orientation/retreat

erika, me, elise. waiting around for the freshmen to arrive at orientation

wing retreat! all of us in a dogpile

juniors!!

all the wing girls with dark hair

we tried to do a pyramid. i was one of those at the bottom. painful

freshmen arriving at orientation n signing in!

holding welcoming signs at the roadside

at the cookout

games at the ksac during orientation. the girl in red, holding the ball is juoae! the cutest little korean girl.

we had a world map displaying where we all came from :)

every week is busier than the last

this week i was so swamped, people complained they never got to see me :( but at least the weekend is here!!

worked on 3 articles simultaneously plus a broadcast project for class. so i spent most of my time tracking people down and interviewing them. i think i've interviewed like almost every important person on campus. from the president to the provost to all kinds of professors and deans. and they're all really nice! even though they're impossible to track down since they're so busy. worked for a long time on thursday night for the newspaper. till i got a splitting headache. if i ever say i wanna be a journalist again, please remind me how tough it is.

so i've been working on a story about the 50th anniversary of our student union (front page of the newspaper!!), a story on students here who don't have English as their first language, chapel auditions and a faculty instrumental recital. exciting stuff huh. i guess i do feel a sense of pride when i see my work in the newspaper :)
this week was Spiritual Renewal Week, so we had a speaker come - Colin Smith. he was really good. spoke about romans 8 and how come we can be confident of God's blessings for us.

my roomie and i finally went to walmart and got a couch! but it's the kind that we must fix ourselves. so technically we have a box in our room. not a couch. need to fix it soon.
worship night/bonfire on thursday!
i love fridays. i have only one class + it means the weekend's here.
interviewed 2 music professors for my broadcast scriptwriting project. went for their faculty recital. almost fell asleep. but it's over and done with!
then went to watch 'Traitor' in the cinema with a bunch of pple to reward myself for working so hard this week! :) it was a pretty good, intense movie. went on forever till like midnight.

today was our second Taylor football game! we lost this time :( oh well. we were winning at halftime, but...yeah.
had a surprise bdae party for ian. only it didn't really work cuz he turned up early. so only a few of us were there. but at least he was surprised! we took turns hitting a pinata and got tons of candy. yum.

gonna go practice playing guitar/djembe (drums) later! for our ministry of the arts audition tomorrow. hope we get in.
quite excited for church tmr. i really like IWU church!

weekend daze

the weekend's almost over. sad. wing retreat was FUN! went to indianapolis and stayed in a girl's home. it was like a mansion. huge. with a huge backyard where we had our bonfire and had s'mores. shared embarrassing stories..testimonies..had worship.. all that nice bonding stuff. stayed up pretty late playing games and talking. and eating. omg. everyone always eats so much during retreats. it's cuz the food's RIGHT THERE. and u just have this compulsive urge to stuff your face.
went shopping at a new outlet mall on sat..found this awesome eatery called Noodle Company!! wonderful asian noodles. made me very happy :) glad i got to know the girls on my wing better.

super tired. but drove to the TAYLOR VS ANDERSON U first football game of the season!!!!! it was freaking long. but exciting. 3 hours we stood there and cheered. but it was oh-so-worth it. cuz WE WON!! for the first time in SIX whole years!! so proud of the guys :) and i'm starting to understand it better too! we got 4 touchdowns!!! woot woot.

also celebrated 4 pples bdaes today! sam, andrew, sarah and dallace! had a partyy at the souphouse. with kimbab and cake and all. and practiced our first airband dance! we're doing a lion king medley. dancing to 'circle of life', 'be prepared' and 'just can't wait to be king'. exciteddd.

anyway. today i had a revelation. or rather, last night. so i was contemplating not going to church today since i spent the whole weekend not doing homework and not getting much sleep. but then..i pondered over it..and i realized.

how can church be optional?

it has never been optional for me at home. the thought of skipping church to stay home and catch up on my rest would NEVER even cross my mind at home. so how come it's different here? i've been going to church whenever i like for the past 2 years here. if i'm tired or i've been out all sat, i'll skip church. if there's tons of hw waiting for me and i just don't feel like getting up early, i'll skip church. i've used sundays to sleep in countless times. but that is going to change!! I am going to church regularly from now on!! I'm not optional to God, why should He be optional to me? it doesn't help that lots of pple at Taylor skip church whenever they feel like it. and it's not for me to judge. but all i'm saying is.. i will make an effort to go every week. doesn't matter if i feel like it or not. God's faithfulness has never failed me.
today's sermon was really good too. i was completely captivated. learning point: I want to renew my first love. AND I want to take all these little gods in my life (things that i treasure) and use them to serve THE God above.

