| Upsaid journal entries and comments by user: kgrp |
| (File created on: September 14 2005) |
| Upsaid.com |
| ah poopie!!! |
today has been made of suck.
it really wasn't that bad, i actually enjoyed it a lot, but for two incidents.
the first? well... lemme say that i've learned a valuable lesson - never ever stick your hand inside of a photocopier. while most of the coils are made of rubber so that they can feed your paper through, i happened today to try to unstick the jammed paper from the one and only hot coil that i'm assuming fuses the toner to the paper. the result? toner all over my hands (from the paper that hadn't been through the hot coil yet) and a melted finger.
y'know how when you burn plastic with an iron or something it just sorta melts to the side? that's what the skin on my forefinger looked like. just all melted over to the side!! it was insane... and rather interesting and i showed it to everyone! and then... the heat started kicking in and i couldn't stand it, so i had to ice it for about 3 hours to relieve the heat... i probably shouldn't have done so, because that resulted in the biggest blister ever! on my right hand pointer finger!! so you can imagine what my first day of teaching/instruction/writing on the white board was like.... yah...
so i'm sitting there at school, late after most everyone had gone home, working on office stuff to help out, and i finally decide to throw a ton of work into my backpack (can i look any more like a student?) and work at home, because at least it'd be in front of my tv and i could get two things done at one. i figured i'd post about my finger...
and then the second incident.
or should i say - accident.
yah... *sigh* someone hit chubby today! I GOT REAR-ENDED!!!!! ah, suck! i was sitting there at a stop light, minding my own business, waiting for the light to turn green. i'm in the right lane, there's another lane to my left, and then there's the left turn lane to the left of that. the green left-turn-arrow lights up, and the cars two lanes over start moving, and i glance over that way to look at them.
all of a sudden, WHAM! i was thrown forward, cuss words flying outta my mouth. i had been hit by this big lexus suv behind me.
HUGE dent in chubby, the poor thing... and the lexus suv barely showed the scratch. the good news is that the lady who hit me seems really really nice and her husband called me and said that they'd take care of everything, even whatever insurance doesn't take care of. so... even if their insurance would pay for my rental they'll pay for it up front so that i don't have to go through any inconvenience of putting up the money and then waiting for reimbursement, etc. and they're really eager to take care of everything. so that's the good news, i suppose. the silver lining in a cloud that shouldn't be. but, at least it will ease the hassle for me. and it's nice that i don't have to deal with jerks.
but, an injured finger and an injured car. booo! i think i'm gonna go to sleep early and just pray for a better tomorrow. things can only go up from here, right? =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on September 13 2005 at 9:46 pm |
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| 2 comments: |
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Boooo. I'm sorry to hear about your poopy day. I hope you and your car get better soon!
I'm amazed you were even able to type out this post with that finger. Take care!
P.S. do we get to see a picture of melty finger? I'm such a voyeur. |
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Comment posted by kat (ip: 66.65.134.150) on 09 / 14 / 2005 at 6:24 AM
kat's E-mail: datkatskat@yahoo.com
kat's website: http://www.kathykhoo.com |
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Bleh! That is a day made of suck. I've done the melty finger thing - it's really weird, huh?
By the way, lemme share with you a lesson Leslie and I have learned from all the People's Court we've watched during our lunch hours: GET IT IN WRITING.
No matter how sweet and honest these people may be, get them to write down and sign the agreement. Unless you're willing to gamble and risk paying for the repairs yourself.
Be well! |
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Comment posted by laura (ip: 69.23.133.56) on 09 / 14 / 2005 at 8:12 AM
laura's E-mail: laura@camacho.tv
laura's website: http://www.camacho.tv |
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| these banaags, b-a-n-a-a-g-s |
flo & frederick & john came out to visit on sunday night, and EVERY SINGLE TIME flo's phone rang, everyone started bustin' their groove thang =) they had no idea i was on video mode, either, they thought i was just taking a pic =)
click here to watch the video
hahaha... and then cheeno busts out with the robot...
edit - i updated the movie file at 4:20 today so if you saw it in the morning it's oh-so-slightly different... so you might wanna watch it again. then again, it might be something only my cousins and i care about...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on September 13 2005 at 7:05 am |
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| gary & madeline |
madeline is the cutest little friendliest girl, the granddaughter of olga and ramon. she wanders around the japanese church giving out hugs to people and talking, telling her stories to everyone. she was talking to me last week (which i didn't understand a word at all!) and then flexed her arm and pointed to it and said it was a muscle. then she wanted to see our muscles, so i flexed my arm and she was like, "muscle!" and then gary flexed his arm, and she exclaimed, "scary! that's a BIG muscle!" heheheh... it's just so cute to see them next to each other, she's so miniature!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on September 10 2005 at 9:51 am |
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| birthday balloons |
i just came back from camping and it was really really fun but i'm also really really glad to be back home... the teachers found out it was my birthday and they got me birthday balloons (i LOVE the butterfly ones!) and tied it up at the main campsite and everyone sang to me - the song of choice was "16 candles" because that's how old they say i look =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on September 09 2005 at 10:06 pm |
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| gym nights |
last week, kat came and played basketball with us at gym night. today is wednesday, which means there's gym night again. i'm not going, though, because in a couple of hours i'm gonna head down to carlsbad with my school to go on a beach camping trip - we're going for 3 days, which means that i'm gonna celebrate my birthday (tomorrow, folks!) out there on the beach with the kids.
actually, that just means that this saturday night, we'll be getting together at my house. food and games =) so if you're reading this, you're invited! just let me know if you're coming so i can prepare food-wise.
and i'm sad... in a few hours i won't be 25 anymore, no longer a quarter of a century, no longer in the exact middle of my twenties... 25 is supposed to be a milestone - i wonder what 26 will bring =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on September 07 2005 at 6:56 am |
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| One comment: |
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hey Kimi....HAPPY BIRTHDAY (although I know you won't see this until too late).
Hope you had a good birthday/camping trip. |
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Comment posted by BRY (ip: 160.39.26.58) on 09 / 08 / 2005 at 5:46 pm
BRY's website: http://blackredyellownyc.blogspot.com |
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| old skool |
kat was here for a whole week and then merv and ange drove down for the long weekend, and alan just came back to town a couple weeks ago. rita was here for the weekend too, so i got my old friends back for one weekend =) we hung out on friday night (where i passed out on the couch with everyone laughing around me...) and then again on saturday night at the vault, and then we had brunch on sunday morning at mimi's before everyone went their separate ways...
it sure was nice to see everyone again. we need to have our 'reunions' a little more often =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on September 06 2005 at 7:14 am |
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| One comment: |
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| That's so cool! Wish I could have been there. |
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Comment posted by Leslie (ip: 64.241.37.140) on 09 / 06 / 2005 at 12:11 pm
Leslie's website: http://www.camacho.tv |
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| take it all off! |
well... ten inches, at least...
inspired by jimbomiah's donation, and just plain frustrated by my long hair, and also spurred on by trying to not look like a 16-year-old student (or 16-year-old teacher, as my students have dubbed me), i decided to cut my hair. i figured that the hair might as well go to a good cause, seeing as how i've been growing it for years and i shouldn't let the harvest go to waste =)
kat did the honors...
here's me before-hand trying to take a pic of how long my hair was
a much better attempt at showing the length of my hair
kat said cutting my hair was like sawing through a rope... yah, my hair is THICK!
the braid
my haircut in the raw - after the ponytail was chopped off
the finished product. thanks kat for shaping it for me =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on September 03 2005 at 6:25 pm |
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| 3 comments: |
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| Cute! |
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Comment posted by Greg (ip: 68.109.80.169) on 09 / 04 / 2005 at 9:04 PM
Greg's website: http://gregiskhan.blogspot.com |
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| You cut your hair too? hahaha. i like it :D looks cute on you. |
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| Comment posted by Von (ip: 69.235.198.143) on 09 / 06 / 2005 at 2:19 AM
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| i like your hair a lot Kimi! |
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Comment posted by BRY (ip: 128.59.186.65) on 09 / 06 / 2005 at 3:56 PM
BRY's website: http://blackredyellownyc.blogspot.com |
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| sea lions |
another shot taken from my kayak... i played with the settings, cause the buoy is really green but i like this effect better.
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| Entry posted by kgrp on September 02 2005 at 7:18 am |
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| fire fire fire, 'moke 'moke 'moke! |
yes, i'm a pyromaniac, but i'm not nearly as bad as gwyn...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on September 01 2005 at 1:48 pm |
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| One comment: |
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| HEY! im not that bad |
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| Comment posted by (ip: 68.234.189.215) on 09 / 03 / 2005 at 3:40 pm
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| rabbit rabbit! |
yes, it's the first of the month, and i've stolen all your luck!
HA! *evil smirk*
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| Entry posted by kgrp on September 01 2005 at 1:42 pm |
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| who ate it? |
on saturday while we were at the beach i was lying down taking a nap in the sun and i woke up when i heard some ruckus happening to my side. i sat up to see ryan, david, and e-mac each with a li'l crab in their hand, tongues sticking out, ready to eat 'em. i think they were all playing chicken with each other seeing how far each of 'em would go, when david finally said, dood, i'll eat it!
so i video'd him popping the little animal into his mouth and chewing it - GROSS!! ryan and marc and everyone else were squealing like little girls... it was funny =) maybe i can post the video sometime...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 31 2005 at 8:36 am |
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| pelican |
here's a picture i took from the kayak in the santa barbara harbor
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 29 2005 at 11:45 pm |
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| my summer is officially over |
in about 50 minutes, i will be at work. it's my new job at grove high school, and i'm excited about it...
it's just that my summer is now officially over. the next few non-work moments will be spent preparing for work, and my alarm will be constantly set for 6:55am for the next 9 months. *sigh* but i suppose this is what normal people who don't have summers did for the last 3 months, so i don't really have anything to complain about. in reality, i know that this past summer was something special that most people didn't have, so i'm grateful for it. and going back to work reminds me how much i enjoyed the time off from it.
but enough about that. i need to spend the next few moments reading my devotional, changing, brushing my teeth, and putting on aloe vera on my sunburned face. after which i'll do my best to look as awake as possible and i'll head on over to redlands. wish me luck!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 29 2005 at 7:14 am |
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| camping |
i bought my first tent! it's a coleman rock springs 8-person tent and it even has a front porch! yah, that screened area in the front is so you can sit outside the tent and be bug-free... nice, huh? and the best part (and this is where my chinese side shines!) is that i got it for $60 off, which is roughly 40% off! sweet deal... and then we got to use it this past weekend camping at mcgrath beach near ox-nard =)
yup, that's right, summer beach camping! it was fun... and of course, more pictures to come this week =)
as for me, it's nice to be home and in my bed, and i'm ready to knock out right now and go to sleep (and it's before 10 pm! wow...), so i'm off!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 28 2005 at 9:58 pm |
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| more nephews |
last week was cole's birthday, and i went over to their house to drop off a few gifts (which were unwrapped when i brought 'em, hence the borrowed christmas bags in the background =P), just some coloring books (i gave three so that the boys wouldn't fight over 'em) and the like... and one of the coloring books came with 'the incredibles' tattoos! taylor thought it was cool so she put one on and then of course when the boys so that, they wanted it too, so she helped griffin & cole each put one on...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 24 2005 at 9:41 pm |
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| idaho is not a european country |
=) alan's back... i picked him up from LAX around 12:40am this morning and he wanted to go to taco bell, not in-n-out =) unfortunately, we tried to hit up the one in ontario and both options were already closed, so we had jack-in-the-box instead...
turns out he didn't have his keys to his apartment on him, so he came back home with me to sleep on the couch... but of course, we stayed up late, talking, and catching up. not so much catching up as sharing funny stories with each other.
which, of course, is where i got the title for this entry... some daft idaho-an girl was just a tad short on the intelligence side, and, well... yah. apparently she made up for it physically but i wouldn't know, that's just the report from the guy who says everyone there was hot. so, i guess we'll never know =)
mostly we just laughed and shared stories while watching each other eat... just like old times, like he never left.
those are the best friendships, y'know, when after 4 months you pick up without skipping a beat... a little bit of catching up, but mostly just making the new memories. good times, good times...
but now it's almost 4am and we're both way sleepy so i guess the stories will have to wait till tomorrow/later today =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 23 2005 at 3:55 am |
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| woot! Glad my bro is back home safe and sound! |
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Comment posted by les (ip: 69.23.133.56) on 08 / 23 / 2005 at 6:24 am
les's website: http://camacho.tv |
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| wear down a path |
i went to the grove today and heard Pastor Lambert's sermon. i thought he had something interesting to say.
he was sharing a story how he, along with his siblings, loved to run to their grandparents house all the time, and they path was so trodden (hehehe... i like that word!) that you could tell the way from one house to the other. their relationship with their grandparents was strong and you could tell that they loved visiting just by seeing the path that had worn down.
he was saying that if they had never built the relationship and visited their grandparents so often it would have been difficult to go visit, but luckily they had worn the path down. putting it in contemporary terms he said on the freeway the road is smooth and well-traveled but the shoulder is full of trash and debris that clutters the road, and you can tell it isn't driven on very often.
then he said, if you build up a relationship with God, you are creating a path to Him, and everytime you travel it the path gets more established. in your time of need, when you want to hear God's voice in your life, it is that much easier for Him to come visit you - you've prepared the way for Him to be in your life. as opposed to having all the debris of the untraveled shoulder clutter the way, you've cleared the path to hear his voice. in fact, He might be trying to get to you but you don't hear it through all the clutter.
so... build up your relationship with God, and clear a path between you and Him. he paraphrased Joshua 3:5, leaving us with this lesson: make yourself holy today, and God will work wonders in your life tomorrow.
happy Sabbath!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 20 2005 at 7:26 pm |
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| introducing Puen.net & Banaag.net! |
okay, so i admit it, i'm a nerd.
ok, i guess that's not so much of an admittal since it's a generally accepted fact. but what's cool about being a nerd is that i spend time learning html and css and doing projects like webpages, which apparently you use, since you're here reading this right now.
but the latest incarnation of my nerd-dom is here at my new family websites:
unfortunately i don't have a cool puen logo like i do for the banaags, but that's okay. and there's not that much up on the pages right now because i just bought it, but since i've forked over all the dough to buy the domains and get 'em hosted i'm so proud of myself for taking this first step i had to share it with y'all.
