Blessings

I’m so thankful to be where I am right now in life. Sure, there are still problems and many things I still can’t quite understand, but as of now, I am blessed beyond my worthiness. God has been very gracious to me for all these years. Even when I chose to turn away from Him at one point – He came chasing after me. Even when I was struggling with my situation and wanted no one – He was there, comforting me without my knowing. And what’s more, He’s blessed me with a job. It may not be the most extravagant job out there, but I’m very content with it. I always get so excited the night before I go to work. My boss is very friendly and lenient. And the best part of all, I get to work with my friends! I was starting to think I’d lose touch with all my friends but this is a great link back. It feels like we’re back in high school all over again. It gets very tiring at time, but it’s a happy kind of tired. I just hope that school doesn’t completely beat me out. I’ll just leave all cares to Him – He’ll figure it out for me. <3

OMG. We're back again.

HAHAH!! We finally got the chance to do what everyone else has been doing on Youtube - lip syncing!! Trina is so hilarious right here. A few more coming this way.

John 14:1-4

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.”

Tofu's Twentieth

Tiffany's Twentieth Birthday!! Exploritorium. Tactile Dome. Johnny Rockets. Ribs for dinner. Webcam fun.Trina and I spent a while just trying to open the program. ><

Trina's a stuff animal molestor.

I shall upload our very dimwitted videos as soon as I get them.

Great America

Great America!! My sister paid for my ticket this time. Bwuahaha! This trip was AWESOME! We went as a group of 17 (?) - I thought it was going to be a problem with such a big group but we split up in to smaller group. Our group was the Mission Gang plus Steph, the sunsetter. Hahah. But the best part of that day was the emptiness of the park. The lines were so short; I think the most I’ve waited was five minutes. At one point, we had just finished with Top Gun (Now called 'Flight Deck') and there were no lines so we asked the person if we could stay on and the guy said yes!! It was awesome. Other chaos our group caused was the destruction of Heiman's car, pigging out in the parking lot with fellow bird friends, taking over the kid's water area (Everyone got really wet. Funny.), Raiding Drop Zone about 5 times (I didn't go on; it’s the only ride I’m scared of), I squished Franklin in Centrifuge, dominated Firefall about 3 times, took endless pictures of very random things, and a whole bunch more. Nonetheless, one hilarious moment happened during our time at Great America - Steph and I were watching from the side as the other went on Drop Zone for the 9th or so time and this really strange and random dude came walking by. He put on this really retarded look on his face and started ghetto walking by us, checking us out. It was sooo funny!! I kept eye contact with him the whole time while Steph avoided him but after he was gone, I couldn't help but burst into laughter. Ah dear goodness, such a weird looking fellow.

Breaking Dawn Review [Spoilers]

OME!! Breaking Dawn! I know I'm a wee bit behind but I'm always late. So I finished the book a couple days ago and I just can't express the mixed emotions I had as I read through the book. From beginning to end I was literally thrown around like a roller coaster ride. Let go through my many various expressions throughout the book, shall we? At first I was in utter bliss as Bella prepares for her wedding; or maybe I was just happy that the fourth book finally came out. And then as I continued to Jacob's arrival, I began to feel very depressed for him: his pain and suffering. And then I was at bewilderment at Bella's demand for sex during her honeymoon. I couldn’t get why she was so hormone-driven. And then perfect shock to find out that she was pregnant!! Speechless. I seriously had to take a breather. How could this happen when Stephanie Meyer had previously said that vampires can't give birth or produce bodily liquids aside from venom!? So later on in the book, I was on all ten of my toes as we encounter Jacob's point of view. I was a bit disappointed towards the end as there was really no action going on. I kept thinking that the pack was going to jump out of the bushes and do some karate-chopping moves. The next wave of shock came with Jacob's imprint on Bella's baby, Renessme. Even after reading the entire book, I still can't wrap my finger around that fact. It's just too awkward for me. After that, I was on my toes once again. The Volturri were on their way to cause mayhem and havoc. I kept thinking there was going to be a fight and some blood shed, but the only person who died was Irene. I figured it was bound to happen. She was just sitting there asking for it. I guess I have mixed feelings about this event as well. I half wanted a huge fight and half wanted everyone to live. I knew I couldn’t have both as a fight would mean many casualties and a happily ever after ending is a bit boring for me. Finally, it was a bittersweet moment as you watch Bella and Edward live peacefully forever with their daughter. I was very pleased with the ending, as most twilighters have been waiting for this moment for years. The bitter part was the final conclusion of the Twilight epidemic. I'm going to go through post-depression just as I did with Harry Potter. Le Sigh.

