The first shows of the season were my favorite for a reason. I would sit by myself and laugh my head off watching other people humiliate themselves on national television. The reason why people love American Idol is because there are some crazy people out there and Simon knows how to put them in their place. Isaac would ask how can you watch such a cruel show? Its basically making fun of people and making money off of them. However, I had not even an ounce of sorrow for the contestants. It was the contestants choice to come the audition and be on national television hoping for a chance to go to Hollywood . Therefore, I could laugh at them for all I know is that they are way too different and I didn't care what anyone else thought.

This year as I watched the first couple auditions, I found myself feeling a little different. I was not laughing as much. I do admit I enjoyed watching it, but for the first time I felt sorry for the weird people who were criticized for their horrible and tortuous singing. No doubt I still laughed at crazy weirdos who couldn't sing. But along with the chuckle, I genuninely felt bad for the werid looking people that American Idol was mocking and making money off of. Then all of sudden, I realized someone had changed.

I realized that even through the past year of questioning my doctrines and challenges in my spiritual walk, God is softening my heart. I have been giving myself a hard time of being too judgemental and mean to those who don't deserve it. I really thought my heart was hardening with the evil of apathy. Its okay with me when my religion gets unclear, but I was scared I was immune to empathy. It is important and my biggest challenge in my spirituality, how I treat other people. I believe how you treat people is determined by what really lies in your heart and mind.

I thank God that even though my husband might have conservative thoughts in politics and liberal ideas in religion, he inspires me to be a kind person. His thoughtful + actions and honest -actions have planted seeds in my heart and mind. Though the enlightment through American Idol is a small and silly evaluation of my change, I am grateful that I have moments in my life where I can recognize change in me and change in my life.

Family Picnic

Sunday was family picnic at Salt Creek Park. We feasted with grandpa's melting galbee and Isaac's corn. It was so nice to have Isaac's grandparents visiting from DC and to see cousin Daniel's baby.

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another beautiful day

Edit



another wonderful day there are days when i am overwhelmed by the beauty of this earth. one of those days was displayed as we drove up to lake arrowhead. as we increased in elevation, we witnessed a beautiful ocean of clouds. it was an amazing view to see the fluffy clouds blanketing through the snow capped moutains. i was on cloud nine indeed!

i have been snow deprived compared to how much i use to ski. i grew up spending my xmases in Lake tahoe. i really haven't had the opportunity to see snow after meeting isaac. i don't know if its because we're so busy on the weekends with church stuff or because he doesn't have the greatest interest in snow sports. anyhow, i did get my satisfaction at lake arrowhead. furthermore, it was wonderful to share all the goodness with my sweetheart. it was romantic to sit and read together overlooking the lake. it was romantic to walk around the lake and sip on some lovely pear spritzer. yes, it was truly another wonderful day...

my favorite D

December...
I neglected my blog because every weekend was just crazy busy. In a nut shell here's what happened. (No pictures available because my handsome husband lost our camera in Belize.)

Christmas celebrations started early with a party at our place the first Saturday of D. Isaac received butt paste as his X-mas present exchange!! After the white elephant gift exchange, we went broomballing!! Then we were blessed to visit Tampa and embark on our Cruise porting at Key West, Belize, Guatemala and Mexico. It was my first and last cruise. There was a rough storm, broken heater and leaking walls that introduced my uncomfortable cruise experience. Besides my physical conditions, I had the best time hanging out with the most hilarious group of people. I will never forget our laughter and stories shared (Elaine) at the buffet, Lido deck. I also enjoyed biking in Key West, interacting with the free-spirited orphans in Belize and Guatemala, and swimming with dolphins in Cozemul.

Isaac and I came back to Loma Linda just before X-mas to spend time with our families at our place. We had the best time playing the Korean game "yoot" and recieved long massages from the losers of the game. It was great to introduce our parents to the Wii too. The greatest gift this Christmas was the opportunity to spend X-mas with both parents at the same time. Because I had to go back to work on the 26th, our parents left after 2 days with us. I definitely wished they could have stayed longer. ;(

So I had to work 3 days then I had my long weekend with the New Year being placed on Tuesday. Due to my long weekend we had our pastor friends from Cruise with a Mission come party on Sat. night to recount the memories. We stuffed our stomachs and hearts till 4 am! I don't think I have done for a really long time.

Now that's why it was my favorite December...