so yah, i'll be spending much time on my computer getting things up and running, and one of these days they'll be all grown up and full fledged websites and it'll be coolness, dood. can't wait to see my babies grow up =) (and yes, i just referred to the websites as my kids... hahahahahah...)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 18 2005 at 6:31 pm |
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| gangsta nephew |
every time i go over to carlo/cheeno/ate janelle's house justin eyes me warily and won't kiss me hello, and won't talk to me. i thought he was just shy of strangers but one day i brought a friend over and justin kept on talking to him and showing him all his books and toys. everyone thought it was so cute and they said, "wow, ryan must be good with kids!" i'm thinking... what about me?
last week i stopped by during lunch time and justin refused to kiss me again. while i'm sitting there, though, he pulled a picture of a horse off the fridge and ran towards me with it. "HORSE!" he exclaimed loudly =) and i was so surprised he said something to me i said, what? so then he started showing me all the pictures on the fridge and i was asking him questions about it and then he showed me his dictionary. i was pointing at the pictures and asking him, "what's this?" i pointed to the picture of the beach, and he said, "sandcastle!", and then i pointed to the bed, and he said "sleep!" it was so cute =)
then later, he put on his hat and stood there with it covering his eyes, so i started with the pictures...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 17 2005 at 10:39 am |
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| sanrio surprise |
i think this photo speaks for itself... and this photo is dedicated to kat and rayme =) hahahaah...
oh, and what you don't see is the big huge hello kitty face on the hood... NICE!!!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 16 2005 at 2:25 am |
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| 4 comments: |
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| Oh the memories!!!...and the humiliation. I'm trying to find it on ebay so I can purchase it and pimp it. |
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Comment posted by rina e (ip: 67.153.166.38) on 08 / 17 / 2005 at 4:39 PM
rina e's E-mail: rinae@gojane.com
rina e's website: http://www.gojane.com |
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| fear the kitty. she will own you. |
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Comment posted by ds (ip: 12.155.228.3) on 08 / 18 / 2005 at 12:51 PM
ds's E-mail: dsoliven@gmail.com
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All i can hear is this eery, hello-kitty-ish voice in my head, saying (or rather giggling):
"Tee hee! Heeee heee!"
It...it sounds a lot like...RINA E! |
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Comment posted by kat (ip: 66.65.134.150) on 08 / 18 / 2005 at 2:29 PM
kat's E-mail: datkatskat@yahoo.com
kat's website: http://www.kathykhoo.com |
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hehehehh... i can hear it too!
can you imagine? rollin' w the radio blastin, windows down, while sportin' the matchin beanie! oh yeeah =)
fear the kitty indeed! |
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| Comment posted by kimi =) (ip: 69.229.10.80) on 08 / 18 / 2005 at 5:30 PM
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| where Jehoshaphat was really stupid |
for my devotional today i read 2 Chronicles 18. it's rather... well, it shows both kings' stupidity.
first off, Jehoshaphat king of Judah tells Ahab king of Israel that they will be as one, and that they will join forces to go into battle.
AFTER saying that, then he asks - hey, let's consult some prophets. so then Ahab consults 400 prophets who act as yes-men to him. (at first i thought that they were false prophets, but then later in the chapter the "real" prophet calls them prophets, but says the Lord put lying spirits in their mouth... hmmm...)
Jehoshaphat realizes that these people are saying what they wanna hear, so he asks again, isn't there a man of God around that we can consult? Ahab responds by saying there's another one but he doesn't like consulting him because he always says bad stuff. Well, they end up asking Micaiah anyways, and he says exactly the same thing as the other men, to which Ahab responds angrily that he only wants to hear the truth from him.
and so Micaiah tells them the truth - Israel will be scattered with no master. basically, the king of Israel will die is what he's saying here.
and here's the stupid part. after begging for the truth, and hearing that he'll die, Ahab king of Israel imprisons Micaiah 'until his safe return', and then Ahab and Jehoshaphat - even after all the consulting of prophets - go into battle anyways. no, i haven't said the stupid part yet. that's the part where Ahab tells Jehoshaphat, hey, let me shed my armor and YOU dress up like me. and Jehoshaphat does it!
ok, imagine you just refused to go into battle without consulting prophets. and after hearing about 400 of them say you'll be successful you still are yearning to hear from a real prophet of God. and he comes along and tells you what you wanna hear and you say, "no, i want the truth!" and he says that the king of Israel will die.
do you seriously go into battle anyways and wear the king of Israel's battle armor while he poses as a regular soldier?
of course, the army of Ramothgilead has instructions to ignore everyone else and only try to kill the king of Israel. didn't see that one coming, eh?
like i said, that chapter is a big display of stupidity...
how does it end? i guess you'll have to read it yourself.
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 15 2005 at 12:50 pm |
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| so the theme for the summer is patience |
after going to the interview at this montessori school, i was sitting by my phone unwilling to go to maria's (!!!! can you imagine that?!!?!) because i didn't want to miss the phone call... perry finally convinced me to go since it was already 6pm and let's face it, i could've been sitting at home all weekend long waiting for a phone call that was really gonna come on monday.
so... off to maria's we go... and we were talking 'bout lotsa other stuff, but during one lull in conversation, i said, "that's the cruelest joke if they don't hire me." i was thinking, after the highs and lows of japan, and then thinking that everything fell into place when i called the school, that if they didn't hire me when it seemed like this was the perfect job for me, well, then... see, a cruel joke.
perry was like, 'dude, you're still thinking about that?!??'
he was telling me that i just need to let go, not plan, and if God could present this opportunity after japan, then if this doesn't pan out, then an even better opportunity would present itself. c'mon, i'm not the one planning my life anyways, right?
right... but then later in the meal, during another lull in conversation, i just started laughing and said, well, i guess the theme of this summer is patience. apparently, i needed to learn it, and i'm getting AMPLE opportunities in which to learn patience, not to rush things, and just let things happen.
it's not that i'm impatient. it's just that i want to know! hahahaha... maybe i need to let go of that control of wanting to know...
anyways, back to my story. so after maria's i decide i'm too tired to do anything else and i'm gonna go home to take a nap. lying there on my bed, i heard my cell phone start ringing. i jump up to answer it, thinking, 'this is it!'
of course it wasn't. it was my mom.
so i'm telling my mom about the interview earlier this day and telling her that i haven't heard back yet, etc, etc, etc, and then the house phone starts to ring! i answered it on the second ring and basically just closed my cell phone, hanging up on my mom (sorry mom!) and it was gina from the school.
she started off by apologizing about not calling earlier, but she had taken her kids to some wildlife preserve and didn't have cell phone reception there. then she's talking about how much fun they had there, and then the kids wouldn't let her leave until she had jumped in the water with them, but it wasn't the best conditions, and she was talking to her kids in the background, etc. i'm thinking... wow, okay, patience, i can talk about other stuff, no problem! so i actually just talked with her about that stuff, even though in the back of my head i just wanted to say, HEY, SO WHAT IS IT? YES OR NO?
then she asks me, "what did you do earlier today? you totally won her over! i don't know how you, hm..., manipulated that because she is a very hard person to win over, but she loved you!"
so... yah... in the end, she offered me a job and i accepted and she said that she'll call me on monday sometime to draw up a contract with me and that everything would be good but to relax over the weekend, and i thanked her for making my weekend, and then said, no, you've made my week! and she said, no no no no, thank YOU! and then she said, it definitely was providence that got us together. there were other qualified individuals who interviewed but she knew from the beginning that i was a kindred spirit (hehehe... anne of green gables, anyone?) and she was pretty much set on me once i said that i knew what montessori was.
so there you have it. after everything i've gone through since february or so, this is what it comes down to - no, i'm not moving out the area, not for a long time. instead, i have a job at a wonderful school that reflects my educational philosophy! and they want me! and they'll pay to get me trained and credentialed! after all my worrying and the ups and downs of everything it turns out that God had a plan for me after all, one that was way better than anything i could imagine.
God is definitely Good. praise is definitely in order. thank you too for all your support =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 12 2005 at 8:11 pm |
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| 7 comments: |
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**blink**
Wow, God is cool. Congrats on the new job!
**smile** |
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Comment posted by Ramone (ip: 218.42.225.7) on 08 / 13 / 2005 at 8:12 AM
Ramone's E-mail: fulfilledinjesus@yahoo.com
Ramone's website: http://art-for-jesus.blogspot.com |
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:)
:)
:)
:)
Nothing but smiles for you! |
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Comment posted by kat (ip: 66.65.134.150) on 08 / 13 / 2005 at 7:04 PM
kat's website: http://www.kathykhoo.com |
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| soo happy for you kimi! god has a funny way of working things out huh? take care and miss you! |
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| Comment posted by susan (ip: 70.107.18.153) on 08 / 13 / 2005 at 10:18 PM
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See, Loma Linda is a magnet. It sucks you back every time you leave or want to leave. It's gonna work on Kathy, watch!
Congratulations on the job. Enjoy the roller coaster ride. |
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Comment posted by Grandmaster DT (ip: 71.103.162.217) on 08 / 14 / 2005 at 1:13 AM
Grandmaster DT's E-mail: dtongpo@gmail.com
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| kimi i'm so happy for you. it's so encouraging to read about your experience and see how everything worked out. keep me posted! |
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| Comment posted by kar (ip: 206.169.63.77) on 08 / 14 / 2005 at 11:29 AM
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Agh, Kimi, I am crying! Yay! This is so awesome!! GOD is so awesome! And YOU are so awesome for letting him show his awesomeness in your life! and sharing your story with us!
Agh!
:)
I'm so stoked for you! I did a lot of research into a lot of different types of school, and Montessori (especially at the upper levels) was one of my favorites. Too cool.
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Comment posted by laura (ip: 69.23.133.56) on 08 / 14 / 2005 at 3:26 PM
laura's E-mail: laura@camacho.tv
laura's website: http://www.camacho.tv |
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Kimi,
You are right - God is Good! Congrats on the job. Patience is a hard virtue to learn.
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| Comment posted by Noreen (ip: 67.170.93.242) on 08 / 14 / 2005 at 4:48 PM
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| a montessori high school? |
on friday, exactly a week ago, i was calling around to all the charter schools in the area. i was looking at alternative learning situations as my first choice in finding a job here in the states because i was no longer going to japan. i was able to contact two charter schools in the san bernardino district and also another school in the redlands district. the second one i found in redlands had a recording - the office was only between 9-12 m-th, so call back some other time. i made a note to myself to call them monday morning, and then i continued calling charter schools in orange county as well as emailing my resume to as many international schools in spain as i could find.
well... on monday morning, i woke up exactly at 9 am. my first thought was, hey, it's 9, i should call that charter school in redlands! but while i was booting up my computer to find their number again, i realized i should do my morning devotional first. after all, i can't let God outta the picture now that i'm not going to japan. in fact, i should keep up the practices that helped me make that decision, right? so i open up my Bible and it falls open to the end of Matthew 26, where it talks about trusting God because he clothes the lilies of the field and feeds the fowls of the air. i'm thinking, wow, this is the best verse to read before i start my job hunting today!
so, after reading those verses, i picked up the phone and called grove high school, and my first question is: what makes your school a charter school? what sets it apart from a public high school?
the principal started answering my question by saying they were a montessori high school, to which i replied, oh, i'm familiar with montessori, i spent my first two years of school in a montesorri! she continued talking about the different benefits to students, and when i realized she was giving me the student angle, i thought it would be good to not lead her on thinking i'm a prospective student, so i asked her, by any chance, would there happen to be a math position available? i'm a newly credentialed math teacher and i'm interested in schools such as yours.
she responded by saying, what made you call me?!
i thought she was mad... possibly the whole posing as a student thing... or something. i stumbled over an answer saying i was interested in alternative learning...
and she interrupted me - no, don't take me wrong! i sound this way because i just lost my math teacher and i'm desperately looking for a math teacher that is familiar with montessori methods.
and then the clincher: she said, "you're an answer to prayer!"
to which i replied, "that is exactly what i needed to hear right now!"
i think after that she remembered that as a charter school, she is still a public school institution, so she did not go into depth about what she said, but i think both of us feel that this the answer to prayer that both of us are looking for.
i went in immediately for an interview that monday morning and ended up being there for over 2 hours while she gave me an overview of the entire high school and middle school. i came back on wednesday for a second interview for which i stayed another 2 hours talking about the different aspects and responsibilities and just doing second interview stuff. and then they called me on thursday and asked for my SSN and DOB so they could look up my credential information, and also to ask me for my college transcripts. i walked in on thursday morning with all my paperwork, and then found out that my last principal gave me a glowing review (thank you, mr. rocha!).
but the only hang-up they have is that someone on the governing board is a math professor at CSUSB, and she has a concern about why they would want to hire a math teacher that didn't major in math. so... we set up another interview today with her, and i just came home from meeting with her. she said she got along with me personally and now she's torn - she can see why they want to hire me, but she wants to hold out for someone like me who has a math degree. i told her i plan on pursuing one later... and hopefully that will tide her over to favor me as the choice. but that's where i stand now.
it seems like everything about the job fits in with my personal view on education, and i'll tell you more about that later.
as for right now, i'm just waiting for the phone call from the school. will they choose to hire me and just be patient that the montesorri training and future math degree will make me into a better teacher? or will they pass on this opportunity?
it seems like i know what everyone wants to do, and they've been very open and telling me not to accept any other jobs this week and to wait for them, but still, the hesitance is with the lady i talked with today. actually, if i end up taking my math classes at CSUSB, then she'll be one of my professors =). i think i'd really enjoy her class too. and while i know that i'm a math person, i can see the reasons behind her hesitancy...
but, in about an hour, give or take a few, i should hear from the school. the montessori high school =) the school that teaches four days a week and has field trips and workshops and other learning experiences every friday. the school that encourages learning instead of memorizing the formulas. the school that encourages projects like building rockets and doesn't have set textbooks within the classroom. the school that spends its first week camping on the beach to get to know the students!
basically, it's the school i want. does it want me? i guess we'll see...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 12 2005 at 3:59 pm |
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| One comment: |
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"Let Go and Let God" again.