I think the most significant and heart wrenching part of the story is when Bella prepares for the separation between her and her daughter. I was on the verge of tears when she gave Renessme the locket as a Christmas present. I think I took another breather here too. I couldn't continue. But the irony here is that I loathed Renessme A LOT during her fetus period. As much as I understood Bella's decision and her maternal love for the 'thing' in her, I really wanted to destroy the thing. I really thought she was some kind of mutated monster ripping through Bella's stomach. Speaking of ripping, did anyone thought that labor scene was a bit, well, graphic. I could feel my gag reflex twitch a bit as I read how Edward rip open her stomach with his teeth as fountain of blood flowed out. Kind of gross if I do say so myself.
Overall, the book is a confusing one. I think I still need time to get use the whole idea. It’s a great book - a beautiful story; just a beautiful story that literally takes you the highest of highs and lowest of lows. I know I have a lot more to say about this book, but I think I should reread it to really get everything sink and set.

Weekend

Multiple events happened during the weekend of August 1st - and what a crazy weekend it was. Our fellowship group, along with a few youngadult fellowship people, went whitewater river rafting. I took it upon myself to plan the trip and boy was it a stressful one. We met up at church in the morning and went up to the American River (just a bit pass Sacramento). We got lost for a while but still managed. Our journey down the river started out pretty slow, just testing out the rapids. There were various calm waters for use to play water-fight with the other rafts and go swimming. I think the highlight of that event was when Ray, Steph and I pushed Franklin into the water. It was so funny!! I kind of pushed Tiffany into the water as well, but Steph pushed me in too. That water was FREEZING! I could feel my skin begin to prick and tingle from the cold. But that wasn’t the real problem. The main problem was that a lot of us were drifting further downstream. We had to swim against the current and it wasn't easy. I was so tired afterwards. Next, we had lunch and then went on to tackle the class +3 rapids. It was very fun, even for my second rafting trip on the same river. There was one rapid that caused a lot of trouble for us though. We crashed into it and paddled forward but we had to do a quick right turn or else we would get stuck on the rocks; which is exactly what happened. We got stuck on some rocks for a good five minutes. Quite embarrassing as there were photographers at the top shooting us. Hahah. The rest of the river was pretty typical. An exciting and fun experience at the end of the day. Good times.

We got home around 11 o'clock PM. Steph and I were in a rush to get to Borders for the Breaking Dawn Release Party. Now that I think about it, I'm kind of glad we were late. The event wasn't as productive as I though. Poor Tiff had to wait through the whole thing by herself. She won a BD button though! We got home and those two immediately started to read. I didn’t, because if I did, I wouldn't be able to stop. I wouldn’t sleep that night and would end up extremely tired for the next day's event. So I went to bed as those two went on.

The following day was a hiking day! Can you believe all my favorite things in one weekend? I was so happy. We went Fort Funston. It is such a beautiful place. The beach (Full of dogs) is a lot for pretty than the bare SF ocean beach. The hike around the cliffs is just as fun, with the various paths and trails. And finally, the view! I can tell you how breath-taking the view is from there. I was all the way to the horizon of the vast open ocean. There really aren’t any words to describe the view - you'd have to go see it for yourself. My new playground. The only flaw was the sewers by the beach. I really wanted to walk along the beach to the Westlake area, but the dang stinkin sewers were in the way. We tried to climb over it, but the smell was REALLY REALLY REALLY bad. I got a good whiff of it and would have literally fall on my knees. It was that bad. Next time, we'll hike around it before going down to the beach.