EXCITED

i don't know why but i'm incredibly excited. for everything! :)
finished editing and doing the layout for the newspaper tonight. such hard work! especially when our staff writers dont really know what they're doing! but i'm beginning to get the hang of it. and i just found out i get paid US$200 for my newspaper job and $250 for my coordinator of ethnic scholars job for this semester! not alot of cash, but i wasn't doing it for the money anyway. its just a nice bonus :)

we had a cookout at Taylor lake for ethnic students yesterday..was pretty fun!! got to meet new freshmen. sooo many asian americans this year. like tons! someone told me there lives a HUGE species of fish in the lake. Taylor's very own loch ness monster. disgusting. i'm never going swimming there. fo shizzle!! haha. and then i watched the 2 hour premiere of ANTM with a bunch of girls on my wing!!! ohhh so many shows to watch! i love being in america!

so..today was a good day. one cancelled class, one prof sick..so i virtually had no class. and i have only one class tmr! and then my wing is going on a retreat!! to miriam's house in indianapolis (THE CITY!!). can't wait! we're gonna roam the city n go shopping! and have bonfires and eat s'mores! and of course, girl talk. and then Taylor's infamous football game against Anderson U on sat!! like i said, exciteddd :)

Makes me happy

so glad today's over. was the longest day ever. but wow. i'm learning SO MUCH from my freelance writing class! am totally in awe of my prof. he's like, the coolest person. ever.
here's a list of his credentials:
-he's written and published 51 books
-he's got more than 1000 devotions published! (who does that!!)
-he WROTE THE SCRIPT for the movies armageddon and mask of zorro!!!!! omg. i'm so glad i get to learn from him!!!!!

and he was so encouraging today too. cuz we had to read our devotionals aloud in class. and he gave feedback. can't wait to send mine in and hopefully get published!! if there's any prof i wanna have a 3 1/2 hour class with, it's definitely him. i've never known anyone who has sooo many stories to tell. he's been through so much. he was in world war 2, where his army mate stepped on a grenade and blew half his face up. omg. the experiences he tells us...i'm like wow. and he recites all these books, poems and stories from memory and acts them out dramatically. really interesting guy. feel like i learn more from 3 1/2 hours with him than the whole of last semester!

i got to have thai food on sat! faith cooked and invited us over to her apartment :) and ooh. my first drive-in movie experience on sun. was a brother-sister wing event, so i got to know some of the guys on our bro wing. was pretty fun! although superrr freezing cuz it was at night and the movie was outdoors. watched 'drillbit taylor'..kinda stupid but kinda funny too.

currently obsessed with marie digby's acoustic version of 'umbrella'.
ecstatic that prison break premiered on mon!! (awesome 2 hour premiere. SARA'S ALIVE!!!) plus gossip girl. plus one tree hill. and america's next top model's coming today. aaaahhhh. so many shows, so little time. getting hooked on the office too!!

first wk of classes

man, it's only the first week and already i feel like school's been going on FOREVER.
so..tuesday was seriously the most stressful day of life. and thurs. and they're gonna be like that EVERY WEEK. i just hope i survive this semester. really. cuz tues and thurs my day goes all the way from 1.30 till 11pm++. classes all the way..insane huh. but i'm excited to learn alot in my classes..taking Scriptwriting, Freelance Writing, Specialized Reporting, Arts and Ideas and Adobe Dreamweaver.

the prof for freelance writing (which i take at fort wayne, 1hr away from upland) is definitely the most INTIMIDATING guy i've ever met. EVER. he's like sooo experienced..he told us he only expects greatness from us, nothing less. and every single student he's had has had stuff published!! and our first assignment is to write 3 devotionals and read them aloud in class to be criticized and bashed by him and the class. oh joy. but i'm actually looking forward to it. cuz i think i'll learn SO MUCH from him..he seems so know everything!!! plus i can earn extra $$ by sending in my stuff to publications!! so that's tues.

thurs..classes all the way..the The Echo (sch newspaper) staff meeting. oh gosh. sooo intimidated. me and my co-news editor, hannah, who's also my roomie, are like the least experienced pple on staff! and we have the most stressful job!! reporting the news!! while others get to report on sports, entertainment, opinions, etc. sighhh. was pretty awkward the first meeting..but hopefully we'll improve and learn as we go along this semester. i already learned so much about how to edit pple's articles, how to layout and design the newspaper page, etc.. it'll be a good experience too. although there's these few guys on staff who are SO intimidating. it's like they know it all, and they know that they know it all. haha. but me and hannah laughed non-stop after the meeting about how awkward it was. good times. although i am realizing i don't really wanna work in a newspaper. it's a super high-stress, fast-paced job where the burn-out rate is over the roof.

am feeling pretty stressed now..about classes and responsibilities and jobs and everything, but..that's normal for me. i always stress out at the beginning of the semester, but after a while i'm fine. so..pray that God will be my guide and my strength and will help me through all this!!

oh. and my friend offered to teach me driving!! haha. cuz i told him everyone's nagging at me to learn. so yayyy. i just gotta go pass the written test first and learn quickly before winter comes and roads get icy.

sch starts..

can't believe classes start tmr!!! kinda excited, but kinda sian too. homework again. haven't bought my books yet! so darn expensive!! plus tmr i'll have to drive 45mins to another taylor campus to take a class - freelance writing - cuz they don't have it here at upland. and the class is freaking 3 1/2 hours long!!! ugh. oh well heard it's a good class though.

so anyway this weekend was so fun!! hung out with the freshmen till like 2am everyday..haha. have fun while we can. fri went to this place with hannah,andrew n kevin - buffalo wild wings - which i wrote an article about for the paper but never got to visit. its a pretty cool restaurant.. with tv screens everywhere and sports stuff. and they had really spicy wings..which were yummy!

then tried to get me a cell phone..the guys were really helpful with information n stuff..but i was too indecisive. heh. couldn't decide whether i wanted pay-per-use or get a 2 year plan..but think i'll go with the 2year plan..cuz i'll prob be here next summer workin on my internship.. can't wait to get a new phone!! watched 'The Rocker' at the theatre..kinda tired but it was pretty funny as far as stupid movies go. haha. starred the guy from the office.