Looks like you're experiencing one of the highs of this roller coaster ride. Just remember there will be lows, but then again, there will be other highs. But it's still exhilarating. |
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Comment posted by Grandmaster DT (ip: 71.103.162.217) on 08 / 12 / 2005 at 4:23 pm
Grandmaster DT's E-mail: dtongpo@gmail.com
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| waves at laguna beach |
here's another shot from our Sabbath beach outing
in other news, the school i interviewed at will call me on friday =) yehey!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 10 2005 at 5:32 pm |
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| six days later... |
last wednesday i posted that i was waiting to hear from japan. i know the answer, so i s'pose i should share it with you, huh?
the quick 'n dirty version is that they said no negotiations and so i said no.
of course, there's more to the story than that. they emailed back with a question, and i had to think about it... and then there was a bit of miscommunication that someone would call me by the end of the day, but it turns out that someone didn't have my number until monday, when he emailed me and then said he didn't have my number and could i please respond.
so after dragging it out till monday, i realized that this was just not the plan for my life. i really tried to make it work and i prayed and agonized over my response, because i woulda loved more'n anything to be able to go and travel, but not enough to bulldoze through the decision making process and ignore all the signs that say i shouldn't go. so even though i woulda loved to say yes, i realized that it would be better for both of us if i went ahead and declined the offer - which of course, leaves me looking for a job, a place to live, etc, and leaves them without a missionary.
it was hard to get the letter started but once i started typing the answer just flowed outta me (much unlike the time when i tried to write them my acceptance letter and i sat there with only the greeting, feeling down in my gut that that was the wrong response). i think i'm okay with the end result, although the process was difficult to go through, and at the very least i know that everything happened according to God's timing. i've learned alot in the process, and i think that was important. i think my decision was mine and God's, and i'm okay with kicking everyone out and making that decision just between me and him.
plus, even though i was sorta miffed that this took a long time, and that it's sorta late in the summer to be looking for a job, i think i found a few prospects that look mighty promising. and i realize that the timing could not have been better. anyways, that'll be another story, for another day...
but yah, so the end verdict is that i'm not going. at first i felt like i let them down a little bit, but they sounded very understanding in their response. i think that all of us just turned the situation over to God and said, okay, well, here we are with needs that need to be met and it doesn't look like we can do that for each other, but God, you can fill our needs. so i don't think they're mad at me, and i think i did what needed to be done.
so i'll be sharing the new plans for my life hopefully by the end of the week. i'm still s'posed to move outta my place, so i'm now looking for a place to live and a job to work, but i'm sure it'll all fall into place =) God's taken care of me so far... =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 09 2005 at 12:53 pm |
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| 4 comments: |
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Hey Kiwi,
I words like this don't come naturally or often to me so I know it's easy to disbelieve them in the unusual case that you hear them, but please believe me when I say, "I am so proud of you."
And... this means you'll still be around when I get home the 22nd! Yay! This calls for a trip to Maria's.
Alan |
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Comment posted by Alan (ip: 201.245.162.193) on 08 / 09 / 2005 at 4:00 PM
Alan's E-mail: camacho.alan@gmail.com
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thanks bob!
it's nice to be supported like that... i do appreciate those words coming from you...
and a trip to maria's? fo sho! te invito =) |
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| Comment posted by kimi =) (ip: 69.229.10.80) on 08 / 09 / 2005 at 5:28 PM
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"Let go and Let God"
Fun, scary, exhilirating, nerve-wracking, stressful, like riding a roller-coaster, some people want to throw up and others want to ride again, etc.
A lot of people toss this phrase around, but how many people have actually DONE it? Takes a lot of trust. |
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Comment posted by Grandmaster DT (ip: 71.103.162.217) on 08 / 10 / 2005 at 11:50 PM
Grandmaster DT's E-mail: dtongpo@gmail.com
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Kimi! I'm stoked for you! You felt understanding, release, and it just "flowed" out of you! God is soo cool in coming through for us! Of course, now you're in a spot, but you know He's with you, and you're laying it down for Him. He's cool.
Hey, maybe you can come *visit*... hehehe. |
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Comment posted by Ramone (ip: 218.42.225.46) on 08 / 11 / 2005 at 5:29 PM
Ramone's E-mail: fulfilledinjesus@yahoo.com
Ramone's website: http://art-for-jesus.blogspot.com |
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| laguna beach |
went there on Sabbath afternoon and walked along the beach, up past the north end of the main beach, and saw all these crabs and a li'l waterfall and just nice nature-y stuff... laguna's pretty... yes, it is =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 08 2005 at 8:12 pm |
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| gen4 t-shirts |
this week we had another team BANAAG game... and i made another banaag shirt - my design this time, complete with tsinelas! =) the tee's also say banaag on the right sleeve and on the back collar. i was thorough this time! i've only used 8 sheets of the transfer paper and i've made 18 shirts or so... and i have 17 more sheets of transfer paper so we'll see how many more shirts we can come up with =)
mabel's pretty cute in the background too =) hahaha... what is she doing?!!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 07 2005 at 11:51 pm |
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| roxy |
roxy's jason's doggie... such a cutie, huh? he adopted it from the pound. they told him it was a boxer when it was littler but her nose gives it away that she is so not a boxer. perhaps part pit bull was our guess. but yah, if she got to lay her gigantimundo paws on you, you'd know she's gonna grow up nice 'n big! i think she's adorable...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 06 2005 at 10:45 am |
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| waiting... |
i was looking for an appropriate "photo of the day" and i couldn't find one... i'm one-track minded right now.
japan emailed me earlier this week and let me know the terms of the contract - saying i'd have to be an english teacher... they also asked me to search and pray and see if i had the right missionary spirit. some say that was sorta harsh, but i think it's a good call on their part. so i've spent the week in prayer and searching and wondering if this call is really for me.
then japan emailed me today - and gave me 24 hours. i emailed them back and let them know what i'm pondering, and asked them if we could change something up so that i'm not spending a trimester more than i originally thought i'd spend there, teaching a subject that's not my specialty, earning less than i thought i'd be earning. basically, i just asked if we could switch it so that i'd really be a math teacher. oh, and i also offered a way for me to not be such a financial burden on them.
i'm sitting here, anxiously waiting their response, unable to think of much else. i know that this will all be over in less'n 24 hours, and i know that i will know my fate past the next week and a half. as for right now, though, all i know is that i'm here till next sunday. after that? we'll see...
i guess we'll all find out tomorrow what the future brings for me!
prayers please...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 03 2005 at 11:05 pm |
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| 3 comments: |
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| it's 4:48 am here, meaning it's around 8 pm there thursday. i still haven't heard from them. i'm still wondering when/what i'll hear from them... |
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| Comment posted by 'sleepless in grand terrace' (ip: 69.108.70.182) on 08 / 04 / 2005 at 4:49 AM
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Hi Kimi,
I'm praying for you, sister. (^_^) Don't hang around waiting for the answer! Haha. I know that's hard not to do. But really, give it up to God and get on with your day... or sleep.
I'd love to talk with you & Daryl about being a missionary in Japan. He said he'd like to come out here at the end of August or maybe whenever you get here if you get here. I've found a place recently in the middle of Osaka where a Japanese Christian lady died faithfully 400 years ago, and there are other places, too... which have got me really thinking and I'd like to share them and ask God questions all together.
Anyway, back to what you were saying... if they gave you 24 hours, they probably were expecting a yes or no from you, but since you gave them additional requests or conditions (which was good of you to have done!), I imagine they might take a little longer in getting back to you because they might have to discuss it with colleagues or superiors. Does that make sense?
I think it was good that you narrowed it down and told them your speciality. I think they (and even I) might be worried that students' English wouldn't be up to par for learning math, but it is a *daring* idea, and it's one that I think would actually help their English --- studying another subject *in English* so that English isn't the focus. Interesting, no?
I don't know if they mentioned it, but the school year in Japan starts *in April*, not in August or September. Spring break is the end of the year, and after spring break has finished the new school year begins. Kind of nice that it begins with spring, don't you think? But then having that nice long summer break as a buffer between years is nice, too.
Ok, all that stuff said, they might or might not be able to accomodate your teaching desire... in that case (and in any case), I'll pray for clarity for you about whether to do this or not no matter how they answer.
Blessings in Him to you Kimi, and in His peace,
Ramone |
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Comment posted by Ramone (ip: 218.42.225.74) on 08 / 04 / 2005 at 5:39 PM
Ramone's E-mail: fulfilledinjesus@yahoo.com
Ramone's website: http://art-for-jesus.blogspot.com |
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Hey Kiwi,
This may be culturally insensative of me to say, but damn it I'm American (a term South American's resent by the way) and our lack of culture should be the cultural norm for the world. Kiding.
Anyway, I'm a little peeved at the way they changed your job description and length and dropped your pay and then questioned the quality of your of "missionary spirit" if you were some how put off by all this. This is not to say you shouldn't go, but it give you an idea of what sort of mission work you may really be called to do. Often times kids have a more healthy relationship with God (faith like a child) than adults do. With that in mind, the most challanging and important witness you may be called to deliver will be to the very ones who questioned your mission spirit.
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9)
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Comment posted by Alan (ip: 201.245.162.193) on 08 / 07 / 2005 at 11:15 AM
Alan's E-mail: camacho.alan
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| every single summer... |
i remember one summer in high school or junior high, the pathfinders threw me a surprise going away party. i remember they sent ken up to my apartment (cause they knew i had a crush on him) and he knocked on the door, and i opened the door in my pajamas! he was like, 'are you coming?' and i had to ask, 'where?' and then he told me to change and i walked with him downstairs and they put me in the car and drove me to glendale where everyone was gathered. they even got me small presents and all signed a memento for me.
imagine their surprise at seeing me at school a few weeks later.
yup, i was s'posed to move, but then didn't. sound familiar?
actually, that was a regular occurence. every year, at the end of the school year, when i was in elementary/high school, my dad would tell me: this is your last year at glendale academy.
sometimes it was because our family was moving somewhere, sometimes it was simply because he wanted us to not go to the academy, and he wanted to home school us or something else. for whatever reason, i was told i wasn't going back. i was told the decision was made and no negotiation - this was my last year at glendale.
that year of the party, he had told us we were moving to oregon. i don't remember where exactly, but it was to some school out there. he was offered a position there, and he was gonna drag the family with him. which only made sense that we'd move out there, but i was so distraught at the idea of moving to oregon. my friends were so sweet to throw me the party because they knew how hard it was to deal with the idea of leaving, even though i think everyone knew that there was a chance i wouldn't go.
i guess yesterday when i remembered the party, it had me thinking... all my life i've been told to move. i wanted to stay in the area, but my parents kept on uprooting me at the beginning of the summer, only to transplant me back into the same place. while i attended glendale from 2nd grade till senior year, i never felt stable - there was always the risk of moving, of not being allowed to go back.
and then after i moved out i kept on moving - at puc for 2 years, in ecuador for 1 year, to lasierra for 2 years, and then after being in loma linda for a year i was definitely ready to move again. it was to the philippines that time, but then i ended up only going to taiwan for the summer and the philippines trip fell through... just like all those times growing up =/
but looking at that trend, perhaps that's why i keep on wanting to move now... it's like i can't stand the idea of setting down roots, i've never done that all my life. i've always been headed somewhere else. perhaps i just need to recreate that feeling of moving on that my dad instilled in me when i was younger. or perhaps i'm trying to make it come true - they say that you're driven by the disappointments you experienced as a child, y'know, like, if you were promised a pony and never got one you'll have a horse fixation or something like that.
i guess what i'm trying to say is: do i really want to move? or is my push to leave this area simply a re-creation of my childhood?
i know for sure that there are some definite places i'd like to live before i settle down. this list includes: spain (or somewhere else in europe), philippines (for at least 6 months... but hopefully at least a year), and somewhere on the east coast (preferably new york or boston or some other cool place like that). but other than my list of where i'd like to live, why do i feel the need to pick up my "itchy feet" and move every summer?
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 02 2005 at 11:53 am |
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very good questions. whenever anyone experiences some level of instability in their childhood, they tend to subconsciously create instability in their adult life - even though they may really long for stability. not saying that your moving is instability - because it might just be driven by your sense of adventure.
try this... imagine yourself getting a call that cancels your plans to go away. everything has fallen through for one reason or another and you cannot go. instead you will be staying in loma linda....
how did you feel? did you feel sad? or did you feel relief? that should tell you whether or not this next move is driven by your desire for adventure or a subconcious desire to re-create the instability you are so conditioned to.
ahhh... you have to love a therapy student... i only know enough to make me terribly dangerous! ;-) |
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Comment posted by mandy (ip: 71.0.78.110) on 08 / 02 / 2005 at 3:16 PM
mandy's E-mail: mandy.whaling@gmail.com
mandy's website: http://thewhalingwall.com |
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| maybe cause some of your friends have gone and moved to? im not a therapist like mandy, who seems very learned, which is super cool, im just a struggling art student thats overdue to finish some sort of college degree, but seems like a good number of your friends before prior to us new ones, u know what i mean, are all out and about doin their thing in places other than here. im not saying just because everyone is doing it, ur gonna do it too. but ya, just a theory, nothing proven. i think out of the whole yammerz, i am the one always out and about. ive moved on the otherside of the ocean, other places hours away, because i know home will always be home. i only leave cause i know i can come back one day. i think i just messed up everything and totally didnt answer ur question. haha. so i will just agree with the previous comment, and go with mandy's conclusion as well, hehehe (: |
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| Comment posted by gorilla (ip: 68.64.115.191) on 08 / 02 / 2005 at 5:33 PM
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I was trying to think of some profound answer to your question, and not only don't I have one, but I think I'm in the same boat as you, but in an opposite sort of way... heh. I keep moving further and further away from home (college 400 miles away, and now school 2500 miles away), but I keep wanting to be back. I'm chasing this weird image of my home, my friends, my family, and if/when I finally return to cali, I dunno if I'll be disappointed or not.
Sometimes home just seems like an illusion I'm chasing, with skewed expectations of what I'll find when I finally get there. I know I'll find my family and friends, but I don't know if I'll find contentment, or fulfillment, or whatever it is I'm looking for. Kind of depressing.
