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.