A Chris quirk

I like the toilet paper to roll off the top. It's a little incovenient when it rolls off the bottom. Don't know what it is about it but it's to the point if I'm at a friend's house and their toilet paper rolls from the bottom, I'll fix it. OCD? Maybe. I just like to think of it as making small differences in the lives of others. haha.

ok. I'm lame. Happy Friday!

I'm done!!!

I thought I would come out of my exam skipping. I was excited for sure, but too drained to show it. I came home and my parents grabbed my hands and we danced in a circle. They're funny.

My mom must have been very excited because she said she'd buy me dinner. ANYTHING I wanted. It was late, so I just wanted something quick. I suggested In n Out. AND a donut. She didn't flinch. :) Of course, it came with a warning that I was to go on a strict workout regime beginning next week. Now that my exam is over, I don't have an excuse to not exercise, so she says.

Some things I want to do now that I'm done...
-catch up with friends
-catch up on movies
-work on my appearance... I look like crap when I come in to work. I got ready this morning in 10 minutes flat.
-be active (why is the weather sucky now that I'm done??)

Thanks to all those who prayed and helped me through this time. A special thanks to friends for putting up with my neglect. :)

I'm an 8 hours a night kind of girl. I can sleep like the dead... I'll snooze til the very last minute. But lately because of studying it's been more like 5 hours. (which may still seem like a lot to some of you, but my body is breaking down because of it).

So imagine my enthusiasm when I get not one, but TWO phone calls at 6am this morning?!?! a;sldkfj. I didn't answer them but it broke me out of my sleep mode.

Check my email this morning and turns out it was my cousin from Korea. Stupid time difference. I think Daylight Savings made it 6am, rather than 7. She's going to be transfering to a school in Wisconsin so she wanted to swing by San Francisco before she settled in.

One more day...

By nature I'm a very shy person.

But sometimes when you're walking down the street and you make eye contact with a stranger, you can't help but smile. I love it when they say "Hi, how are you." Makes the world seem a little friendlier and smaller.

The thing is, I can't do the same with people at work or at the gym. I see them all the time on my way to the bathroom. Or in the elevator. Or in the locker room. I smile. But they just keep walking or going about their business. I'm too chicken to stop them and introduce myself. I keep telling myself, "you're new" but I've been here a year and half now.

5 more days til FREEDOM!!!

Sarah made me post this. I think the first one is pretty dang funny. She thinks that's the reason I like her...

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who have a split personality - cold as ice on the outside but hot as fire in the heart.

In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored.

You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please.

Your ideal relationship is comforting. You crave a relationship where you always feel warmth and love.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred.

In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

2 eventful things that make life a little more interesting (and frustrating):

Yesterday my family went out to dinner because it was my aunts' last night before leaving for Korea. We went out to dinner at Brothers Restaurant. Haven't had kalbi in so long. My sister and I had the job of cooking. My hand still smelled like kalbi even after I showered later that night. Anyway, after dinner we were headed for my mom's friend's house for dessert. Come to the car to find my mom had freakin left the windows wide open. So I reach in to open the door, but the car goes into "break-in" alert. The alarm starts sounding and as luck would have it, my sister didn't bring the disabler. Alarm is going off, engine isn't starting, the security guy comes over, and the whole time I'm thinking, How can you leave the windows open in a public parking lot in the middle of the Richmond district??? So we lock the door, alarm starts going off again, but now that we used the key to open, I guess the car recognized we're legit and decided to shut up.

Story 2:

This morning I walked into the office and went through my morning routine. Put my stuff down, take food and water bottle to kitchen. But on my way to the kitchen my eye started bothering me so I rubbed it. Next thing I know I can't see out of my right eye. I was praying my contact was still inside my eye as I ran to get a mirror. Nope. On the ground somewhere. So I was on my hands and knees looking for my contact at the same time praying my boss wouldn't walk in right then. Luckily my senior walked in and there we were, both on our hands and knees. I'm happy to report the contact is now happily swimming in my right eye.

some of the folks at KAPC 

We're total posers. We were making faces on the revolution... 

A week and half to go til my last exam, and I can't seem to focus. It's been a long run, and I know if I don't study now it'll be even longer. So I should be diligent. But it's so hard.

Great America was fun. The lines for the rides seemed shorter. But I think it's because I've gotten older. Waiting in line is tiring. The rides don't seem as thrilling. Or maybe I've just been to Great American one too many times.

For all you haters out there, Steven Curtis Chapman played both the "Saddle up your horses" and "Jesus is life, yeah, whoa oh oh oh" songs. :) They're such funny songs. I'll try to post some pictures later tonight.

I am so sore. I took a class at the gym yesterday. Squats. Dips. Pushups. Bicep Curls. Kicks. That about sums up the class nicely. I try to avoid lifting heavier weights in fear of bulking up, but the instructor said minimum 10lbs. I know that's not much, but when you're doing a lot of reps, it can get HEAVY.

Let me first disclaim what I'm going to say next by reminding you that korean "she-jang" clothes are not made from very good material and that my shirt was old by this time.

I got this button down shirt in Korea 5 years ago when I went to visit after high school. Being a relatively new, young, working professional, I didn't have very many work clothes. But one of my outfits was that button down shirt with a sweater vest over it.