Okay, maybe I'm more on the messed up side. but I feel ya. :) |
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| Comment posted by randall (ip: 68.230.219.103) on 08 / 02 / 2005 at 9:06 PM
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Loma Linda is a magnet. Every time you leave, it sucks you back.
But take heart: you're a Glendale girl. You don't have the Loma Linda bug. You're free to go wherever you want. |
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| Comment posted by Grandmaster DT (ip: 71.103.162.217) on 08 / 03 / 2005 at 1:37 AM
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Furniture.
The secret to getting planted somewhere is furniture. Lots of it.
And maybe some incredible security deposits every time you have to move. |
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Comment posted by Ramone (ip: 219.122.201.175) on 08 / 03 / 2005 at 7:46 PM
Ramone's E-mail: fulfilledinjesus@yahoo.com
Ramone's website: http://art-for-jesus.blogspot.com |
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| team BANAAG |
from left to right: ben, dennis, carlo, me, kuya mike, jaylene, cheeno, lhala, chacha, omar, trina, ryan, lin
the banaag guys decided to play together and have a family team (but we lost dayday to another team...) and yup, our guys won! =) oh, and me, jay, & lha won our game at 2 also! then i ran around buying shirts and the iron-on material and made shirts for us to wear to cheer on the guys at 5 =) yay!!!
go Banaag!!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on August 01 2005 at 12:04 pm |
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| 3 comments: |
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| i swear i saw these people (sans you) at bux univ. last night..... |
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Comment posted by rafa (ip: 71.103.164.173) on 08 / 02 / 2005 at 8:46 AM
rafa's website: http://www.myspace.com/twotwos |
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| yup, it probably was 'em... they're there all the time =) say hi next time, now that you know... |
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| Comment posted by kimi =) (ip: 69.108.83.9) on 08 / 02 / 2005 at 2:43 PM
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| cool...hopefully they won't get all freaked out. like, 'who's this guy, man, he's sira ulo?" |
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Comment posted by rafa (ip: 71.103.218.200) on 08 / 03 / 2005 at 7:52 PM
rafa's website: http://www.myspace.com/twotwos |
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| what is God's role in my life? |
ahh... here's a hefty one. i've been questioning this, wondering how much i want God to be involved in my life. i guess i will always acknowledge his existence, but i've been wary about how much i want him to be involved.
on one hand, i've been afraid of turning into one of those Bible-bashing people who think they can tell you what God wants you to do... afraid, not because i'm close to being that type of person, but because i'm afraid of these people, and i don't know what type of God would bash my head in using other people to manipulate me. it scares me that people do this in the name of God, and if he has any part in their life, it scares me that that might actually be how he works sometimes.
on the other hand, all i've known all my life is to go to those older and wiser than me and ask for their advice and they would pray for me on whatever topic i was pondering and let me know what their sage will for my life was (translation: what i thought was "the right choice" or "God's will"). maybe it's just the way things panned out... y'know, when you're young, you trust your parents and go to them for advice, and i just kept on doing that. probably past the point when i was supposed to wean myself off that. a few years back i remember pulling away from my parents and saying it's about time i learned to do this for myself.
the problem is, i haven't figured out how to do that. i think part of me has been wary about letting God in because i'm afraid of how he'll be. i think when i look at other people's relationships with God it makes me cringe. i don't want a life fueled by guilt, feeling like i have to strive to be more adequate. i see people using him as a weapon, as a crutch, as a (for lack of a better word) fortune telling device, and as the trump card.
i don't want to do any of that... i simply want to acknowledge he's God. i don't know what type of relationship that brings about, if i'll continue to want to serve him and turn my life over to him. i don't know if i have it in me to want to give up control of my life and surrender it all to him. part of me wants to... and part of me is scared.
i want him to be part of my decision making process, but i don't know how that works - i don't know how to let him make those choices for me, and i know many times he lets me make my own choices... hopefully simply by my proximity to him i'd make the right choices.
*sigh* and in the midst of all this wondering about how to trust God and relinquish control and just accept what happens, i asked someone close to me how he does it... and i asked him to pray with me. i was surprised by his answer - he wouldn't pray with me. but i think i appreciated the sentiment behind it: he thinks that's a decision between me and God alone, and he was not going to pray with me because it's between me and God, not between me and him and God.
i don't know what to make of that... part of me wants to push to be able to share God and grow in that relationship together, but another part of me says, hey, maybe this is what i've needed all along, someone who will listen to me but will also make me tough it out with God myself. it's all so... new. i don't know what to do with that.
i thought it'd be hard, and i'd rather have someone pray with me about it. but when i think it's so easy to let someone else pray about it and let them tell me what they think, i remember my dad already did that... and frankly, i don't think i appreciated what he said. i felt like i was being bludgeoned over the head that even though i'm facing a bad situation i should just suck it up because that's where God will bless me. (and i'm thinking, what, so if i go somewhere else, he'll abandon me? not bless me? bah!! i refuse to believe that... and refuse to be pushed around by that thought)
so here i am... refusing to let anyone else pray and make that decision for me, yet not knowing how to let them go (because apparently they were my crutch), and i still want their support and prayers. but i think i should go to God directly myself and figure out his will for my life. and figure out how to completely surrender myself to him no matter where he leads me. *cringe* i'm scared. and i would still appreciate prayers on my behalf.
just let God figure it out, not me... not you... just God.
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 31 2005 at 12:21 pm |
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| 3 comments: |
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Nice introspection.
You've done a lot of thinking, and that's good. Finding God's will is never an easy thing. And the people around you are no better at interpreting God's will for you than you are (especially pastors). And by the way, older people are not necessarily wiser about this topic either. On the off chance that they might know what God's will is for their own life, it has absolutely no bearing on God's will for YOUR life.
As for me, I've generally never believed that God has one specific will for each of us (there are exceptions, of course). I believe He gave most of us opportunities and talents to do a wide range of things and go on our choice of paths, but asks that He accompany us on our voyage.
Imagine a fork in the road. Most people would want you to believe that God will tell you which path to take, and either drags you that way or nudges you in that direction. I personally believe that God works with you in the decision making process and the two of you come up with a consensus on which path to take, and the two of you walk together on the new path. God gave us Free Will. That also includes the decisions we make in our lives.
Of course, this works for me, but take it with a grain of salt. I'm older, but not necessarily wiser. I was a pastor, but I'm not an expert on God's will for YOU.
If you're interested in my story, my walk with God, and our decision for me to not be a pastor anymore, I'm more than willing to talk to you about it. It may or may not help with what you're going through, though.
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Comment posted by Grandmaster DT (ip: 71.103.162.217) on 08 / 01 / 2005 at 1:05 AM
Grandmaster DT's E-mail: dtongpo@gmail.com
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I think you'll have an easier time grappling with these questions if you ask yourself instead, "How much do I want JESUS to be involved in my life."
The term "God" is a rather cool and distant one. It doesn't have the emotional immediacy of Jesus. I think that's an accurate reflection of the spiritual reality, too.
Jesus makes it clear that no one comes to the Father except through him. No wonder it gets intimidating and confusing if you try to leap straight to the relationship-with-God. It's impossible outside of Christ.
And I don't mean that in a vague, Jesus-died-for-my-sins-so-I-can-live type of way. I mean, literally, you can ONLY approach God the Father through his son Jesus. And not just once when you accept Christ's sacrifice. But every time you want to approach the throne, Jesus acts as your high priest/intercessor.
I hope this helps; I'm praying for you too - I know He will come through for you. Remember, any time you begin to consider tightening your relationship with Jesus, you suddenly show up on the Enemy's radar as a big huge THREAT. So there's no surprise that you're feeling intimidated and discouraged. That's not you (because you really do want the relationship) and it's certainly not God (He's dying to get you!). That only leaves one other option - the guy who's the least interested in having you hook up with Jesus and kick some demon ass.
So, in the name of Jesus, all the fear and frustration and discouragement accosting Kimi in this decision to trust and follow Jesus at an even deeper level than before, you have to leave her alone. You have no claim over her life; she has been ransomed already and is protected by the banner of Christ. In the name of Jesus, f*** OFF! Amen. |
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Comment posted by Laura (ip: 69.23.133.56) on 08 / 01 / 2005 at 7:55 AM
Laura's E-mail: laura@camacho.tv
Laura's website: http://www.camacho.tv |
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Ditto to Laura's comment about Jesus. God revealed Himself in Jesus, who only did what Father told Him to do. Discovering Father's heart really kicks our sometimes oppresive notions of what God is like and what we think He wants from us.
Here's a book if you like:
"Experiencing the Father's Embrace" by Jack Frost |
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Comment posted by Ramone (ip: 219.122.201.175) on 08 / 03 / 2005 at 7:55 PM
Ramone's E-mail: fulfilledinjesus@yahoo.com
Ramone's website: http://art-for-jesus.blogspot.com |
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| it's friday... let's eat maria's! |
maria's is the best mexican food place i know, and luckily it's only down the hill from me! we go there all the time... well, when it's friday, you're pretty much sure to run into me or rita there. there was even this one time when i went there on wednesday night with perry, went back on thursday with rita when she came home, and then on friday for lunch with my co-workers... knowing full well that when i came home from work i'd be eating there again with alan. yup, 4 times in about 40 hours... and then when i came home on friday, right before i went there with alan, i saw rita at home finishing her burrito from maria's for lunch... i laughed and told her i was there earlier that day and that i was going there again. so i went with alan, we caught a movie afterwards, and then i came home and saw rita coming home - she had just had dinner (guess where!) with jason. it turned out that she went there for breakfast the next morning too =) yup, so between the two of us, from wednesday night to saturday morning, we had maria's 7 times =)
yah, rita used to tell me that when she'd go there without me, martin (the dude on the left, the owner who is ALWAYS there!) would ask, "where's kimi?" hahahah... and the same (where's rita?!) when i'd show up without her.
last friday i went there with rita and we ran into several of the regulars, including mory... and then after church on Sabbath, i went there again with gary, and we ended up eating and talking during the afternoon lull... right when we were about to leave, we saw, who else - mory showed up. he has a running tab there - he just closes it out at the end of each month. crazy, huh?
we told martin that i needed a picture with him... i'm gonna print this out and tape it to their walls - be the first regular with a picture up. y'know, so they don't miss me on all the fridays i'm in japan =) hahaha...
hey, rita's home this weekend. i think i know what i'm doing for lunch!!! =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 29 2005 at 10:31 am |
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OMG, Maria's is the bestest.
I want some now and it's all your fault. Feel appropriately guilty.
Grr. |
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Comment posted by Greg (ip: 80.176.82.187) on 07 / 29 / 2005 at 12:21 PM
Greg's E-mail: tievape@yahoo.com
Greg's website: http://gregiskhan.blogspot.com |
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| well, you'll be back in a few days and i promise i'll go there with you... like i said, it's down near my house, so i'm there! |
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| Comment posted by kimi =) (ip: 69.108.83.9) on 07 / 29 / 2005 at 2:23 PM
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| this s--- is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S! |
just a photo i took on my trip earlier this month to santa barbara...
B-A-N-A-N-A-S!!!! hahhahaa...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 28 2005 at 11:38 am |
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Hey...did you know Ilocanos love eating the banana flower? Thats some good stuff too. I dont know if its as much of a food item in other Filipino sub-cultures.
I actually havent tasted Sabunganay(thats what its called in Ilocano) in a while. Hmmmm. |
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| Comment posted by me (ip: 4.20.178.68) on 07 / 28 / 2005 at 11:50 AM
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| really? let's have it sometime, i wanna try it =) |
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| Comment posted by kimi =) (ip: 69.108.83.9) on 07 / 28 / 2005 at 1:57 PM
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| with my grandparents |
this picture above is me with my grandparents the day after my 5th birthday. and yesterday woulda been my grandpa's 96th birthday! can you imagine that? my mom called me early in the morning yesterday, leaving the cutest message. she misses her dad...
she reminded me that my brother and i were the luckiest of the cousins. being the two youngest, we were the only ones that got to grow up with my grandparents already retired. well, ate nadine did get to live with them through high school, so she also got alotta time with them, but we had them when they had nothing else to do but teach us how to play sungka, chess, tennis, and bring us to the glendale galleria for orange julius, which i love to this day! oh, and of course, we bought ice cream every day =) unless we bought frozen yogurt =) yes, my grandpa is responsible for my addiction to sorbetes.
have i said yet that when he was in his early 90's, i would drive myself over there to visit as often as possible. pretty much any time i was in LA or glendale i'd make sure to swing by the apartment to visit them. he was hard of hearing, and had glaucoma, and just had a hard time in general recognizing me. i'd have to introduce myself several times, which was always hard on me to not be recognized by him. every once in a while i would stop by the rite-aid on the way to their house and buy some thrifty's mint n chip, and one time i was teasing my grandpa with it - 'grandpa, i have ice cream! do you know you i am?' and without pause he laughed, "of course, kimi, you're teasing me!" i laughed at how quickly he knew who i was when he wanted something from me, but ever since then i never showed up empty handed, i ALWAYS bought a half gallon every single time i visited. and he ALWAYS knew who i was when i was holding back the mint n chip ice cream cone from him. i don't know if he just knew that i was the one who bought him ice cream, or if the desire to eat the ice cream was incentive to hear me and recognize me, but either way, it worked.
i suppose that's why thrifty mint n chip ice cream will always be my favorite sorbetes flavor... i love my grandpa, and i'm glad that i got to spend that time with him growing up.
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 27 2005 at 12:21 pm |
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| so you are like one of the few people i know (besides myself) that looks EXACTLY like they did when they were a kid! you're only taller! cute pic! |
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| Comment posted by mandy (ip: 71.0.78.110) on 07 / 27 / 2005 at 7:14 pm
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| my roomies |
for rita's 27th bday we all headed down to kabuki sushi in victoria gardens and had a buncha fun... and someone gifted rita the same earrings that shelia was wearing =) aren't my roomies cute?
