Shoes

These past few months have been a turn around time for me. I've been trying for years to be fashionable and in style and I believe I am really gaining some ground.  First of all this summer I changed the color palette of my shoes from faded black, brown, and tan to bright BLUE, white, and silver.  I've never had any shoes of true color. A few months ago, I was with friends in the fashion capital of the U.S. (NYC) and caught sight of the Aerosole Saavy.  I was about to walk away to save some cash but boldly went for the buy!  (This is uncharacteristic of me).  The whole transaction, less than $20 and I didn't even have to pay taxes and they made my running toes look cute in no time!  By the way, these shoes are in different colors and are now on clearance at Aerosole's website, some for even $9.99! I got the bright blue, you can get green or a few other choices.  Can't beat that.

This past weekend was another turning point. I went to a bridal shower of a friend who might I mention is quite the fashionista.  When I walked into the party, I quickly found myself surrounded with women wearing high fashion, cute, colorful outfits, hair down, and heels about an average of 3 inches tall. Might I mention I was already the shortest one there? And mind you, these were not just young girls at this party, the heels were widespread even to the aunties all around. I was wearing my cute yet flat shoes that day and I had on one of my cute outfit which turned out pretty bland to the rest of them.

I was highly inspired by this shower. 20 minutes after, I detoured on my way home to none other than DSW. What did I buy? A pair of knee high black boots with a thick three inch heel on the bottom. Let me first mention that oddly, I really hate heels. In fact, for my oldest sister's wedding, I chose to wear sneakers and actually passed through without notice.  The second sister's wedding, I wore flats, only because when I tried to wear sneakers, my friend (coincidentally, the one whose bridal shower I recently attended), refused to allow it and helped me find flats from Payless for the occasion.  So really, a pair of heels is one thing. And let me tell me you, boots are another!  Knee high ones, I might add.  I think I might their big debut may be this upcoming weekend!  

In regard to shoes, I also made a huge discovery today. I've had this pair of shoes I bought maybe 3-4 years ago and I've wore them maybe three times. Why? They killed and scratched my feet up. (This is why I choose not to buy shoes on impulse anymore.)  Apparently a high quality of shoes, however, they scared me away because every time I wore them, they were so annoying and hurtful to my feet.  #1001 why I really do hate heels.  About two weeks back, my sister from Singapore gave me these "no show" dress socks and interesting they helped relieve SOME of the foot rubbing that made these shoes uncomfortable.  From that I learned that fashionable women do have secrets. My sister told me that she saw a lady once use wax to prevent shoes from rubbing and hurting the feet.  I learned the secret of wearing bandaids to help prevent some rubbing.  How come it takes me so long to learn all these beauty secrets?  Well, this morning I made the most amazing discovery. When I wear full socks, my shoes can last a whole day.  What do you know??

I'd also like to brag that today I added a belt to my work outfit, blew dry my hair last night, and wore my hair down for the majority of the day.  And last week I painted my toenails...blue!  That's what shoes can do.

Love Sundays

Many people use their Sabbaths differently. My sabbaths involve resting and reflecting (synonym: blogging).  Blogging is my therapy and if you haven't noticed I haven't been blogging lately so I'm clearly almost going insane. I've been dying to share things on my blog, but haven't had the time to so Kevin's been taking the brunt of all my stories.  Bless him.  He is a darn good listener! 

My love for candy. 

If you know me, I love candy.   When I was little, I would steal candy politely from my piano teacher's house and wherever else I saw a candy jar and in middle and high school, my second moms would always spoil me and bring me candy on a weekly basis.    

I was hungry the other day at my internship and seeing a container with hard candy in it, I was of course tempted and ate a piece. It was good so I ate another only to find later on that I was eating "Preggie Pop Drops". Their key function? You'd never guess...easing morning sickness! 

Fridays After Five

Kevin has been consumed with his work lately. As a good wife, I decided I'm going to help him get out and have some fun doing things he enjoys.  People say that you should do something you enjoy EVERYDAY and so I am taking on the responsibility to make sure my husband gets his fun on during the school year.  This also eases my stress level.=) First on the list of things to do was to visit the Baltimore Aquarium.  First things to note... noone, absolutely NOONE should ever enter the Baltimore Aquarium at regular price! It is way too expensive, especially if you plan to eat anything later on.  If you do go, you had better go when they have their "Fridays After Five" deal. $5 a ticket!  While the aquarium stops selling tickets at 8pm, they actually let you stay in the aquarium until 9:30pm. And that is exactly what Kev and my friend Wing did this past Friday.  

