full marks... almost!

Helloooo...


I've been so long off my blog, I forgot my 2011 resolutions were still here!
So yes, even though it's like, 4 months too late, I shall review them and tell you how I fared.
  • no french fries
    I was almost... almost... successful. I had 5 fries in October. :(
  • maintain my grades
    Ah, this was achieved! hehehe...
  • exercise 4 times a week
    I wanted to be fitter and more toned. Well, all that zumba, salsa, and outdoor trips worked!
  • pick up a skill
    Does salsa dancing count? How about paddleboarding? I did take up photojournalism...
  • pick up a language
    ¡Sí, hablo español! Pero no muy bien. =P
  • impact lives
    What I do know is I met a great many people who've inspired and impacted me instead. :)
  • love God with my heart, soul, and mind
    The most challenging. By the end of 2011, I was shocked at just how shallow my love for God had become. It was a most humbling season.

So that was 2011. All these years, and this set of resolution was the most I've ever achieved. I'm happy, I'm grateful. A lot of things didn't turn out the way I had expected, but better.

And now for my 2012 resolutions... coming soon!

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rest

It's over.

My academic semester at the University of Miami ended yesterday. I powered through my finals, and moved all of my stuff -which turned out to be a lot - out of the room. Had a good 10-hour sleep last night after what seemed forever. And I did decent grocery shopping today. Yes, grocery shopping can be therapeutic.

I can't believe it's over just like that. I still remember how I felt the day I arrived to a very empty room, hungry and extremely exhausted. I knew no one, didn't know where things were, and had a huge cloud of uncertainty over me.

Yesterday when I left, the very empty room came back. But this time, I was full from a beef gyro, and was running on adrenaline. I was saying goodbye to a bit too many people, walked to places without hesitance, and had a shower of God-blessed confidence even though the rest of my time here is still in a blur.

Amazing how much can happen in 4 months. Dear God, I thank you. Some things you gave, some things you took away. But I have been and am still being purified because of all that.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

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thanks for nothing

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. - Melody Beattie
Today, I walked an hour to the home of a family I've never met before, and sat down to feast with them. Crackers, spinach dip, cheeses, turkey, mash potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, turkey stuffing, key lime pie, pumpkin pie, fruits, and coffee. I'm pretty sure I missed out many more. It's ridiculous, but ridiculously good! Oh, and the family was really nice and warm too. No seriously, I'm glad I was matched to this home. =)

It was in truth a lonely day for me.
No family.
No one from Malaysia.
Roommate left for home.
Friends on holiday or at their own Thanksgiving plans.
The whole campus is like a ghost town.

But I'm thankful.

Encouraged by two articles from Boundless, Thanks for Nothing and The Best Way to Live, I choose to be grateful.

For God's faithfulness, grace and love.
For my family's unfailing love.
For my baby brother on the way!
For everyone who's not here today but has been there for me every other day.
For the family who welcomed me into their home for the day.
For being denied the good because the best is on the way.
For not having everything that I can be grateful for what I do have.

No matter that the origin of today's festival is less than noble, it's still good to take time to be grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving! =)

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designs

I'm writing this to take a break. I've been sitting here since 2pm, and it's now 6pm. Designing newspaper pages is waaayyy harder than anyone imagined it to be. Add to that the fact that I'm not as artsy-fartsy. So here's a grand thank you to all designers in the publishing industry!! I appreciate your works!

So anyway, it's just another Thursday. I'm in the computer lab listening to mouse clicks and keyboard taps while this guy down my aisle says random last names to a guy on the other end of the line. It's pretty funny when in the past 30 minutes all you hear is, "Johnson... Walker... Yes, with a 'W'... Finch..." Who are these people? And what is this guy organizing?

I've been looking for pictures for my newspaper pages and came across this nice painting of paddleboards.

by Pristine Cartera-Turkus
And a paddleboarding-in-action one by another artist...
by Michelle Bower
I'm intrigued by Michelle Bower especially, because she lives in the Cayman Islands, and what she does is paint the scenes around her. Now isn't that the life!

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trapped

So I feel like I should update my blog more often. But uh... I don't have any ideas at the moment for themes of topics. Any suggestions? =D

On the other hand, I was driving on the North-South Expressway over the weekend and noticed the warning signs for speed trap zones. Not that I didn't notice them before, but this time I really thought it over. And I wondered...


If it's supposed to be a speed TRAP 
[any device, stratagem, trick, or the like for catching a person unawares]





...why in the world are you letting us know that it's there?

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