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 26 2005 at 11:38 am |
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| nice tank top.... |
whoops, he's not wearing any tank top! we went to magic mountain yesterday (me, nuklearkrack, logii, mattman, and balut) and i think this was the best picture we took =)
i showed the pic to some other people and had to tell 'em that he wasn't wearing any tank top... they couldn't tell! =) hahahaha... work on that tan, buddy!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 25 2005 at 10:49 pm |
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| grunion hunting |
yesterday afternoon, i posted on my message boards that i wanted to see the grunion run and catch me some fish to fry. the schedule said it was gonna happen saturday night - tuesday night, so i was hoping someone would wanna see it with me...
and then later last night, while eating at laguna beach, we noticed some people running to the water and pointing at stuff... and taking a closer look, we realized that the grunions were making a run!
dude, and they were running for it! can you see the one towards the back of this picture, just leaping into the air? my gosh, it's crazy to see them run across the sand, flip-flopping their way back to the water. the first picture up there shows the female (i think) in the sand baried tail end down, and then the male writing around her.
i was so excited i was running around taking pictures of the fish, and then i got wet by the wave depositing more fish around me... i could feel them hitting my legs as the wave left the shore =/ not the nicest feeling in the world. i almost lost my sandal too, but i quickly grabbed it as it swept past me, so i was all right.
since it was just on the beach out in laguna, it wasn't packed full o' people sending their kids out to grab the next day's meal, like last time when we went to long beach. that time it was crazy! we just saw hordes of people waiting for the scout to go back and tell all the grunions it was clear, and then they rushed the water when the grunions showed up. you couldn't see anything, just the whole area looked like the back of people bent over picking things up!
and this dude actually picked up a fish... notice the stogie in the mouth =) he was just calm and cool and holding this writing fish in his hands....
they were exciting times... if you've never seen a grunion run it'll be happening till tuesday, and then the next one is august 6-9. basically, 2-6 days after a full moon.
check it out!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 23 2005 at 10:49 am |
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| ok. that's the coolest thing i have seen i a long, long time. does it happen again after august? |
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Comment posted by mandy (ip: 71.0.78.110) on 07 / 24 / 2005 at 7:26 PM
mandy's E-mail: mandy.whaling@gmail.com
mandy's website: http://thewhalingwall.com |
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| the last run on the schedule is august 21-24, but they did give the recipe: 2-6 days after a full moon. so if u come back in september, just hit up the beach at high tide 2 days after the full moon. it''s close enough to the summer season so it's worth a try... and lemme know if you see any =) |
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| Comment posted by (ip: 69.108.85.113) on 07 / 26 / 2005 at 9:40 AM
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| 1997 reunion |
ching and i met the first week my freshman year at puc. i remember meeting brent later that year at puc's college days when he came up to visit, and he ate lunch with all my loma linda friends and stayed for several hours in the cafe. brydon became my friend that summer when we'd all hang out with eric, felcar, oliver, etc... we all were friends that following school year at puc, which would be our only year together because i left for ecuador and never returned. i don't think i've seen us all in the same place since we've been at puc, so it was definitely reunion time.
by the way, brydon's now engaged. i like her, she's cute, and nice. i think ching and i were both pleasantly surprised, and extremely happy for him.
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 22 2005 at 4:47 pm |
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Hi Kimi,
I hope you bring your camera so that my living room can get some media exposure tonight!
Christina |
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Comment posted by christina (ip: 71.103.160.42) on 07 / 22 / 2005 at 5:57 pm
christina's E-mail: born2wwraft@YAHOO.COM
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| grounds for enjoyment |
gfe frickin rocks! and so does juanito pablo =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 21 2005 at 4:08 pm |
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| nice photo |
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| Comment posted by Jimbo (ip: 68.163.140.75) on 07 / 25 / 2005 at 2:20 pm
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| my dream house will have... |
- a pool table, poker table, ping pong table, and why don't we throw in table hockey for good measure? (not a necessity, but since i'm furnishing a game room, why not?)
- a creative room, where i'll sew, throw pottery, paint, draw, and get messy but that's okay because there's no carpet in that room, and my kids will learn to do all that stuff too
- a fireplace so that my family can roast marshmellows =)
- stairs that my kids can slide down on the couch mattresses =) hahaha... preferably be a two-story house with a basement/game room, or that could also be on the third level, although that makes a lotta noise if people are sleeping on the 2nd story. maybe we'll just invert the house - the game room on the entry level, then the living room kitchen on the second story, and the bedrooms up above. oooh, up there, my bedroom will have a turret =) cute!!
- a kick-butt kitchen with an island in the middle, and ample space for family and friends to join in tuesday night dinners!
- a yard, basketball hoop, and a hammock under the big tree outside
oh, and a loving family, lotsa friends, and an adorable old english shepherd (or other cute dog) to fill it up!!! awww....
but yah, i do have a dream house. which means that one of these days, i will actually settle down somewhere. i think i'm capable of settling down... i think i just need to hit up the places i wanna live first - travel around europe while living in spain (doesn't that sound awesome?!?!) and living in the philippines for a little bit to finally become filipino (since i'm denied that title by my friends/family right now... ahemm...). possibly live east coast somewhere, preferably boston or nyc. and then come home and have a family and be a house wife and raise up my kids in socal but global citizens anyway. plus, they'll learn to speak english, spanish, and tagalog. yup!
and then, when my family's all grown and can take care of 'emselves, and i've become an engineer, we'll go missionarying again and build wells and buildings in poor 3rd world countries that don't have the amenities in life that we take for granted.
so how does that sound to you? i think i've been thinking about this for a while cause people have been badgering me about what i want outta life - why do i keep moving around? when will i settle down? will i ever want to settle down?
y'see, people have been telling me i'm destined for a lonely life because i keep up-and-moving, or at least i'm wanting to move. i don't think it has to be that way. i mean, i think i have to move, because these are things that i wanna do, and get done before i'm 30. but i don't think i have to be lonely - someone easily coulda come into my life who wants to do those things with me, like, move to spain and move to the philippines, live on the east coast, and then settle down near family and friends in southern california (this also is why i doubt i'll find this person out in japan... because of my eventual goal of being near family and friends in socal). but should 'man' not happen to show up in my life, i think i gotta do the things i gotta do and continue with my life... and hit up all the places i wanna be. i never planned on leaving anyone behind, i always figured i'd bring 'em with me, but you gotta roll with the punches, y'know? so i'm planning on hitting up those places in the next few years - 4 years and a month i have till i turn 30, but we'll see how long these things actually take.
but don't worry, family, i will be back. eventually. and i'll settle down near y'all and have that awesome house i described up above, and of course, you are always welcome to stop by and have dinner with us, or just bring friends over to use our game room =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 21 2005 at 12:32 pm |
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| let the real summer begin! |
yesterday, i wrote three papers. yup, i'm a procrastinator like that. i only had two classes and i still had three papers to turn in, 2 of them due by 4 pm and the other one was due at 7pm. i woke up from my nap-turned-sleep-for-the-night at 8am, and pounded 'em out! i already know i got an A in the first class (and an "excellent paper" with commendations... yehey!) and the second class i'm not too worried about, it seems like everyone is borderline B+/A- and i'm sure i'll pass the class. but with these three papers turned in, i am officially done with all my classes for my masters! yup, even though i marched in graduation early june, i still had 2 more classes to take. and now, they're done!
i'm a free woman!!!!! =)
i didn't wake up today till... oh, um, 11 or so? just starting my vacation off well =) now i'm thinking i might throw some pottery, or sew myself a dress, or do something equally creative that i haven't had time to do since i've started this program.
these next few weeks are gonna be nice... hopefully i find other peoples with the same amount of time off who'll spend time with me =)
and magic mountain on sunday!!! woot!!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 21 2005 at 11:47 am |
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| sausage fest |
last night, while we were playing poker, kuya garry and taylor showed up late, but they bought into the 2nd and 3rd tournament we played. tay was doing great against the rest of us, and we told her to play with us on saturday nights, or tuesdays at my house, so that she could get more practice in.
then, the warning: oh, but you might not like it on saturdays cause it's a sausage fest!
and then i said: hey, waitaminnit! i'm there too!
which gained the reply: yah, well, still, it's a sausage fest. you're one of us.
allrighty then. i have an honorary sausage, apparently. shweeet....
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 20 2005 at 10:33 am |
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| bah you misseed quoted me, the line was "...it's basically a sausage fest." |
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| Comment posted by hotbeef (ip: 68.234.189.215) on 07 / 21 / 2005 at 11:34 am
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| the best hand in the house |
okay, so this isn't the best pic i had, but it still deserves a story. a whole buncha us were at dennis's house for my cousin jaylene's 22nd birthday, and of course, we had to bust out with the poker table. i was playing fairly conservatively and i caught a couple of hands, always against jaylene, but i also lost a few hands to her as well. somehow (i guess luck had something to do with it, since it was poker and all...) i made it to the top three against her and jr. we were pretty much evenly stacked against each other but both of us were wayyyyy behind jr, who was pretty much occupying 3 spots with all his chips. i was big blind, putting in 40, and then i got dealt Q-9 of hearts. jaylene went all in, and i was pretty much pot committed, so i went ahead and called. then she showed her Q-J of spades, and i was like, DARN!!! but that's okay...
so out comes the flop. first card: 9. yeeeeaaah!!! i was soooo happy... it was the only card that could've given me a lead.
then the next card: Queen. both of us were happy - but i still had the lead with my two pair over her one...
then the third card: Jack! her side of the table yelled yeeahh!!! dang... i caught 2 pair with the first two cards and yet she pulled ahead of me. she was like, "thanks, den!" since he was the one dealing...
i was yelling 'NINE NINE NINE NINE NINE!!!!" at the table, just hopin' - but then 4th street turned out to be a seven. i had pretty much given up hope and then, miracle of miracles!
the river was a 9!!! oh my gosh! yeah, i ended up with a boat - 9's full of queens. yah, that was probably the most intense hand i've ever played, and the odds kept on jumping back and forth (i can just imagine if it was broadcast on tv, how the little percentage sign next to our 2 cards would be jumping around like crazy!) and the odds of me catching that last 9 were so low, i only had two chances outta the 39 remaining cards in the deck. dang!!!
but yah... so there's my big story of the night. geez... hold 'em can be so addicting =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 20 2005 at 3:47 am |
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| Nine! My favorite number. |
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| Comment posted by David (ip: 17.255.241.22) on 07 / 23 / 2005 at 12:20 pm
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| the beginning of it all |
uncle ernie is chyn & mae's dad, and chyn and mae were my friends in the filipino club "halo halo" at puc. apparently uncle would always plan these mission trips for their high school classmates and bring over these white kids from oregon to the philippines to do 2 weeks of seminars and Bible studies. but since his daughters were now in college, he thought he would bring over an older group, and a bunch of my friends from the filipino club all signed up to go. they started fundraising during the summer to make the trip during the 3 weeks of Christmas break.
i originally wasn't planning to go with them. a trip to the philippines sounded nice, but, miss Christmas with my family? AND new years? to do work in the philippines? yah, back then, i was just thinking of it as a reason to go back to the homeland, and not as a mission trip.
however, i would go with the filipino club to all the churches in the area because we would volunteer to do the services - song service, maybe a skit, a mission story, and even sermons. yah, we were fairly active =) and then it happened - i heard janssen's testimony, and i knew i had to go! he shared a story about how blessed he was by someone's donation, and how humbling it was to rely on other people to help you do God's work. and how blessed and special you feel when you realize that there are people out there who will write checks for $1000 and send it to your dorm room just so that you can go, because you had the courage to go door to door and share your mission with them. that $1000 check had just arrived, meaning that he just made the deadline to get his money in. but the deadline didn't matter to me - i knew i had to go, so signed up to go that day, in fact, that same hour. i realized i was being selfish wanting to spend time with my family instead of doing mission work, and i realized that i needed to take the steps necessary to make that part of my life.
janssen's story changed my life.
auntie and uncle brought us to the philippines that Christmas of '97. they were in charge of the whole lot of us - janssen, brent and aimee sumaraga, mike mercado, chyn, mae, and richelin, ching, lillibeth mendoza, rainer, michael lalas, etc. it was their first time bringing filipinos and i remember auntie was so happy that she was able to cook filipino food for us. she'd go down to the street and buy gulay from the street vendors, buy tinapay from the pan de sal delivery guy, and cook filipino food. she said that usually they didn't like that and she'd have to cook spaghetti and other "american" food while they were there, so she was grateful for us =)
on sunday, i saw auntie and uncle for the first time since that trip. i told uncle that i'm continuing to make trips - that i went to ecuador (which he already knew about... filipino circles... not many secrets there!) and that i'm planning to go to japan (which pleasantly surprised him). unfortunately, i found out that they're not doing those trips anymore, although they do go to the philippines every year. i guess auntie didn't wanna go back to cooking spaghetti =) hahaha... but yah, so we were part of the last group to do the 2 week seminar and Bible studies. and i'm sooo glad i got the opportunity to be part of it. it's changed my life, and you can still see its effects in my life right now!
thank you so much auntie and uncle!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 19 2005 at 11:39 am |
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| the wedding |
i showed up yesterday to this wedding, and eric starts introducing me as his ex-girlfriend! hello!!! i would prefer simply to be "guest". especially since i was the only ex there! and we had 5 years of best friendship prior to our 2 months dating, and many years of friendship after that, since that was 8 years ago. but yah, another one of my ex's got married. that makes 2 of 'em, and i've been to both weddings! ching kept on checking to make sure i was okay, which i was. i think i was more weirded out when eric started dating her and told me he thought he found 'the one' way back in february (yah, after like, 3 weeks of dating!), but now, i'm just happy for them =)
brydon did the toast, and he started saying how he was so surprised that eric found someone good to marry after all his dating troubles (nice one, bry!) and then he followed it up by saying that he was glad that eric found joy, and she was easily the best of the bunch! and i was like, hello!! the best of the bunch is sitting right here! =) hahahah... but yah, it seems like they're a good couple together, and i think they'll be happy, which is the important thing.
so... congrats to you, eric & joy!
oh, and ps: eric sang while joy was walking down the aisle... it was so cute and sweet - and my first time ever hearing eric sing. coolness, dude =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 18 2005 at 12:12 pm |
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| white lotus |
last night we went to heidi's restaurant to celebrate jaylene's 22nd bday (coming up this wednesday)... and of course, we had to take a family pic. carlo & ryan showed up later also, but they missed this photo opportunity. but yah, it was a blast hanging out with family & friends =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 17 2005 at 7:16 pm |
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| mesmerized by the light |
yes, that is a light up globe. and it's mine. i'm such a nerd! *hangs head in shame* but in my defense, it was a gift from my aunt. plus, everyone else would always play with it... so... yah, at least i'm not the only one.
the real reason i'm posting this picture is cause i wanna give a big thank you to rayme (who would be the dude in the photo... c'mon, do i really have to spell it out for you?). rayme just game me the bestest most coollest graduation present ever. i had actually written a whole story about it and then my computer decided to restart, and so i lost the whole thing =( but suffice it to say, everyone who's seen the present has been like, "oh wow, that's a cool present" and even some girls have screamed "oh my gosh! its THE DRESS!!!" and even more cool is how he pulled some strings to make it happen and how he surprised me with it.
you're awesome, rayme! domo arigatou, mr. roboto!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 15 2005 at 10:43 am |
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| in the sanctuary |
while walking down the streets of new york (around 83rd and amsterdam, or around there) we happened on this church building and just wandered inside to see the stained glass. it was dimly lit inside and i just loved the ambiance of the cool pews in darkness with the light glowing through the carefully constructed pieces of color adorning the windows. very peaceful and serene to step into off a busy new york street. definitely a calm sanctuary, and calmly inviting.