totally slept in on sat till like 3pm..dinner was my first meal. haha. this year's welcome weekend hoedown was outside..so wasn't that hot. they really went all out to decorate the place! all that cowboy stuff..a band playin country music..even brought in a real cow! don't know what for. haha. u totally know you're in indiana when u see all that. it was fun though. hanging out and watching pple square dance. went to see the new apartments off campus!!! they're SO NICE! i so have to live there next year. it's like a hotel!! air conditioning..a living room, kitchen..everything to yourself and 3 other roommates!!! sooo nice. watched the olympics at some guy's apartment. didn't really know them but just went along with friends. they were really funny though. and we got kinda busted for being too loud and supposedly having alcohol.. after that i hung out with my little asian freshmen!! they're so cute. can't believe they're like 3 years younger than me!

sun was move-in day. got all my stuff from storage!! so now my room's totally full of junk. it's like 9/10 of the room is my stuff, 1/10 is my roomie's. haha. the closets are wayyy too small to fit all my clothes. no space for winter stuff even. omg and there's like flies everywhere. they're huge too. and indiana weather is insane. ystdy it was scorching hot. today it was freezing cold. and it's still summer!! so anyway..really glad to see all my friends again!! and to make new ones. it's been really fun catching up.

ooh and i'm soooo excited for my wing this year. think we have an AWESOME group of girls!! the freshmen are so crazy and bubbly!! i'm psyched. we did something crazy today. dressed up in 'camp outfits' (red/white shirts and shorts, high socks, bandanas, caps, schoolbags) went to the DC where everyone was eating dinner and did random cheers. hahaha. first we did a cheer for the salad bar..then we did a prayer for the food cheer at the table, then another one, then individual cheers..and i was picked to do it..so i had to like yell 'i, i get hyped for jesus! do u get hyped for jesus?' and dance around our table in front of everyone in the DC. u would think i'd be embarrassed, but it was so fun. haha. and then we went around and cheered for every table. ohh man. can't wait for other stuff for our wing this yr!! :)

welcome weekend

tons more freshmen are coming today!!!! excitedddd.
anw international orientation went super awesome! so sad its ended. I LOVE MEETING ALL THE NEW FRESHMEN!!! they're so fun to be with!! miss living in our 'co-ed' dorm for the last few days. still love my small group!! they're so awesome. they're so ready to share about everything! really thank God for them. thank God for guiding me and using me to speak to them too :)

we had combined small group the last day with dan's group..so it wasn't homogenous..we went to a random place..this dock in the middle of the lake, which was SO ulu. we had to go behind the environmental science building, trek through some jungle, walk across a rickety bridge to finally get to the dock. what an experience. and it was SO dark cuz it was like 9++pm. i was freakin out! some other girls were too. haha. it was TOTALLY the setting for a horror flick! a bunch of college kids to go some ulu place in the jungle, sit in the middle of the lake, get eaten by some gigantic croc or monster or something.. heh. but after a while it was ok. the stars were nice..

anw i was really surprised at how open they all were with each other! like, dan and i just told them we were gonna hang out..no bible lessons or anything..but this guy, sam, just took the initiative and started reading verses and leading the group in discussions! and from there they all started sharing about themselves, their struggles, their fears about college.. i was like, wow. this group is really cool! so open and vulnerable with each other! and it was all unplanned! and they only met like a few days ago! God is really SO good. can tell that alot of them are pretty nervous about college..so was trying to encourage them and all.

ystdy i went to work on the newspaper with my co-news editor, hannah, who's also my roommate :) and today the first issue of THe Echo comes out! specially for the freshmen :) had an awesome international dinner..alot of pple cooked stuff from their own countries, so we had like ethiopian, kenyan, hungarian, chinese, italian..all kinds of food. yummy. we got to hang out afterwards..watched some random movie..started a massage chain. there was like a guy massaging my back, and two others massaging my hands. ahahaha. they were really good too. so yeah. hope i still get to see them around campus after classes start.

so been running around between the newspaper, orientation and meetings for my other job this week. getting a little more stressed each day about all this stuff i'm supposed to do this sem!!! 16 credits, news editor of the sch newspaper, coordinator for american ethnic scholars... omg. i didn't realize how much i'd have to do as coordinator of ethnic scholars..but oh well. it'll be fun. :)

i finally moved into my new room!!! set up our stackable furniture and stuff. will take pics soon!! getting my stuff from storage on sun. i think i have wayyy too much stuff to squeeze into our room with its new furniture n everything. plus my roommate has like 10 times less stuff than me! feel so bad. haha.

international orientation '08

OMG i just have to rave about the awesome new freshmen that we have!! because they really are quite...awesome!! haha. and this year there are TONS of asians!! as compared to previous years. so that's pretty exciting!!! mostly guys too! haha. 2 girls from korea..tons of guys from hongkong, (singapore. kind of), korea, japan. yayy!! and yes, other freshmen from other parts of the world too. it's been pretty fun..welcoming them yesterday..having the banquet..playing crazy games right after while we were still all dressed up..having small group. which was kinda intimidating cuz i'm a small group leader!!

