This Week

is sooooo long.

I'm so happy today is Thursday because it's the day before Friday. Tomorrow, I get to spend the afternoon out of the office, so I'm excited. Saturday won't be as much fun for a while. I picked up a couple of extra tutor jobs to save up money faster for travel adventures, so I’ll be busy on Saturday afternoons from 4-8 for the next month or so.

I met my little sister (Big Brothers Big Sisters program) yesterday. She’s so cute. I’m already getting into this mode where I just want to overwhelm her with love and buy her things. We have our first activity on Sunday and I’m pretty excited. I was happy to see her so excited. She just started high school, so she wants to be treated differently and can throw some sass, but I love that.

Just can’t get enough of:
- Thinking that Jesus Christ was God's last Word: I wasn't too awake during the sermon on Sunday, but I've had some time to think about it now. It's quite profound and amazing to think that God sent Jesus as his last message, word, authority. People in the Old Testament did everything God told them to do and took everything He said as sacred. I basically need to have that same attitude and reverence towards Jesus' life and basically obey Him by aspiring to be like Him. I'll have to let that marinate in my mind some more.

.... ok, now on to my superficial side...

- New York Fashion Week: I know you may not really expect me to be into fashion, or maybe you do. In any case, I guiltily admit I heart fashion. I especially enjoy watching Marc Jacobs fashion shows. That guy is flippin’ brilliant! This year, his show was presented backwards. So, he came out first, then he displayed the entire collection. And then, the models came out one by one. Okay, I know most of you aren’t interested in fashion shows, but if you want to check out any of them, I recommend Marc Jacobs (especially the Marc Jacobs collection; the Marc by Marc Jacobs is alright), Proenza Schouler (consistently good since their debut), Tuleh (I like that the designer doesn't conform to any one style) and Vera Wang (her style is definitely different this year).
- John Mayer: I had my ipod on shuffle and a John Mayer song came on. Now, I can’t stop.

Too many shadows in my room
Too many hours in this midnight
Too many corners in my mind
So much to do to set my heart right
Oh it's taking so long I could be wrong, I could be ready
Oh but if I take my heart's advice
I should assume it's still unsteady
I am in repair, I am in repair

I'm so excited!

What an exciting weekend:

• Pleasant surprise – Mon visited Thursday night and was uber excited about the state of Hawaii granting her permission to bring her rats (when she moves in a couple of months). We had a fun time at MOCA, then enjoyed a nice glass of champagne. We were in a celebratory mood.
• The Weekend Crew met, explored San Diego, played a lot of Uno, and had nice slumber party moments/talks. We got no sleep, but it was so worth it.
• Incubus was amazing. We met the DJ and we walked by Mike, the guitarist. I think it was for the best I didn’t meet Brandon. I would have turned into a puddle.
• The weekend ended with some nice quality family time and a fun ride home with Kris.

I’m meeting my ‘little sister’ today. I volunteered for the Amachi Program, which is a part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. The students in the Amachi Program have had or currently have an incarcerated parent. I’m nervous and excited. It’s a year commitment and I know my little sister has been disappointed by her father many times, so I don’t want to disappoint her.

It's always fun with Mon.

Mon so happy after receiving notice she can take her rats with her to Hawaii.

I heart the beach.

We made Drew take the picture because of his long arms. The first one came out alright, but we were missing Kristine (plus Ames because she hadn't come to SD yet).

Kristine finally got in, but Drew kept taking more pictures.

Seven pictures later.

Sunglasses in the sky.

Giggling

I forgot how much fun giggling is. During small group tonight, Kristine, Sharon and I experienced an uncontrollable case of the giggles. I felt like I was in junior high at a slumber party. Wait, I don't think I even giggled like that in junior high. Anyway, it was all Kristine's fault. She wanted to pray together after our small group time. I looked over at her and I could tell she wanted to hold hands. She outdid my initial conjecture. She wanted to pray while embracing. This proved to be a quite awkward position for three people. I finally exploded in laughter because all I could imagine was some Star Trek-ish character with three brains combined. We ended up laughing for a few minutes.

Our first discussion was good and thought-provoking. I hope that I can begin to truly view the church as our body, not as an institution, place of worship or activity. After not going to church... yeah, I'm using the word incorrectly... for quite some time now, I realize that when I do go, it's amazing. Simply worshiping with others, praying with others, just being with the family is so encouraging and rejuvenating. I really appreciate our group so much more. I hope I can nurture this appreciation for our church and hopefully contribute to our growth...