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 14 2005 at 1:17 pm |
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| and you thought enemy of the state could never happen... |
google earth is even better than google maps... it "combines satellite imagery, maps, and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips. it's sorta neat, sorta scary all at the same time, cause you gotta wonder why they have pictures of your house there for everyone to find.
don't believe me? you can google your house by typing your address into the search bar, and then click on the bar that says "satellite" in the upper right hand corner of the map. you can zoom in and see a satellite picture of your place. yup.
i googled my house and can see that the neighbor across the street from me has a small pool.
apparently, with google earth, you can tilt and rotate your view to see the 3D terrain. sheez... and it makes me wonder exactly what the $200 google earth product can give me compared to the free product, too... it's commercial... intended for... i have no idea.
kinda creepy, 'di ba?
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 13 2005 at 1:31 pm |
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| the bee and the ladybug |
i found this picture in my archives from may 2002... i have no idea where this was at cause all the other pictures were of me inside church with my mom, but somehow i went outside and took a whole buncha pictures of this bee in the flowers. and then i found a ladybug. and then the bee flew into my picture with the ladybug... and i thought this was a pretty cool moment =) so... enjoy!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 13 2005 at 12:00 pm |
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| 2 comments: |
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thanks for the compliment =) i use a fuji finepix f700, which is a tiny compact camera, but it's pretty neat cause it takes 6.1 megapixel pics, and it's video mode can do 640x480 @30fps (which means it's standard tv video quality)
oh, but whenever i pull deep from my archives (like this picture above, or anything since before december 2003) i was using a toshiba something or other. it was 3.1 megapixel and that's pretty much all that i remember about it.
but not all my pictures come out really sharp. i just simply take so many pictures that i get to pick the ones that i wanna post. yah, that's right, since i got my fuji a year and a half ago, i've taken 12,000 pictures! 12,172, to be exact, as of right now =) so it's just trial and error lotsa times, trying out multiple settings just to get one shot right, etc.
i've heard that professional photographers used to be considered really really good if they could get one decent picture out of each roll of film, but they shoot so many rolls and take pictures at multiple settings, etc. so the key is to just keep on pushing that shutter button! |
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| Comment posted by kimi =) (ip: 69.108.87.120) on 07 / 14 / 2005 at 9:32 AM
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| That is a great picture. What kind of camera do you use anyways, just out of curiosity. Don't get me wrong, i'm no photographer, but all your pictures come out really sharp. |
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Comment posted by Jordan (ip: 68.64.212.48) on 07 / 14 / 2005 at 12:57 AM
Jordan's website: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=DrLuna |
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| speeding right along... |
perry passed me up on the right side, speeding along on his new yamaha R1... so of course i had to take a picture. i've sat on the bike with the helmet on (and my hair tucked up into it, of course!! for that moment when you take the helmet off and you get to swush your hair around =P hahahaha...) and it is SWEET, i didn't wanna get off. not like i know how to ride bikes at all, but still... i can only imagine what it feels like to be on that thing speeding along =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 12 2005 at 10:10 am |
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| I must have spent an hour browsing your blog. Love it. Great pictures. I must say, you lead a very full life. |
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Comment posted by Jordan (ip: 68.64.212.48) on 07 / 12 / 2005 at 11:12 am
Jordan's website: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=DrLuna |
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| expatriate-age, here we come! |
way back when i was young & innocent (read: 18 years old) i went on a mission trip to ecuador. i signed up for 7 months of teaching at the escuela gabriela mistral...
young, friendly, sociable, and having taken a year of spanish in high school, and a year of spanish in college, i dove right into life as an ecuadorian. but man, was it tough! i would sit on the benches as often as possible talking with the students, flipping through my dictionary, telling them "mas despacio, por favor" whenever they talked with me (dang, you think i talk fast? sheez... these people blow me away!), and i'd spend all my spare time getting to know people, accepting invitations to go anywhere, and just trying hard to immerse myself and become one of them... k, so, here's an example of how tough that was - i'd wake up at 8 am every morning, and then be asleep by the time 8pm rolled around 'cause my brain was fried from translating all day. my body would still be good to go cause i was getting 12 hrs of sleep every night, but my brain would just crap out on me because it couldn't handle being up and constantly translating for 12 hrs at a time.
one of the good things about that period of time in my life was that i became tight with God - i would literally just sit there on my bed having a conversation with Him, not necessarily praying as everyone else knows it (meaning, on your knees, hands folded, etc) but lying down on my bed, as if i was just talking to my friend on the phone before going to sleep... i would just think, God, this is what i'm going through... and you're the only one who understands me! i can't tell anyone else cause i don't speak spanish! so here we are, it's just me and You... and basically, we became close that way.
but, back to my story... i ended up staying in ecuador for 10 months, and came home only cause my grandpa was turning 90 and i wanted to see him. i ended up going to LSU and becoming the student director of student missions. still young, still friendly, but now, with a bit of depression thrown in the mix. i found out from jodi, the dean/director, that pretty much all the returned student missionaries would go through this vicious cycle that was similar to the grieving process when someone you know dies. after watching me, les, kat, kar, roy, ramone, aida, antonia, monte, criss, etc that year and the next, i came to realize that "grieving process" would be an accurate term for what we're going through... simply because your life as you knew it ceased to exist. there we were, each of us in our own respective mission fields, living a life of purpose, being the special person where we lived because oooh we were the missionaries, with our adopted family and friends... and then we came back to LSU, where we were the abnormal group of weird people who bonded together as "returned student missionaries". all the people you once lived among... gone. most of us will not get a chance to visit our students ever again. and so, it is like we were the ones who died. and perhaps the reason we all found solace in each other's friendships was because we were all going through the same thing, and we could understand that in each other, while everyone else thought that we were just weird (we ARE weird, but that has nothing to do with this...)
anyways, while i'm looking forward to my trip to japan, i'm also dreading the separation process afterwards, and rationally or irrationally, i'm not looking forward to letting these people in (by that, i mean, i don't know how much i'll open up to them). i mean, i'm sure i'll have fun there... and i'm sure i'll have lotsa adventures. but will i throw myself into life in japan the same reckless way i did while in ecuador? doubtful... will i delude myself into thinking that these people are friends and not acquaintances? (i didn't know the difference before while i was in ecuador, and i think that leads to disappointment when you realize your "friends" don't know anything about who you really are, and that makes them simply acquaintances who you enjoy their company alot) well... now i know better. i'm looking forward to getting to know the people and the area... i just think i'll be a little more guarded, a little more wiser than last time. i'm not denying the possibility of friendships there, i'm just more discerning that the attention i'll get as a new teacher or as the missionary is not the basis for lasting friendship... that's simply fad material. the harder, core stuff is still accessible, but to get to it one has to spend time discussing my thoughts with me. since the majority of people i will be spending time with are young junior high/high school japanese students who are barely learning english... well, you should understand my situation.
especially seeing how i don't speak a lick of japanese yet.... correction: i can say "domo arigatou, mr roboto" and respond "doitashimashte". and the one sentence i can say: "korewa hana desu" simply means "this is a nose" =) yah... i got me some learnin' to do!
but seriously, i guess the worrying point for me is that since i know all of this, i won't open myself to them. i want to still be open to their friendships/acquaintances, limited though they may be. i want to still enjoy my time there and let our lives impact each other. but i'm scared that if i let them in, i'll hurt, just like last time when i left ecuador... i don't wanna be standoffish when i get there... and i doubt that i will be, simply cause i am still outgoing and extroverted. but i'll need prayers to keep me *encouraged* and to remind myself that 7 months of interaction which leads to pain of separation is more fulfilling than 7 months of me being cold and unwilling to let them in.
i was saying this to a friend last night and he responded, "sounds like you're losing the travel bug and beginning to want to settle down." can it be? weird...
but yah, prayers please. i'd appreciate it. oh, and if you can keep in touch with emails, comments on my blog, care packages, the like... i think that would help immensely =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 11 2005 at 2:42 pm |
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| 4 comments: |
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thanx 4 ur comments, guys =) i appreciate the encouragement. i'm growing accustomed to the idea, but i'm still afraid of being too reserved. but you're right, i should share my heart with them.
those lucky people =) |
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| Comment posted by kimi =) (ip: 69.108.87.120) on 07 / 14 / 2005 at 1:12 PM
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| Great post. I have a feeling that you will have the same separation anxiety before you leave for Japan because of all the new friends you've made here. Plus you add in the separation from the friends you make there when you get back.. It will be a double edged sword. You'll no doubtedly grow from this. Call me when you're down in the OC and free! |
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Comment posted by David (ip: 12.155.228.3) on 07 / 13 / 2005 at 12:19 PM
David's E-mail: dsoliven@gmail.com
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I've been thinking about this post for a couple days now. I know what you mean. I never went as a missionary, but in '99 I spent 6 weeks in Greece and had the opportunity to kind of "remake" myself. I'd grown up in the same Adventist ghetto all my life and everyone I knew remembered me in diapers. It was good to get away.
There's something magical about that first launch into independence and self-identity. Even a year later, when I went to Newbold, I was much more...reserved?
The older you are, the more refined your personality and your identity becomes. It's unlikely that you'll crash and burn as much as you did when you came back from Ecuador. Knowing who you are inside (and knowing Jesus, duh) gives you a reserve of self-giving that will not exhaust or disappoint you. You won't regret sharing your heart with these people.
Without pain, there is no joy.
Besides, maybe you'll just settle in Japan and never have to leave them all behind! :)
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Comment posted by laura (ip: 69.23.133.56) on 07 / 13 / 2005 at 12:13 PM
laura's E-mail: laura@camacho.tv
laura's website: http://www.camacho.tv |
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Hi Kimi,
Sorry I didn't say anything on this post sooner. But I wanted to wait until I had a good moment to sit down and read it.
You'll be fine. Don't worry about being too open or too reserved. If anything, you may likely be surprised at the reservedness of the Japanese culture, which is not given to "opening up" in the Western manner. That doesn't mean they don't open up, because they do, but they do it in ways that take a bit of time to recognize. At first it may seem like no one opens up, and that might drive you a little nuts at first. Through regular "hellos" and normal-looking things, they say a lot, but not with "opening up" and intimate words like we're accustomed to.
Additionally, most of your acquaintances will likely be your students. So maybe it's good to think of this assignment more like how you did or didn't "open up" to your kids in your teaching job in Cali. I don't know how much traditional "mission" opportunity there is, and anyhow, traditional "mission" doesn't seem to have much effect with Japanese culture (lots of people have written about this problem over the years). So, in short, just come and love your students. None of us know how to love them at first. Take some time learning what "love" means to them.
In His love,
Ramone |
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Comment posted by Ramone (ip: 218.42.225.77) on 07 / 16 / 2005 at 8:22 PM
Ramone's E-mail: fulfilledinjesus@yahoo.com
Ramone's website: http://fulfilledinjesus.blogspot.com |
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| beach vespers this friday! |
just got this message from mitch... sounds like fun!
and haystacks - YUMMM!!!
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this friday, july 15th "loma lyn-dale" is planning a good 'ol beach vespers. we're gonna bring it back... haystacks, vege big franks, song service and all. and when i say song service...not these new praise songs you hear today. i mean the classics. also, we're having a special guest speaker and an open forum about whatever topic comes up. this is all going down @ huntington beach this friday from about 3pm-9pm. this event is free. all we ask is a $3 donation to help pay for the food. everyone is welcome. bring a friend or two. just let me, brad, ken, and jared know by wednesday so that we can get a head count. and remember...this is vespers so drinkin' and smokin' is not recommended. just come and relax, meet new people, catch up with old friends and have an evening of just good 'ol adventist fun.