but THANK GOD for my wonderful small group whom i love very much!! even though 2 of them are older than me (23 yrs old cuz they're transfers frm another school. one from HK, one from china), it went really well, and they're pretty talkative, which was so great for me. haha. one girl from korea but she lives in russia..she is like seriously, the CUTEST LITTLE THING!! hahaha. she like, bounced up to me and asked hopefully, 'are u korean??' and wasn't really that sad when i said no. another girl in my small group, from russia, kept calling me some korean name cuz she thought i looked like her korean friend. seriously! why does everyone think i'm korean?? but u know what, my new 'dream' is not to be american anymore..i wanna be korean!! ahahaha. i think they're SO cute. i mean the girls. cute little things! plus koreans are everywhere. and everyone loves koreans. so anyway yah. i really like my small group! all 5 of them!

summer pics

family at jere's BMT graduation! so patriotic :)

at soup restautant..celebrating my early bdae. :)

sentosa!

SINGFEST 08!!! best concert EVER!!! rawk on

joce bdae at Shokudo

clar's bdae at the ice skating rink. haha

dawgz last outing

me n joce :)

on the lu-ge! :)

jedi's 14th bdae. brothers grow up so fast!

back again!

it's been...3 months? heh. summer was..AWESOME! hanging out, watching every single movie there is (except the horror flicks), going gym with joce (new body!), family gatherings, SINGFEST!!, celebrating my bdae numerous times.. can't believe time flew by so fast!!

and now i'm back. in good old upland. arrived safely and happily. the flight back was..AWESOME!! they gave me premier tickets? dont know what those are but i like em! cuz United Air usually doesn't have TVs for economy class, so i came prepared with my ds, mags, books, laptop, etc. but to my utmost surprise, there were tvs on the back of the seat!!! so excited i called my parents to share my joy. haha. and the plane was like half empty! so there was no one around me!! so i could put up my legs, put down my chair, not be disturbed by anyone!!! it was total happiness. and from japan to chicago, they put me on BUSINESS CLASS!! without even telling me!! it was SUCH a nice shock. loved it!! huge reclining chair, soooo much space to fit 2 of me, nice meals..although the food was kinda wasted on me..prawns..seafood stuff..ugh. so i got more sleep than usual. it was one of the best travelling experiences. :) THANK GOD! cuz normally when i travel i either get cramps, flu, or painful ear popping experiences. but God is good!! and all my luggage arrived safely too!!!

kinda weird being back and seeing everyone again. but it's nice :) can't wait to see the freshmen though!! yayyy!!! going back to eating wraps and burgers and salads is kinda weird too. there's like tons of chips, sweets, snacks, cookies, etc..laying around at the daudts' (where i'm staying with 15 other girls)..but i'm determined to be healthy and avoid those like mad!! ooh must remember to take my medicine. :)

going home...

so...i'm leaving tomorrow morning..or rather, in 8 hours. can't say that i'm very excited to go home. dont know why. but at the same time glad to leave. feeling a little sick now. sore throat, cough, and some weird pressure on my ears. like the kind u get when the plane takes off, only i'm not on the plane. yet. ugh. hate travelling when i'm not in the healthiest state of mind. pray that God will heal me and give me strength to make it back home.

2 years have really flown by. half my college career is over! can't believe it. seems like it was just yesterday that i was a lowly freshman who was 'fresh off the boat' to the States. but wow. so much has changed. it's been a crazy experience.. wouldn't change anything for the world. really appreciate all these friendships i've made here. and i'm gonna miss my roomie! who's leaving for hongkong in the fall..so i wont see her till feb of next year. :( but hopefully parents will let me go to korea n visit her n other friends :) i love having friends from all over the world. u get to stay with them for free n visit their countries n have them show u around!

so..finished all my finals. all two of them. haha. one was hard cuz i was too lazy to study for it, one was easy cuz i actually studied. omg didn't do anything over the weekend. sunday night esp! sooo distracted by my neighbors. went to macdonalds at like midnight..hung around..then went to play guitar hero at the souphouse..got back at like 3am and had to finish my part for the group paper due the next day. heh. hardly any sleep this week. stupid presentation was during dinner time so the whole class had to miss dinner. what kind of scheduling is this??? anw went shopping today! yay. didn't really get anything cuz my suitcases are already pretty full. so...yeah! i'll be back in 2 days!!! :)

Last week of classes!!

summer is so close yet so far!!! totally no mood to study :(
this week was a week of 'lasts'..last cookout (with wengatz)..last manager meeting for TCA..last small group..last day of classes..
awww!
kinda glad to be handing off Taylor Christian Artists to other people..after being in it for a year, and being in charge of it for a year, i'm ready to move on to another ministry. loved being in it though. was a great experience. we interviewed 4 people and picked 2 to be next year's co-directors..i'm excited for that. they're gonna take TCA to new heights! :)

so next sem i'm gonna be super insanely sick of writing. THREE writing classes - scriptwriting (hopefully i get into it. they're setting up a new one since the other one was full and 20 more people need to take it), freelance writing and specialized reporting. PLUS i'm gonna be Co-NEWS EDITOR for the Echo!! our school newspaper!! exciting. yet scary. never been any sort of editor for any newspaper before!! but i'll be doing it with my next yr roomie, hannah, so we'll learn together. haha.

we moved out on sat!! packed everything i own here in 10 boxes plus a couch, a table and another chair..and 2 carpets.. now my room's soo....empty. feels like i'm on holiday, weirdly enough. haha. watched iron man last night! loved it. love superhero movies..they're just so awesome :) the car ride there n back was funny. party in the back! haha.