Well, I was wearing my outfit, typing away at my cubicle when I felt a need to stretch my arms. I lifted my arms for a stretch when I heard the unmistakeable ZZZZRRRPPP! My shirt split down the middle. Man... talk about feeling like the Incredible Hulk. I was super embarassed and hope no one heard anything. All I remember thinking is, "I'm so glad I'm wearing this vest right now."

This is why I try to avoid lifting heavy weights. Well, this and just being stocky all my life. Light on the weight, more reps is what people tell me. I'm trying to stick by that rule.

My sister can still kick my butt in arm-wrestling though. Don't know where she hides her muscles, but she's tiny.

I mentioned to Sarah that I don't wear makeup to work on days I'm working out at the gym. It's just one extra step, when really, I go most of my day without seeing very many people anyway.

I don't know what it is about make-up and the attachment women have to it. It's like we get to cover up and hide behind things called translucent powder. (the irony of caking it on for the sake of looking natural) I remember girls in high school/college refusing to even run to the grocery store without putting on their makeup first.

I do admit, I hate seeing/talking to people at the gym. That's probably because I feel like I look my worst then. That's private time. It's when I can sweat and look my grungiest. I don't want to stand around making small talk while I'm sweating profusely and my face is beet red.

So if you happen to catch me on a gym/work day and I'm not wearing makeup, don't call me out on it. I know I don't look all that great, and I don't need you telling me I look like crap. :)

I used to be a thrower in high school. Shotput and discus. Don't be fooled by my size. I actually sucked. A lot of times we'd go to out of town meets... and just imagine, hundreds of throwers. And each person gets 3 throws each. So to minimize time, if you don't meet a certain distance, they don't bother to measure it. There were so many times our coach would put up results for the meet and next to my name, NM (No Mark). One time I finally got a mark. You don't know how happy I was to see a number next to my name. I hit the minimum 25' with the shotput. hahaha. But dude, some of those girls are monsters.

I mention my throwing days because we're having a mini-reunion this friday. Just a quick dinner, because I really need to study. But it'll be good seeing old throwers, and our old coach. He was quite a character. Loved WWF-style wrestling. He used to be a bouncer. We'd make fun of the way he walks. He kind of sways his body because he's so built...

I used to throw him dirty looks when he piled on the weights on weight training days. The worst was circuit training outside in front of the baseball players... Lying face down on the ground doing reps of "supermans." If you don't know what I'm talking about... man, that was embarassing.

I need to study hard this weekend because I'm spending all of Saturday at Great America for their Spring Celebration. I'll get to see one of my favorite Christian singers... Steven Curtis Chapman. I know some of you think this songs are kind of cheesy, but what can I say... I'm a big cornball.

I've been listening to his "Speechless" album. My favorite song...


What I Really Want To Say
(1 Jn. 3:18, Gen. 2:23, 24)
Steven Curtis Chapman


I say I love you, I say I need you
I try so many ways to say how my heart beats for you
I say I'm always thinking about you
There's no way I'd want to face this life without you
And even though these words come from deep inside me
There's so much more I don't have the words to say


[CHORUS]
'Cause what I really want to say
Is what the sun would say to the sky
For giving it a place to come alive
But my words get in the way
Of what I really want to say
Oh, what I really want to say


I know that sometimes my words can be as hard as stone
And sometimes my words have left you feeling so alone
So please forgive me and hear the words I'm saying now
I will spend my whole life looking for a way somehow
To let you know just how precious you are to me
I'll use the best words I know but I still won't say it all


It's like a tale too great to be told
It's something that my heart can only show
I'm gonna take my whole life
Just to let you know
What I really want to say
Oh, what I really want to say to you
What I really want to say
Oh, what I really want to say

Busan in the house!

My aunts are visiting from Korea. Well, they went on one of those Korean bus tours... probably make their way to Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas. But it was fun seeing them for a little bit yesterday.

They came bearing gifts of dduk, dried fish, and seaweed. hahaha. Wouldn't be a visit from Korea without those things. They also brought a bunch of "healthy" snacks from my grandma.

I love hearing that Busan satooree. It's so much fun. My aunts would keep laughing at me and asking, you don't know what that means, do you? I have to admit... they use some straaaaange words.

I got a letter from my sponsored child yesterday. It was addressed to "Uncle Chris." haha. It doesn't really bother me because I've received plenty of letters in my lifetime addressed to Mr. Chris Son, or Mr. Seo Jin Son. But... I sent this kid a (labeled) picture once before. Maybe he thinks my brother is Uncle Chris.

I always thought my korean name was less ambiguous than Chris. Seo Jin... that definitely sounds like a girl's name...at least to me it did. But it wasn't until I went on a 2-week program in Korea right after my senior year in high school that I realized, maybe not. My roommate on the program told me she had a guy friend named Seo Jin. She even showed me his senior picture. Engraved in gold in the corner spelled Seo Jin.

In my high school Korean class, our teacher signed us up for a pen-pal program. We would write letters in Korean and they would write back in English. The very first letter I received from my pen-pal, she wrote matter of factly, "oh, you are a boy. I like boys." Well, honey, so do I, but I'm definitely not one. Talk about awkward, having to reply with "Actually, I'm a yujah." I don't think we wrote too many times after that.

So now I have to either write my kid and tell him, sorry, it's actually "Aunt Chris" or send him another (labeled) picture without any boys in it.

Remembering happier days... 

I need to work on being nicer. I really do. Not just say I'll work on it... but really make the effort.

Sorry everyone. Give me 4 weeks and hopefully I'll have all the time in the world.