-mitch
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 11 2005 at 1:19 pm |
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| happy anniversary, mom & dad! |
29 years ago, my parents got married at the white memorial medical center. today, they live across the parking lot from the church and its reception hall (aka the gym). my mom said that my grandpa was so happy and proud of my mom getting married that he invited everyone he ran into - no joke, he would bring invitations to the tennis courts and hand 'em out to all his pare's =) at first, my mom was weirded out by the fact that all these people she barely knew were coming to her wedding, but then, as my grandpa explained it, this was his youngest daughter's wedding and he was so proud he wanted to share it with the world! hearing it from my grandpa's perspective, my mom was happy to have all those guests just to make her dad happy, plus, it was really cute to have him so excited and supportive. so... my parents had easily 1000 guests or so in the white memorial church, and their reception was actually pretty inexpensive because they ate there in the gym, catered by family and friends. crazy, huh? i wish i had a picture of them from their wedding but this one taken april 2002 in the san bernardino mountains will have to do.
happy 29th anniversary, mom & dad! i love you!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 11 2005 at 12:18 pm |
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| road trippin' |
so last week, ching and i were on the phone late at night, trying to catch up, when all of a sudden, she told me that she had thursday and friday off and that we should do something, go somewhere, and just have fun =) i immediately said yes, and we agreed that we would just head up the coast until we got somewhere, and just go adventurin' around!
yah, so, on wednesday night we got in touch with each other and i said i'd be at her place in the morning, and we took off - no plans, just took off =) the drive was really nice in her NEW infiniti G35 and we ended up stopping at santa barbara...
yup, we just chilled and relaxed all thursday, and then on friday, we actually made it to the kayaking place and paddled around the harbor, which was really cool cause the sea lions were there and one actually came up to me and did figure eight's under the water on my left and then jumped twice on my right!!! exciting, huh?
then we just jumped in the car still wearing our swimsuits and drove to my brother's bday party in glendale... hahaha, i know, this picture is like we're import car models, but hey... we needed a picture of us before the drive - we did one on the way up too =) but this one was better cause we got the valet guy to take it =D so it's not just me sittin' there with my arm out taking a left hand special... but it was so relaxing to make the drive with the ocean in view outside the passenger window and the sun roof open and us in our swimsuits... very socal, beach bum feeling =) reeeaaal nice!
but yah, it was the perfect trip, just the right amount of adventure, beautiful weather, and both of us were just chill relaxin' out there... sweetness...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 10 2005 at 1:39 pm |
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| Glad you had fun! Finally, the road trip you always wanted to take! :D |
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Comment posted by kat (ip: 66.65.134.150) on 07 / 10 / 2005 at 1:42 pm
kat's E-mail: datkatskat@yahoo.com
kat's website: http://www.kathykhoo.com |
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| happy birthday, kuya! |
our family got together for my brother's 28th bday... and had a lotta fun laughing. dude, everyone's a comedian in my family!
love you kuya! happy bday!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 08 2005 at 11:49 pm |
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| hahhaha... i cut his hair! |
jr asked me last night to shave his head... and then he chickened out and called his girl and asked what he should do! and she talked with ryan and he told me to make jr clean cut... but he was still too chicken and said all he wanted was a trim, so i trimmed all his hair, everything but the sideburns, and i asked him what he wanted. he didn't know, so he told me to ask ryan, who told me to use the clippers on the 'burns.
"are you sure?"
yup, he said to do it, so i did it. and then jr didn't like the way it looked with the sides so short and the top just trimmed... so then he was gonna buzz it all off... and i accidentally started without the guard, so now, here he is, in all his glory! i told him we might as well go all the way and bic it, but he was too scared...
but yah, he was all sad cuz he hadn't cut his hair in over 6 months and now it's all gone! it's a bad idea to let someone else decide how to cut your hair, but if he had told me what he wanted, he woulda gotten it. actually, he did tell me he wanted it buzzed... and that's what i ended up doing, even though he was moping all night afterwards, callin' his girl, and seeing if she'd still talk to him =) ahhaha...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 06 2005 at 1:17 pm |
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| happy 4th of july! |
we had a little 4th of july's eve action goin on last night, with some filipino firework modification going on...
omar with a sparkler
perry's a man on fire... with three legs =)
willis kept on jumping over the fireworks, sticking his head in the shower, picking up flaming spinning stuff on the ground, and basically, tempting fate... good thing these weren't the exploding kind, or else he'da been missing a hand by now
the girls hung back while the guys modified the fireworks, and then they came around at the the end to finish the sparklers.
actually, i was part of the action but hanging on the side so the smoke wouldn't get to me, and then part of a firework shot out like a missile and got stuck in the dry brush under the trampoline i was standing on and started smokin real bad! i booked it outta there real quick and the guys ran over and stomped it out.... several times, actually, because that happened more'n once. yah, we had the killer bees and they took the bees off the thing and just lit them so that they'd fly around oh-so-dangerously! willis would go out there in the middle of the court and they lit the bees aiming at him, and he'd try to dodge 'em. hahaha... geez... what fun!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 04 2005 at 11:08 am |
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| blessed assurance |
my mom is a nurse and my dad is a chaplain, and they work together in their Assurance hospice. i think it's really neat that they get to work together and visit patients together and just enjoy this time in their life =) that's so cute...
i went to visit them on thursday and accompanied them on a visit to one of their patients, but i was so tired i was just sleeping there at the dining room table... and then i was woken up by my parents singing! they were singing "be not dismayed whate'er betide, God will take care of you"
oh my gosh, the memories came flooding back...
my parents used to drag me and my brother around to hospitals to sing hymns in four part harmony to anyone and everyone they knew who was sick (and being part of the filipino church, we knew tons of people, which meant tons of visits!) and i remember especially singing that song to my Grandma Tibang while she was in the hospital.
so when i heard them singing, i woke up immediately and ran into the room to join them, and it was so nice to sing hymns (blessed assurance, amazing grace, the love of God) with my parents again. i really miss that part of living at home... but it was really nice visiting with them!
happy Sabbath, y'all!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on July 02 2005 at 10:21 pm |
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| roses on display |
beautiful...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 30 2005 at 6:48 am |
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| uggghh... |
i've been the very model of unproductivity today... woke up @8 and promptly went back to sleep, actually sat up and turned on my computer to check my email around 9:30, then went back to sleep... i finally got up some time later and warmed up some leftovers and had some banana cream pie while catching up on some tivo'd shows, and fell asleep watching jeopardy! so, i finally got up off the floor where i'd passed out and just headed back to my room, thinking i would turn on my computer and get some writing done... and went back to sleep!
i've only read the intro to the article on which i'm supposed to write a 2 page review before class tonight, and i'm already confused.
which means that the article is still sitting, next to the highlighter, unread, on the kitchen table, and i'm typing this lying down in my bed...
let's hope i don't fall asleep after i hit "post this entry" hahahha...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 29 2005 at 12:21 pm |
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| tuesday nights - they're baaack! |
tuesday nights (or wednesday nights) was my day once a week to cook filipino style - and by that, i mean "in large quantities". friends were invited over to be part of the family dinner tradition that i held up for about 3 years... and it all came to an end last summer, when i realized i would be working full time during the days and going to ucr 4 days a week. i had absolutely no time at all to cook, not even for myself.
oh, but now that summer is here, it is so on!
i am SO happy to be doing tuesday nights again, i cooked two pounds of lentils and made a large batch of ceviche. i spent a good 4+ hours today preparing food! so yah, i might be biased when i say it was GOOD!
but more than the good food, i was just happy that my house was full again... there were 18 people last night... and 9 of them were family family, plus the 4 who are dating them - which would be the 13 of us here in this picture =)
next week's menu? i believe it's pancit & lumpia... yum!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 29 2005 at 8:49 am |
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| monday: in-n-out |
every monday, for the past 3 months or so, i've eaten at in-n-out... 'cept for last week, of course, since i was outta town. but of course, i resumed my ritual upon returning and had me a double double with extra lettuce, extra sauce, and some fries. my cousins are good people to join me so late at night... but of course, i'm "ate", so it was my treat =)
's okay, of course, cause they bring the entertainment... we were taking stupid pictures and just crackin' up all night long =)
in-n-out is a nice welcome back treat...
double double! |
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 28 2005 at 6:58 am |
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| ladies liberty |
yes, i am a tourist, one who takes many pictures, and one who is a big enough dork to do silly poses like this that earn me strange looks from other tourists passing by.
and yes, that is ice cream in my hand!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 27 2005 at 1:20 pm |
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| One comment: |
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| best... lady liberty... ever! |
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| Comment posted by Randall (ip: 68.230.219.103) on 07 / 02 / 2005 at 6:22 pm
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| central park |
Sabbath afternoon was spent wandering through central park, taking pictures of foliage, and also taking irreverent pictures with Hans Christian Anderson
yup, you got 3 pictures today. it's a sunday special! it's also my last post while here in NY.
gonna miss it here. *sniff sniff*
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 26 2005 at 12:55 pm |
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| Thanks for all the pictures! Man, I'm so jealous of everyone whose gone to see New York. Oh yeah, with Kat ;) j/k Man, she's like the ultimate tour guide (better get my butt in NY asap <-- dreaming) |
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Comment posted by Daryl (ip: 210.166.36.154) on 06 / 26 / 2005 at 4:01 pm
Daryl's website: http://datchan.blogspot.com |
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| the statue of liberty |
i just happened to run into forrest jellison outside the nederlander on thursday night, and i ended up going to the statue of liberty (and finding his great grandpa in the ellis island records) with him, al, and dorian... i found out he just graduated from med school in loma linda, but of all places for me to run into him, we were out here. what a small world, huh?
on the way to the statue of liberty on the circle line ferry, everyone was taking pictures as she got closer... and i thought i'd take a picture of forrest taking a picture lady liberty. enjoy!
oh, and Happy Sabbath! (i'm off to do song service now! what fun!)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 25 2005 at 6:03 am |
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| in the subway |
kat's an awesome stylist (and photographer). i told her i wanted my hair with the big front, and she delivered! i felt very new york today, what with my new purse, awesome belt (got some compliments on it from girls in the copacobana), and my hair all done up... it was sorta fun =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 24 2005 at 12:28 am |
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| it was my lucky day today on... |
avenue a. we walked on it for a little while before we scooted over one block to get to the corner of avenue b and e 10th street - the site of life cafe, the setting of "la vie boheme" in rent. yes, kat and i made it all the way over to alphabet city -just- to visit this place.
no pasta with meatless balls on the menu nor tofu dog platters, so we just sat around drinking cafe au soy, vanilla milk chocolates, and a hot almond soy drink while discussing our lives and where we're headed.
me? i still don't know... but i know it's gonna be good! =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 23 2005 at 2:50 am |
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| yankee stadium |
so up until now i've gotten away with posting pics of NY without people in it, but i think i actually gotta prove i'm here, so here's a pic i took of myself, twisted around in my seat, holding my camera out with my left hand, and getting a fairly decent photo of me with the Yankee stadium in the background.
too bad they lost (to the Devil Rays. yah. they suck.) but we still had fun cheering them on. the Yankee fans are interesting. it doesn't take much to get them going, they're pretty much the opposite of LA fans. one person will start yelling a cheer and within 5 seconds the whole ENTIRE stadium is chanting along. and when the billboard asks for noise, they sho' do deliver it. SOOO unlike the LA teams that have that fake board with the noise meter - at least that *pretends* to be interactive. nope, the stadium had a plain little word in arial font light up on the screen (and it wasn't even ), and the crowd would roar!
i was duly impressed. they even stayed till the end of the game.
where do they find fans like that?!?!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 22 2005 at 12:35 am |
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| 2 comments: |
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| ha...you think yankee fans get rowdy?...you should see a mets game...against the yankees. |
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| Comment posted by me (ip: 4.20.178.68) on 06 / 22 / 2005 at 2:29 PM
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Hey Kimi, if you get here before the season ends (in early October, I think), you need to come to Koshien stadium to see a Hanshin Tigers game. I haven't been to a Yankee or Dodger game, but I think the spectacle of non-stop chanting & singing will be interesting to behold, hahaha. And little kids wearing yellow or pink tiger ears. (^_^)
I think Hanshin is going to win the pennant again this year, which means thousands of fans will dive into the smelly & grimey Dotonbori river in Namba (in Osaka). It's rumored to have 6 meters of sludge at the bottom. My friend Mutsuda jumped in with 5,299 other fans when Hanshin won the Central League championship two years ago.
Somewhere at the bottom there is a forever-lost statue of Colonel Sanders. Prior to two years ago, the Tigers hadn't won the C.League since 1985. Back in '85 they won really big and had a player named Randy Bass, who apparently had similar facial hair to Col.Sanders. When people were diving into the river for their favorite players, some zealous and no-doubt-very-inebriated fans liberated the Colonel from a nearby KFC and plunged the likeness of the southern gentleman into the river in honor of slugger Randy Bass.
Several attempts were made to recover the Colonel, but he was never found. After that year Hanshin promptly went to the bottom of the Central League standings and stayed there for about 15 years. Fans attributed it to "the colonel's curse", and in 1994, I think, some repentant fans went to a KFC near the stadium and formally apologized (to have the curse removed, haha). The rest of that season looked promising, but alas, no change.
What did happen, however, was a close kinship between the Tigers and KFC, which now once in awhile sports Hanshin products when the Tigers are winning. I got this cool towel with the Colonel dressed in a Hanshin uniform two years ago. Also, wherever the Colonel is found on the street near a restaurant, if it is Tigers season he will no doubt be decked out in a uniform and holding a bullhorn.
In 2003, the fans finally got to plunge into the river again. Yaay. The Colonels were removed indoors, however, during the Japan Series. The Tigers lost to the Daiei Hawks, unfortunately, though. Now it's the Softbank Hawks, though. Most teams here are named after the companies that own them instead of cities or areas. Yuck. Oh well. |
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Comment posted by ramone (ip: 218.42.225.65) on 06 / 22 / 2005 at 7:34 PM
ramone's E-mail: fulfilledinjesus@yahoo.com
ramone's website: http://fulfilledinjesus.blogspot.com |
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| 87th & amsterdam |
this is the view from kat's apt, around 8pm or so... i have no idea what i'm looking at, but i think it's still a nice view, facing downtownish (hmmm, is that a real word? y'all know what i mean anyways, so...)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 21 2005 at 2:25 am |
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| 2 comments: |
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| i love new york! i'm so jealous! |
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Comment posted by mandy (ip: 71.110.210.121) on 06 / 21 / 2005 at 4:14 PM
mandy's website: http://thewhalingwall.blogspot.com |
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Kimi and Kat,
Just looking at your pics puts me right there next to you! I am sooo happy for you to be out and having fun in the big apple. Kimi, you totally deserve this vacation. Enjoy every little moment.
Love,
Christina
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Comment posted by Christina (ip: 71.103.167.196) on 06 / 21 / 2005 at 8:03 PM
Christina's E-mail: born2wwraft@yahoo.com
Christina's website: http://www.portalpreserve.com |
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| in the subway |
we ran around town yesterday. hit up little italy, chinatown, rockefeller center, lombardi's pizza, yum yum! even had ceviche while watching the game...
but to get to it all, we had to take the subway...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 20 2005 at 8:07 am |
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| 2 comments: |
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| i love the subway. took it home tonight all by my lonesome (yah yah, don't tell me it's dangerous... i'm from east l.a., remember?) just was sayin, that's where i took this pic =) |
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| Comment posted by kimi =) (ip: 66.65.134.150) on 06 / 20 / 2005 at 10:35 PM
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You don't like the subway? The subway's cool, man.