Hear You Me

international guys posing. hahaha. act cool.

international girls. love em! :)

girls from my wing..celebrating cassie's bdae at olive garden :)

me n capri in the car..on the way to flattop for senior night!

the girls again

norah, me n capri :)


whoa. realized i haven't posted in a longgg time! time has been flying by i guess. haha. so anyway..two weekends ago was Heritage Weekend at Taylor. grandparents came and flooded our sidewalks..we had a ceremony for our brand new memorial prayer chapel in honor of those who died in the accident last last year..
i helped out on WTUR..our sch radio! broadcasting a concert by some guys on campus. was pretty boring work. haha.
celebrated a friend's bdae at this restaurant, olive garden. super awesome italian food. super expensive too. but fun :)

watched Taylathon..our school's tradition - a bicycle race around the sidewalks of campus..8 pple in one team..one team from each class..each person passes off the bike to the other teammate without stopping. so they leap off the bike going at full speed and the other person runs and jumps on the bike. pretty crazy stuff. tons of crazy accidents. bikes going haywire into the crowd..bikers flying off the bikes and head first onto the concrete..tons of scratches and bruises to go around. makes u wonder why pple sign up for this kinda stuff. but entertaining to watch. haha.

had our annual Taylor Christian Artists spring worship night. stressed me out! i did all the details and organizing and everything..cuz adam was doing other stuff.. we were gonna hold it outside..but the forecast said it might rain..so last minute we held it in the student union..still got a pretty good turnout..went pretty well too. i'll miss being TCA co-director next yr..kinda. haha. it was fun while it lasted.

last wk..had Wok Night! Vietnamese food. yummy rice and pork and veggies. was really good. so fun to stir fry in our little pans in front of pple and pretend we know what we're doing too. haha. went for Sophomore Mugging..to get free mugs and get together with the rest of the sophomore class and have fun. and then rushed like mad for my final project for Digital Audio Production the rest of the week. the prof stressed me out cuz he said it usually takes like 25-30 hours to produce a 5 min audio clip. but i finished in 15hours. thank God. booked the audio suites and recorded my voice talents (luke, andrew and john, who were absolutely awesome voice actors!!!) and finally finished editing my proj on sunday. it was due mon. haha. and my prof laughed so hard at it. YAY! means i'll get a good grade. was trying to be funny..didn't know if it would work..but i guess it did! yay. my prof was like, benita, i didn't know u could be so funny!! haha. he's such a cool prof.

sat was ISS Senior Night!!! went to Flattop grille in fort wayne for dinner! yummy yummy stir fry. u get to pick what stuff u want in ur stir fry..rice..noodles..tons of different sauces..meats..other stuffs..and then they mix it n cook it together for u..and they have roti prata!!! which they call flat bread. sooooo happy. sooo full. but i exercised on mon so that made it ok. haha. so...we appreciated our 4 seniors who came..christine..doris..francisco..tryphena. gonna miss them next yr!!! such a happy/sad cycle. yay new freshmen every yr, but sad dont get to see the seniors anymore. oh well.
anw we sang them a song dorothy and i made up to the tune of 'time of your life' by greenday. haha. sung ah and capri made signs to go along with the words. they recorded us. heh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPHodEmxqQU

sun went to watch the play 'The Odd Couple'..was pretty funny n entertaining. kinda long though. went out for dinner afterwards. i love not eating at the DC on weekends..the food gets even worse then. although i have to say the food this yr has been pretty good. i discovered wraps. then i discovered TOASTED wraps. and omg. they are the best things EVER. i can eat wraps for lunch and dinner everyday.

can't believe i'm going home in NINE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!

High on life

me and my funny roomie wrapped in...unidentifiable ethnic costumes. haha

girlies on my wing! loves

watching the man repair our tire. we were pretty much high and giggly. he must've thought all international pple were weird. haha.

cartoon n me!

our band for the weekend at the youth retreat :)

at the bergwall hawaiian luau open house

capri, cartoon, me and natasha. high on shopping!

yup. our completely flat tire.

at the cookout :)

AAAHHHH!!! have i mentioned how much i love it here at taylor??? have i??? i so totally do. it's been sooo awesome this year. i wish summer wouldn't come so fast! but then i do wanna go home too. but i'll miss it here!! haha. it's so funny how taylor just grows on u. can't imagine going to college anywhere else but here :)

sooo. been super busy the last few days. as usual. wrapping up things for the end of the year..applying for new positions for next year..hopefully gonna get them. applied for coordinator of ethnic student scholarship program..news of the day editor..and maybe news editor for our sch newspaper, the echo. haha. i dont know how i became so enthu about being involved. i never was when i was in s'pore. been it's just so much more fun to be involved in stuff! :)

so last weekend was C-R-A-Z-Y! fri night had a cookout at the daudts'. yayy!! so much fun roasting hotdogs and marshmallows but not so much getting ashes in my eyes and smoke in my hair. but it was fun! made cookies and cards..hung around with people..went to amy's house and had random conversations while watching spanglish until like 1am with ben,luke,cartoon,dan, amanda,elizabeth..oh it was so crazy. haha.

