End of year rituals

In my family, we have a tradition to go to the beach and watch the last sunset of the year on December 31st. It's a wonderful way to reflect on all the things that had happened throughout the year, and a nice opportunity to kinda finalize the new year's resolution list.

Here's what the last sunset of 2010 looked like from Huntington Beach :)

Amazing, isn't it?

The rain and the wind and the confession.

I went to confession tonight, and the priest said that I don't need to do penance because I came despite having to brave the rain and wind. What more can I ask from the Lord who has forgiven my sin and not making me pay for anything in return? Such unconditional love, such merciful God.  I feel as though a load of weight has been lifted off my shoulders. It's been about 3 years since I went to confession. Even though I felt queasy and nauseous before the confession, I felt a wave of relief and at peace after the whole thing is done. Needless to say, I promised to be a better person and to not do all those bad things that I did before.

It's 5 days before Christmas, and I feel like I'm finally ready to welcome baby Jesus into my heart.

Now I Know

School is out, work is enjoyable, life is wonderful and God is good.

I woke up this morning with no worry in my mind for the first time. I'm done with the finals, and for some reason, I can accept that I have done my best and whatever the outcome, I'll be alright with it. I don't have a full-time job, but that's ok. My partnership with my sister is going good. She's so smart and professional. I need to do a better job in helping her out. My relationship with family and friends is warm and comforting. Even though I don't own a lot, I feel so blessed with countless, invaluable, immaterial things that only can be found if you just let go of your worries and just live.

I remember six years ago, crying my eyes out while saying goodbye to the life I knew back in college. Pursuing the 'American dream', I packed my two suitcases and three boxes and drove from Indiana to LA. I didn't have a place to live yet at the time, but my parents (who were along for the journey and very supportive) were optimistic and very supportive. With lots of prayers and luck, my friend found me a place to live when we were just a day away from arriving in LA. Six years later, here I am. I am still pursuing the dream, but slowly I'm realizing that I am actually already living the dream. Who would've thought that the unsure, scared 21 year old girl, would end up like this? With time I realize that the best things in life is indeed free: the smell of pine trees in the woods after a weekend of non-stop rain, the good morning kiss from a person who loves you unconditionally, even if you don't have a job. Stuff like this, you know?

This Christmas season, I would like to wish you all the true peace and joy that Christmas means to bring. Live life to the fullest. Give without expecting anything back. Love earnestly.

daylight savings

Daylight savings time ended about 2 weeks ago. Every year, this is the one day that we get an extra hour to sleep. I love it. Not only you get to stay in bed longer, but you also feel so refreshed and eager to start your day. I really do wish I can wake up early everyday. I can definitely get more stuff done in the morning since I used to be a morning person.

The only thing that I don't like from the end of daylight savings time is how dark and cold it gets at 5pm. I"m posting this blog entry while waiting for my bus in front of the campus. It's great to be able to post this entry using blackberry, but the cold wind is making my thumbs moving slower and slower... At times like this (and especially when it's raining), I wish I don't have to use the bus to go to school. It's only November, so I'm sure it'll get colder soon. I guess it's time to bring extra jacket and shawl. Another problem is.. my bus is not very punctual. I really have to wait 15 minutes before it's scheduled to arrive because (like this morning) they might come early and you won't even know that they've left. Other times, they are late for 15 minutes and you have to wait in the cold for 30 minutes total. Hmm... I guess I just have to be thankful that there is a bus in the first place. I'm quite lucky in this aspect. Anyways.. I hope my bus comes soon. I've been waiting for 20 minutes!

Monterpiece

So, the Clippers lost on Friday. Despite everything, I think this team is definitely a lot better than they were last year. They still need to work on their defense and calm-under-pressure mentality, but at least they put up a very good fight against the Pistons, even extending the game into overtime. All of the fans were standing up during the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter, and you can feel that the crowd was really rooting for them to win it. That was the first time I see Clippers fan excited about a game!

Anyways, today is Monday again, and it's time to feature the Monterpiece of the week. I used to post Monterpiece (Monday Centerpiece) series regularly. I think it's time to bring out the tradition again, don't you think?

Let's see.... it's November, the leaves are starting to change colors, and Thanksgiving is coming up. Here's what I have in mind for today's featured centerpiece:

Source:  Al.com

Instead of using pears and roses, you can use pumpkins, apples, persimmons, branches of red leaves from your backyard, and add feathers as accents into the arrangements. I love persimmons because of their brilliant orange colors that always reminds me of Autumn, but you can mix and match the colors yourselves. I like to add the red dragonfruits too if I can, but they are so expensive here...

Pics from clipers vs. pistons game

Can you tell this is us?

clippers nation, rise up!

Do you ever feel like a higher power is telling you that you're supposed to do something for unknown some reason? Well, last week my friend offered to guve me some tickets to go see the clippers. Well, apparently I responded late to her email and she ended up giving the tix to someone else. We were kinda bummed out, but the next day, Mr. B's boss suddenly gave him 2 tix to watch the same game. So here we are, right this minute, row 7 seat 3 and 4 on the clippers vs. Pistons game. I hope clippers can win this one. They've been doing much better this season compared to last season.

Oh! Btw, we got caught on the kiss cam!!! That was pretty cool :)