I don't think I have ever cared much for the aquarium until this time around.  My theory is that after going to so many fish stores AKA aquariums with Kevin, the Baltimore Aquarium is much more amusing and amazing. It was so much fun to see the sharks, little tiny fish, squirrel fish, and just to see the sea creatures!  Baltimore's nightlife and the harbor were beautiful too!  I splurged and ate a $5.25 ice cream (which I now feel guilty for) but had a good time being out of Montgomery County for a change.  I love seeing new places, especially if they're near by.  Can't get comfortable with the routine.  We need some change and excitement all the time.  

Oddly, I didn't have any picture of fish on this trip. This will have to do.

Distractions...many distractions

The main reason I've been so busy is because my overseas sister is visiting from out of town. I'm supposed to be doing my school work and a whole lot of others things, but I can't help but be distracted by my out of town visitors. That's my sister, my brother in law and my cutie niece, Charis! My work will get done, but my family won't be around for much longer.   

I brought them to a Lake only 5 minutes away from my house and we took a little walk along the water. Meet my family!  

My Husband the Farmer  

Kevin grew up in city pretty much, but I always felt like he's meant to live out on the farms.  Here he is growing crops on our balcony. Check out that red tomato!  And while we were on our walk at Lake Frank, he ventured off to catch fish. What a man!  

  

Update

I'm not creative enough tonight to think of a good title. Update will have to do.

A Personal Record

This past Sunday if you were in Maryland, you would have known that it was pouring rain all morning. It was also the day of the Parks Half Marathon, a race I've been anticipating for months or you could say two years. I was supposed to run it last year, but didn't make it, which is unusual for me especially considering the fact that I already signed up for it!  

So back to the race.  With the crazy rain, I was hoping to just finish under 2:00 which is a decent and consistent time for me.  I had been wearing glasses all week because of an eye injury and didn't have high hopes for this race since I thought I might have to run with my glasses (ugh) or drop out so basically just finishing under 2:00 would have made me happy.  

My friend, Andrea, and I woke up bright and early that morning and before we left to the race, we prayed in the car for God to give us mercy.  You'd understand if you saw us running to the car under a poncho!  We're runners man and tough, but I did NOT want to run two full hours in rain!  I've done it before and it can make you feel 20 lbs heavier.   I tend to pray before races and before anxious and dreading moments because I really think God can hear my prayers. And hear he did!  When we got to the race, the rain had stopped and it was only raining on and off throughout the run. I didn't mind the mud, nor the temporary rain falls. In fact, the rain made it quite cool. 

Although I felt like I could have run faster at the end, if it weren't for a cramp in my side, I finished the race right behind Andrea in 1:53:39, much better than I could have imagined!  That's a PR for me baby! The last time I ran anything close to this time was literally FOUR years ago when I ran with a speedy friend of mine. She literally pulled me through the race and the only reason I didn't stop was because I didn't want to be left behind in a random street in Baltimore city.   I love having a good run and I won't lie. I am disciplined in training not to finish, but I train to be fast!    

Here's my muddy shoes and some shots after the race to prove my PR!  Andrea PRed as well!  

Verse for the day in paraphrase

When we stock up on knowledge without applying it to our lives, we are actually sinning.  When we gain knowledge about God, without responding to him or assimilating his truth into our lives, then it is not a good thing. According to the Bible, it is sin.

- Francis Chan (James 4:17)

Someone broke into Kev's car today.  You know, every morning when I wake up, I pray and ask for God to help me through the day.  Most days you feel like you know what the day is going to hold... nothing too exciting really. It was a shocker when Kevin went to leave for work and found the car broken into, but oddly this incident was not a crazy stressor.  Thank God.  Both airbags were stolen and the theft I tell you was really done well. No scratches, no broken windows. A clean steal.   I don't care much about airbags anyways...well except when they're worth thousands of dollars.   You know, I don't think anyone would ever have stolen the airbags in my Saturn 95.

It's been a while since I've blogged so here are a few things I'm thankful for, not just today but the past weekend:

1. I found out I have conjunctivitis after going into the urgent care at Kaiser.  I got eye drops that should help my eye heal by this Sunday, race day for my 1/2 marathon.
2. My glasses, though not as comfy as contacts are much more stylish than my 1980 frames. Noone complimented me for them but most importantly, noone looked at me funny for wearing them.  (I'll have to post my first pair of glasses sometime).
2. My sister and my little niecie Charis were able to come to my place after the breakin and drove me to work. It's really no fun driving to work alone. It's much more fun not having to drive and having a cute muffin and my sister with me.
3. Kevin and I ate Urban Burger for dinner and ate on our balcony since we were just tired from the day!
4. We met some neighbors who we always see but don't talk to. The car breakin gave us reason to talk to them. Yay, new friends!
5. I got a lot done at work in a very short period of time. Just crazy!
6.  Ate a Dunkin Donut at work! Boston Creme.
7.  Kevin's mom for lending us a car to drive so we have no need for rental.
8. Kevin and I got late night Mickey D's last night. Chicken nuggets, fries, and ice cream and ate it in the parking lot. Hit the spot!
9. Went camping in our living room this weekend.  First camping trip.
10.  A nice boss who was alright with me coming in late to work today.  Very understanding and asked me "how are you" when I went into work.
11.  Geico. I spoke to 3 or 4 people from there.  So nice!
12. Father Ong fixed my bike and for the first time I will be riding a bike with shifters!! Delivered the bike to our place even!
13. Wore my new white shoes today.  A good day to break them in.

Something to share

The busy year is just about to start.  Does it really need to get any busier? I really have been enjoying this summer. Having Kevin home more often, going to the pool, going on a road trip, less traffic on the roads!  I'm starting to get pretty overwhelmed by my schedule and all the things that will need to get done this fall. I won't even list everything out to you because I'm afraid I might stress YOU out just thinking about these things.  I have realized that I'm an "ideas" person. Basically, it means that at all times I'm thinking, brainstorming and imagining ideas for my first new business, the new idea I'll propose at work, my new book, the way I'm going to redesign my house, the new hobby I'd like to try.  Lately, I've been waking up and before I can even consciously say good morning to myself, my mind is flooded with so many ideas and thoughts I don't even know what to do.  It can be dizzying and extremely tiring at times.

Sometimes I think that's why I need to run. Number one to get rid of all the energy I have inside me (Kevin says I need to talk to the doctor about jittering), but secondly to just have time to focus my mind on ONE thing and not get distracted by so many other things.  Woke up and ran 14 miles on Saturday morning. Woke up before 6am and because of my "ideas" disease, I had no issues waking up, meaning I was pretty chipper for an early hour.  My goal is to qualify for Boston.  (Please help me convince the man in my life to let me run more marathons!)

Today at church, I heard a sermon on being prepared to give our personal testimony. God commissioned us to tell others the gospel and share our stories with others and sad to say, I think I've failed miserably in this area. I do feel like God has been reiterating a number of messages into my head this year and sharing Christ with others (verbally) I think is definitely one of them.  Typically, I veer on the side of just being kind and not verbally sharing the gospel so that I don't have to offend anyone, but I think I've realized that you can be extremely sensitive to people and preach and share your testimony at the same time.  It can be much more loving and effective because people don't just see your actions, but they really hear how God has been moving and real in your own life.  The real reason I don't share my testimony is mostly because I'm afraid of what people will think of me. I also have not taken the time to prepare a testimony that I would be able to share with others.  These things do need practice and intentionality.

Clothing Swaps
As many people know, I absolutely love clothing swaps. Why? Because I hate spending money yet I love clothes. What a great solution right? Yesterday hosted a great and fun clothing swap. What a way to  hang out with friends.  Here's a picture of Kevin and I on our way through Corning, NY....and of course, there's me wearing a shirt I acquired a previous clothing swap.

When You Don't Have a Hammer

I honestly have no idea how Kevin and I have managed for over a year in a new home without a hammer.  For the time being we've been using Kevin's weights, yes the kind that build muscle.  Unfortunately, the lack of a hammer is probably why many of our frames are slightly crooked.  The good thing though is that I've learned that I can always find easy replacements to get a job done.

In addition to creative replacements for every-day tools, I was pretty proud of my latest fix-it project. Do you remember those "Aerosole Soulmate" shoes that I was raving about a few months back? Apparently, they don't deserve a five star rating because part of the shoe's decor started coming apart.  I was getting some stares at work because the dark silver beads were hanging off the flower design part of the shoe.  So I took it upon myself to fix this.  When all else fails, use Gorilla glue.  I tell you, it is the absolute best and strongest glue ever.  What I didn't know though was that the glue dries not clear, but white, and it expands to triple the amount.  TRIPLE the amount is pretty accurate What did I do? I used a good ol black Sharpie!!! Take a look at them shoes now.=)  I love it!

Been behind on posting because last week I was in Brooklyn on a short term mission trip with Kevin and a team from my church.   Here's one of my favorite/least motivated 1st graders. His name is Kevin=) and he has a twin brother with a much faster metabolism then him. He was precious though.  When I asked the kids if they knew what heaven was, Kevin anxiously preceded to tell me about this movie he watched where werewolves were taken to heaven!!