so tired though. had to get up early the next morning to go shopping!!! in fort wayne. with sungah, capri, natasha and cartoon. it was SUCH an adventure! we had to go get presents for our graduating seniors :( so sungah drove a taylor car there..it was about 1hr away. and she was stressing the whole time. cuz that's just who she is. type A. but so adorable. haaha. i love my roomie! and so i gave her directions. and we made it there safe and healthy. went to flattop for lunch! it's this vietnamese (i think) stir fry restaurant. yummyness. shopped around for presents..as well as stuff for ourselves. hahaha. got cute cheap stuff at aeropostale! and old navy. yayyy. got the seniors journals, cards, starbucks personalized graduating gift mugs (sooo cute), necklaces. cuz they're all girls. haha. can't wait to give it to them!

and then..before we could leave the mall, we got a flat tire. so OMG sungah was freaking out. and this security guard just happened to be standing there RIGHT when we saw the flat tire and he was totally calm and told us to call campus safety and then drive to a parking lot and he'd change the tire for us. IT WAS SUCH A GOD THING!!! God is sooo good. He sent this guy to help us! so sungah was still freaking out but he was sooo nice and helped us change the tire in the rain while we stood around and talked to him. Thank God he was there! if not we prob wouldn't know what to do. so we got lost on the way back, and sungah passed all these stop signs without stopping, and she drove on the curb once..but other than that, we were fine. haha. crazy times. had a movie party in my room at night..watched 'disturbia'. omg. so scary. i didn't dare to go to the bathroom after that. cuz i'm just wimpy like that. haha. but i'm over it now. and then went to the youth conference outdoor worship concert. was fun. although we made it there when it was ending. haha.

sun went to youth conference chapel cuz wanted to hear the speaker. he was amazingly awesome. like seriously one of the BEST speakers i've ever heard. sooo good at connecting with the audience and bringing the msg across! i was totally engrossed in what he was saying. was a gd sermon too. about not getting angry at others just cuz they can't do things well. and i realized i do that sometimes..get mad at others cuz they don't do a good job at something, when i myself can't do it well either. does that make sense? haha. yeah. worship was good. youths running to the front and being crazy for Christ. totally reminded me of FCBC. awwww. wish it could be like this all the time. it struck me as a little hypocritical. cuz pple are always so dead during worship and then suddenly during big events like youth conference they become hyper and worship with all their might then when it's over they become dead again. why??? why can't we be crazy for God everyday?? sigh.

anw this week was crazy too. rushing to write research papers for class..preparing presentations for class..practicing for our fashion show for the event we're putting on called 'International Mosaic: Celebrating Culture', which was today. it went REALLY well! which surprised us all cuz there was sooo much tension and stress over it cuz everyone couldn't get along and all had different opinions on how it should be run. it was chaotic every single rehearsal. and i was just being myself, like guys, can't we just all get along? haha. mediator as usual. but sooooo glad lots of pple showed up and it went AWESOME!!! we had african, caribbean, hip hop dances, the gospel choir sang, pple played the drums, some pple spoke, and there was the fashion show. which i was in. ahahaha. i modelled some indonesian costume and then the japanese kimono. totally went out there and anyhow pose. was sooo fun :) my friend was like shouting, wo ai ni! cuz i taught her that and that's the only chinese she knows. haha. someone came up to me and said i have great stage presence. awwww!! :)))

i love random bonding times with girls on my wing :) sitting outside on the lawn (or what we call olson beach cuz all the girls sit on the lawn to tan)..watching one tree hill and the bachelor together..talking about random things.. :) me and dorothy wrote a song for the seniors to sing to them on senior night!! soo exciteddd. hope it makes them cry. hahaha. omg can't believe i'm only 3weeks away till summer!!! where did all the time go??? the weather is SOOO beautiful now. soooo gorgeous. i just wanna be outside all the time. i think the weather really does affect ur attitude. pple are generally happier when it's nice outside. :)

Miami Memories :)

working on the house in Georgia. the roof was practically falling apart. holes everywhere.

smashing up the sidewalk in front of a house in miami

enjoying yummy cuban food in miami. the brown things on the right that look like chicken were actually plantains. like cooked bananas. only better. haha

our group at our first meeting at Taylor

my work group's secret adventure to the beach!!! relaxation after a hard day's work :)

we got some muscles after all that hammering. haha. the guy next to me is superrr funny! reminds me of the grinch. haha

us on the roof of our house in miami. this pic appeared in our sch newspaper! and i look terrified! haha.

i loved working with these girls! :)

1/3 of our group with ex-president jimmy carter (on the extreme left) and his wife (extreme right). they look bored. haha. this was like their 20th pic of the day with complete strangers. fun.

our completed house!!!! so proud :) shingled roof and green paint n all.

me painting with joel. dont know why i wore that shirt. got paint all over it and it never came out.

working on our house :)

our group at the worksite in Georgia

the community centre where we stayed in at Georgia

Paul, the poor guy who broke his ankle. and he still manages to look so cheery.

carrying piles and piles of sod (disgusting grass) from the roadside to the house

our entire group at one of the finished houses in miami

getting ridiculously checked by the secret service at Jimmy Carter's church in Georgia. so entertaining.

be my Everything

spent the weekend at a retreat in springhill camp, indiana. left early afternoon friday and drove 2 1/2 hours to the campsite with 3 other people from TCA. we weren't too sure what to expect. but it turned out pretty awesome. got there early, set up the equipment.. i learned how to assemble a whole drumset from pieces. haha. our band led worship for about 60 middle school/high school kids (13-18 yrs old) 4 times this weekend. they were pretty awesome about it, considering the youth pastor described them as 'awkward during worship'. haha. such cute little kids. so hyper too. but so guai and good at listening when they have to! i was impressed.

most of our songs we improvised on the spot, cuz didn't really have time to practice. and it turned out fine. although i messed up a little on drums..haven't played that in a while. but it was really fun!!! to get to play in a worship band again. :) no stress too..cuz they were kids. no high expectations. just worshipping God. got to go shopping/exploring the nearby places on sat. bought cheap stuff from Gap :) been a while since i've shopped. was pretty surprised by how clean the campsite was. the toilets were like A+++ for camp toilets. and the cabins were pretty nice. minus the dead bugs on the floor. and the food was good. and i got to know the group better. so overall the weekend definitely exceeded my expectations :)

Really glad i went. cuz initially didn't wanna go. but adam wanted me to go so...i went. and i think God really wanted me to go. and i've been really blessed even though i sacrificed time and didn't manage to study at all for my exam on mon. He spoke to me in so many ways through the speaker. i thought it was kinda ironic that it took a speaker at a kids' retreat for God to finally get through to me. really enjoyed the opportunity to minister through worship.

so the theme of the retreat was Moment of Truth. and they had all these games about truth. really creative and entertaining. the speaker told us to complete this sentence: When God thinks about you, He's...
and i dont know why but the first word that came to my mind was 'disappointed'. and i was like, wow. that IS really what i think of myself. that i'm a disappointment to God. cuz.. I don't know..all the things i've been doing..or not doing..like spending time with Him..so that really struck hard. i dont wanna be a disappointment to God! and i dont think He is actually disappointed in me. but it just feels that way cuz i haven't really been living for Him.
and then this song came to mind. haven't heard it in a long long time. but it just re-appeared.
"You love me just because You love me, You love me for eternity
and all the times we had together, oh Lord it's just not enough
My first love, my heart's desire, is only You"
Lord this is my prayer!

and then he talked about the future and what jobs we wanna have. and i thought about how i wanted to be a journalist. but why? cuz i wanna meet celebs? get famous? travel the world? all these have nothing to do with God! and it reminded me of a conversation i had with a friend..and how she was sooo on fire for her future career cuz she wanted to do it for God. and then she asked me how journalism could glorify God, and i was kinda at a loss for words. i really dont know how i'm gonna use it for God, cuz obviously the media industry is pretty corrupted. but..i'm just gonna trust that wherever i end up, and whatever i end up doing..God will somehow use me for the furtherance of His kingdom.

and lastly he talked about Matt 6. where Jesus says that wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also. and it got me thinking...what IS my treasure? what do i consider precious to me? and then i realized..if one day i lost all my music, my clothes, my relationships with loved ones...i would be completely heartbroken. but my relationship with Jesus has been gradually deteriorating this semester and what have i done? Nothing. that says something about my priorities. i keep telling myself i have to do something about it, but i never do. does Jesus mean so little to me that i can't even give up 15 minutes of my day to spend with Him? 24 hours in a day and i spend it on tv, music, friends, hw, sleeping, eating. wow. i should stop wasting my time. i need to change. i want to change.

Lord help me find my joy and my strength in You again! Help me to live for You and not out of selfish ambition.
"keep my eyes fixed ever on Jesus' face. let not the things of this world ever soil me. i'll run till i finish the race."

Bubbly

Crazy busy week once again. Didn't get much sleep at all. But i slept in till 12 today, so that was good.
The weekend was good too..watched 'Leatherheads' at the theatre, which was pretty good :) sat and sun was consumed by photography sessions. took pictures of capri, sungah, holly and britni in the cornfields. was kinda cool. the photos turned out well. like those advertisements u see in the magazines of models prancing around in the grass with fading sunlight shining on them and looking absolutely gorgeous. i have really photogenic friends. haha. and then sun was spend in the photography studio on campus, taking pictures of julie, luke, dan, cartoon, dorothy and carly.

i freaked out and thought i needed 10 models when i actually only needed 2. haha. so i had plenty of choices to choose from. took like 500pics. was kinda fun telling pple how to pose and making them look good :) stressful though. hate hate hate my photography class critique session. when we put up our printed photos for all to see and criticize and encourage. STRESSFUL, i tell u. but they liked my pics. which was a huge relief. all these intimidating artsy art majors.

got back my audio script for my final project, which i wrote at like 3am in the morning. but the prof liked it! yay. now i just need to find 3 voice talents for me to record and edit. this producing side of media is kinda fun. time-consuming, but enjoyable :)

had a miami spring break team reunion! fun. miss those crazy people. rushed around campus like a madwoman on mon and tues to interview alumni for my article for The Echo this week. craziness. forced to attend boring lectures too. after experiencing writing for a sort of real newspaper, i'm not sure i love it. really don't think i wanna do this for the rest of my life. it's just...kinda dry. boring. plus it's a christian university newspaper.. not like we can do controversial, thought provoking pieces.

worked out a few times this week. dont know why but i've been pretty motivated. i'm gonna be fit! kind of. haha. still eating junk food. can't help it man. stupid DC filled with unhealthy food tempting me all the time. been stealing fruit from the DC though. good healthy fruit. went to visit friends at open house tonight. had homemade waffle cones n ice cream. yummy. and bergwall had awesome decorations..luau-style. practiced drums yesterday with a random group of pple..made me kinda happy to play with a band again after sooo long. :)

so..going to a retreat this weekend organized by some church for their youths - junior high and high school kids. Taylor Christian Artists is going to do worship for them fri-sun..and we couldn't get a band who was all free to do it, so me and my co-director had to go..but it'll be fun. i've been missing being in a worship band. looking forward to it!!! except i'll be the drummer instead of the guitarist. but still cool. there's supposed to be a tornado/storm warning tomorrow. so pray that we'll be safe driving 2 1/2 hours to the campsite.

Amazed

You are more beautiful than anyone, ever
Everyday You're the same, You never change, no never
How could I ever deny the love of my Savior
You are to me everything, all I need forever
How could You be so good
There is no one like You :)

So today in chapel the speaker was talking about how she kept asking God to forgive her cuz she had 2 abortions in the past. and every chance she had to confess her sins, she would. over and over again. and then one day God spoke to her and showed her that she had forgotten to forgive someone - herself. He showed that she was actually denying His forgiveness, the forgiveness that He gave the first time she confessed her sin. And i kinda felt like i was in the same boat as her. I keep asking for forgiveness from God multiple times because i'm so afraid He didn't hear or that repenting once would not be enough cuz i'm such a sinner. Learning to forgive myself and accept God's mercy and forgiveness in my life.

On an unrelated note...

Random list of foods i've been obsessed with ever since coming to Taylor:
-Sunchips. the best ever. whole grain original
-Granola. i eat cereal with almost every meal cuz there's nothing else to eat!
-Salsa. soooo obsessed with it last semester. goes wonderfully with Sunchips.
-Choc. my bond with chocolates is eternal and nothing will ever come between us.
-Wraps. yummy and healthy! still loving it. turkey,lettuce,tomatoes,mayo,american cheese.
-String cheese. ate like 4 pieces a day at the peak of my obsession
-Oranges. My current obsession. I ate two at lunch, one at dinner and three late at night all yesterday. haha. at least it's healthy. hope i don't die of vitamin C overdose though.

No one like YOU!

There is no one like You
there has never ever been anyone like YOU!
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord

today was an awesome all-campus worship night! it was really really really good for me. finally was able to really get into the spirit of worship instead of singing two songs and that's all. the worship night lasted for 2 hours..i went for 1 1/2 hours. was really good. awesome to be worshipping alongside fellow bros and sis! the chapel bands led worship. i think its really cool how they each have their own style. one's kinda acoustic..one's all about contemporary christian songs..one's obsessed with hillsongs..which is great for me cuz i miss hillsongs lots. so yeah! thank God for this opportunity to come back to the heart of worship :) today was just a great day. caught up with more friends about spring break..

class was fun. worked my butt off during aerobic walking. didn't know walking could be so tiring! felt good though. totally put on weight from eating so much over spring break! haha. digital audio production class was fun..we listened to each other's projects. haha. mine was a 60sec promo for my parents' Building Strong Marriages classes. pple liked it. so it was cool :) then waited around forever to drop Historic Christian Belief with the evil prof. but he got into an accident so he wasn't here at all this wk. you know something's wrong when a prof is in an accident and the class doesn't even care to ask. heh. no one even bothered to ask if he was ok! seriously. he brings out the absolute worst in all of us. oh well. dont have to deal with him anymore. i wish him all the best in his sad life. maybe one day God will change him. hopefully.

ystdy i interviewed this freshman girl for The Echo, our sch newspaper.. (btw i'm thinking of applying for News Editor for The Echo next yr! isn't that exciting???) anw..she fell down on campus n hit her head on the ice covering the sidewalk 3 wks ago, and she's now suffering from temporary memory loss! isn't that crazy?? makes me thank God for all His protection n blessings in my life :) she told me 3 hours from now she wouldn't really remember the conversation i had with her. whoaaaa. but she's going to therapy so she'll be well soon. hopefully. omg talking about freak accidents.. this guy i sorta know from taylor was lost in Ecuador during spring break!! was all over the news! he was lost in the wilderness for like a day and they had to rush him to the hospital when they found him. craziness.

and i watched the Oprah show today cuz this girl from Taylor was on it.. Whitney cerak.. she and a bunch of other taylor pple were in a fatal accident last yr n only she survived i think. and another family thought she was their daughter..and they took care of her n all. and her family thought she was dead.. case of mistaken identity. so weird! till they finally found out they got the identities mixed up. can't imagine how horrid it must have been for the family who thought their daughter was alive when she was actually dead. so Oprah interviewed her n her family.. and she also wrote a book which pretty much sold out here i think. coolness huh.

so.. i really love taylor. just wanted to say that. been catching up with friends here about our spring break adventures. i love everyone here!!! lots!! found a new roomie for next yr..so i'm gonna stay on my wing! yayy!! and keep my room! :)

random thought - u know what kinda job i would really LOVE? producing the soundtrack for movies. seriously. that would be second awesome next to forming a band and becoming famous. cuz i always LOVE finding songs for short videos that my friends or i produce..i just love it! it would be sooo fun to write the songs/tunes for movies...sooo cool. wonder how u'd get to that kinda job.