:D |
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Comment posted by Greg (ip: 81.80.99.114) on 06 / 20 / 2005 at 8:53 PM
Greg's E-mail: tievape@yahoo.com
Greg's website: http://gregiskhan.blogspot.com |
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| new yahk city! |
i got here to NY last night... took the front seat of a taxi and had fun taking pictures of us speeding along =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 19 2005 at 11:09 am |
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| One comment: |
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Hi Kimi!
I've been calling you to hang out, totally forgetting you're in the Big Apple. And man, you really have been up to fun! Did you take up the offer for surf lessons at Huntington beach?
I must admit, there are few places I'd rather be right now than with you and Kat in the big city. Have an extra dose of fun for me and think of me often. See you when you get back!
Cheers,
Christina |
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Comment posted by Christina (ip: 71.103.167.196) on 06 / 19 / 2005 at 6:29 pm
Christina's E-mail: born2wwraft@yahoo.com
Christina's website: http://www.portalpreserve.com |
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| surfin USA |
for my official first day of summer, i decided to learn how to surf! it was muy fun and i rode some waves in but i couldn't stand... boo... some of the waves i just rode in on the board, and some of them i actually got up on my knees - but frickin A it's hard to stand! =) i think i need to work out my arms so i can get stronger and pop myself up (and also to paddle out), so that's what i'll be doing at the gym. yup, working on my arms. i'm gonna get cut =) hahaha... yah right, but it'll be fun trying!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 17 2005 at 5:46 pm |
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| One comment: |
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*me, getting up nice a cozy like next to your ear, and with my warm, lusty breath through your soft black hair...*
"Grgrgrggrgrgrggrgrgrrrrrrow" |
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Comment posted by Alan (ip: 200.106.138.11) on 06 / 23 / 2005 at 8:02 am
Alan's E-mail: camacho.alan@gmail.com
Alan's website: http://www.glassmanproductions.blogspot.com |
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| the puen bandits |
it was so great seeing laurie and my brother during my graduation party. i had to mingle with everyone and so i didn't get to spend much time with anyone, but they stayed till the very end (even though they had to drive all the way back to glendale and venice beach - thanks guys!) and we caught up and talked and just got to spend time together. i love spending time with my cousins, and out here in loma linda, i'm around the banaag clan alot. it was really awesome being able to hang out with the puens as well... we really should do it more often =) if only we weren't so spread out...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 16 2005 at 10:59 am |
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| ladies of 4th period |
from left to right, top row: alexis (class pres), yelitza, gladys, (mark hidden in the background), "ms. puen", jackie, maritza, jessica, jackie
left to right, bottom row: eileen, jessica, vanessa
today is the last day i have them as students, tomorrow, they get promoted from 8th grade...
i gave 'em all bouncy balls and play doh, they asked for bubbles and more bouncy balls tomorrow for their gifts =) it's nice to know that they can still have fun with that stuff even though they're 14 years old. you'd never think about buying a 14-year-old play doh, but as 8th graders, they love it! =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 14 2005 at 11:11 am |
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| wanted: friends |
i've been accused of being the guy in my relationships.
i admit it.
in fact, i recently realized that i'm not just the guy in my relationships but also in all my friendships as well...
y'see, if you've been paying attention, you'll know that my friends have moved all over the place. which means, i'm left looking for new friends. but daryl said it best, as did kat in her post, and laura too (though it was more about relationships), when they said that it's rare to make new friends when we're at our ripe old age of 25 or 27 or so...
y'know how they say guys just bond over activities and don't talk about deeper stuff? yah, that would be me. so, in the absence of my friends, i've just been looking for people to do stuff with. and by that, i mean, i'm looking for people to play sports with. luckily, there's been a gym night every wednesday, and that's been wonderful! i met all my new friends there... and of course, they're all guys. after playing basketball and volleyball, we'd all head on over to denny's and chill. they started inviting me to do stuff, like, eat out during the week, or go snowboarding, or head to the beach with them. they've accepted me no-questions-asked and it's been wonderful.
the problem is, i'm just one of the guys... we don't talk about the deeper thoughts that i have, it's all just fun and games, laughing, eating, enjoying, and stupid stupid jokes. don't get me wrong, i love that part. and it's how i work best, getting to know people through activities. but i really miss the late night conversations that i would have with kat, merv, and alan. where we'd discuss the theoretical idea behind relationships, argue about theology, converse about profound subjects as well as inane topics. i would really enjoy finding some people to bond with this way...
and then, of course, leave for japan in 2 months.
*sigh* maybe that's why i have a hard time letting people into my inner circle, cause i keep on leaving. and maybe that's why in the middle of a big group of friends i can still be lonely. maybe i should just go ahead and open up and let them in, after all, i've had boyfriends each time i left - leaving for ecuador, leaving ecuador for LA, and leaving for taiwan - hey, now that i think about it, each of those relationships started about 2 months before i left. hmmm, that would put me in line to start another one right now. if i can find someone to date for 2 months... hahahaa... i don't think that's gonna happen. the nice guys are too smart to get involved with someone who's leaving.
anyways, back to what i was saying. *ahem* i wanna be able to make close friends. is that possible? is that probable? or will i just continue to hang out with peoples but not have great late night conversations? is it possible to open myself up and let people into my inner circle? and who do i let in?
or am i condemned to a life of email to my friends in other places, as i move around the world?
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 13 2005 at 9:22 am |
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| 3 comments: |
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to be able to talk about deep conversations to "new" friends takes a while i think. personally speaking, thats how it is for me. out of all the people i know in this long and short life of mine, i only talk "deep" to 3 of them. i guess that also begs the questions, "what exactly is a deep conversation?" i guess for me, talking about someone im attracted to or anything like that doesnt count. for me, the deep part is all the talk about why i do what i do and the intergalactic reason that made me do it. im weird. and i guess i only talk that way to people i feel understand me.
anyway, i guess what im getting at is that youre not being the "guy" in your friendships, it takes time to filter out those who would understand the inner workings of clockwork that is kimi's thoughts. once you weed them out of the rest of the crowd you could discuss philosophical and interplanetary deep thought, or whatever it may be you consider "deep." i myself am very strange. i function on dreams and unexplanatory hunches. but i guess thats a discussion for another time. (: ttyl kgrp
-wgs |
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| Comment posted by gorilla (ip: 68.64.115.191) on 06 / 14 / 2005 at 4:55 PM
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Hey Kimi,
Just a couple of thoughts. First, don´t worry about being the man in your relationships. You´re not. Yeah, you like bonding over activities and such, but how many guys do you know who would jot down on his own personal blog 6 paragraphs describing the method by which he forms and maintains relationships?
And secondly, I am far more attracted to you than your guy friends which, in my book anyway, makes you the woman. |
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Comment posted by Alan (ip: 201.245.162.193) on 06 / 13 / 2005 at 6:19 PM
Alan's E-mail: camacho.alan@gmail.com
Alan's website: http://www.glassmanproductions.blogspot.com |
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Wow, Kimi,
I really admire your openness and honesty. So many of us want more friends, especailly those with whom we can feel safe enough to let our hair down and admit our weaknesses and faults. I think that the trick to that kind of relationship is time--you have to spend an enourmous amount of time with someone to get to a deep level--time spent doing silly stuff, time spent talking about random stuff, and time spent doing and talking about valuable stuff (like God, and mutual friends/projects).
I feel really lucky to be one of your friends, Kimi. I really admire your strength and your curiosity about life. You really are a Banaang woman. While sometimes it feels like you and I are the last single girls in Loma Linda, our friendship reminds me that no matter what happens, we're bad ass. We're intelligent, caring, loving, honest, and successful. We're growing, searching, and becoming amazing people.
About Japan and leaving friends behind. I think distance isn't really an issue for close friends. Go to Japan, and make more friends there. When you return, you'll find those who were in your heart when you left are still there (especially if you keep up the blog). Look at Alan--he's in Columbia.
Alan, if you read this, "Hi how's it going? email me at born2wwraft@yahoo.com"
I hope to see you at gym night tonight!
Christina |
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Comment posted by Christina (ip: 71.103.167.196) on 06 / 15 / 2005 at 7:01 PM
Christina's E-mail: born2wwraft@yahoo.com
Christina's website: http://www.portalpreserve.com |
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| i IS an edjumakated woman! |
yup, here's me with jay, loribeth, & theresa... they've been project partners and helped me get through this week. jay has been extra special cool cause he buys all the textbooks and then lends them to me all quarter long. of course, i end up having to do all the readings and he doesn't have to, but then, i don't have to spend money, and that works out for my cheap Chinese self =) theresa's also a math teacher and we've been in the same group all year long, doing projects together as well... and loribeth is teaching elementary, i don't see her as much because of that, but the few classes we had together were always so much fun! she's always so happy and does every single homework, we don't know how she does it! =)
anyways, guys, i'm so glad we're done!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 12 2005 at 9:48 pm |
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| i'm graduating today! |
my cap and gown are hanging up in my room and i'm excited... i have a full day ahead - i have to finish work, then possibly buy something to wear to the graduation (i know, i know, i have a gown. but i gotsta wear something under it! and it does matter... like when you wear lingerie under sweats, you still walk sexier, it just has an effect on you. so anyways, yah, i wanna buy a nice outfit to graduate in), then hit up happy hour with my co-workers (since it's our last friday of the year - yay!!!), and then head on over to the graduation ceremony, and hopefully afterwards we'll go eat somewhere. seeing as how i'm still lacking sleep (i pulled an all nighter on wednesday night to finish all my finals) i'll probably sleep through my graduation ceremony, when all the PhD's and MBA's are graduating, and wake up only for the education portion =) but i'll seriously be famished after all this running around, and i'll wanna go eat to celebrate somewhere... but i don't wanna have to think today (i shouldn't have to think - i just finished finals!) so can someone else just take me somewhere? that'd be nice...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 10 2005 at 11:59 am |
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| 3 comments: |
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| I wish I could be there too, but Congratulations! You are too awesome! |
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Comment posted by Datchan (ip: 210.166.36.154) on 06 / 12 / 2005 at 5:15 AM
Datchan's website: http://datchan.blogspot.com |
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| Congrats Kimi! I wish I could be there to help you pick something fun and interesting out for your grad outfit ("gold glitter lipstick and bold striped tights? Sweet!") Just wanted to say that I'm proud of you and glad to see you in a week! :D |
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Comment posted by kat (ip: 66.65.133.217) on 06 / 10 / 2005 at 8:42 PM
kat's E-mail: datkatskat@yahoo.com
kat's website: http://www.kathykhoo.com |
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| Kimi!!!! Congratulations!!!! Buy yourself a nice outfit to wear under that gown, girl! Once that gown comes off...you gottsta look fabulous and party!!!! Oh my gosh, you're so funny...last minute everything! Well you're done....that's the important thing. :) |
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| Comment posted by jill (ip: 71.103.177.56) on 06 / 10 / 2005 at 12:57 PM
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| RENT - the movie |
oh wow... i just found out this week that RENT, one of my favorite musicals, is being made into a movie!
i've been listening to this non-stop in my car ever since this weekend, when i saw "tick tick boom" being performed.
my favorite songs? "la vie boheme", "take me or leave me", and the "tango maureen"... oh yeah... and all the "Christmas bells are ringing" songs... i have no idea what the real titles are.
so what are your faves?
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 09 2005 at 1:38 pm |
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| basket |
just a shot i took at pam's wedding... there was pink ribbon everywhere - even on kat's dress and in my hair =) i really wanted a picture of the ribbon and i thought the basket would make a nice backdrop... photoshopped it to drop the rest of the picture outta the main focus... i'm not too sure how i shoulda done this pic but i'm sorta happy with it like this.
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 09 2005 at 11:06 am |
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| ube ice cream |
last Sabbath the doorbell rang, and i went to go answer the door. as soon as i opened it, i started laughing, cause perry was standing there staring at my lawn, sayin:
"cool! there's ube ice cream all over your lawn!"
yes, our purple flowers are retaining their color this year even after falling on the ground, so instead of having a bunch of brown deadness littering our yard and driveways, we have this nice carpet o' ube ice cream... it's rather nice to drive up to everyday =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 08 2005 at 9:22 am |
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| in braids |
this is what the students do to me when they are given free time - it's finals week but after testing we're required to keep students till 1:30, so we just sat around while they braided my hair =) the school also broadcast "lion king 1 1/2" to all the classrooms after testing, so that was a real productive day today! =)
oh, and if you look on the wall behind me, you can see some of my students' art. the drawing on the left with the wings is "Ms. Poen" as "Fire Element", and the student drew it off the picture i printed for her (on the pink paper). i love it when they're all artsy like that! i encourage it as much as possible...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 07 2005 at 1:43 pm |
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| spreading out |
daryl just posted about alan being in colombia, and he commented on how we are all spread out.
heck yeah, we're all spread out, and it's funny how -i'm- the one left in loma linda =)
let's see... alan's in colombia, mervyn in SF, kat in NY, laura & les in nebraska, ange in mass, jeff in CO, jimbo in boston (which apparently makes that the center of our universe since that's closest to ange, jim, & ashley, while kat's not too far away either. oh, and isn't erika out there somewhere nearby?) val is out somewhere in florida, and kirstin is near UNC, so i suppose that puts her close to vince & ellen. daryl, ramone & yoko, and kakazu are spread out in japan.
i'm sure there are more i could list but i think you get the idea. now you see why i say all my friends are gone? that's okay, i'm finding new friends here... more about that later....
as for the original aggins ('member that? REPLY TO THIS - THE OFFICIAL EMAIL THREAD!) and the slightly more organized "webe" at coollist, well, we're slowly infecting the world with our brand of humor... *evil smirk*
muaahahahah!!!!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 07 2005 at 1:18 am |
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| 5 comments: |
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Usually after 12 weeks, I think.
Oh, you mean *school*, haha. |
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Comment posted by ramone (ip: 218.42.225.84) on 06 / 09 / 2005 at 6:10 AM
ramone's E-mail: fulfilledinjesus@yahoo.com
ramone's website: http://art-for-jesus.blogspot.com |
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| aren't i supposed to get there end of august? i dunno, you tell me... when does the 2nd trimester begin? |
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| Comment posted by kimi =) (ip: 163.150.15.187) on 06 / 07 / 2005 at 9:39 AM
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wow... Aggins... those were the days when Ramone was a devote atheist and Ange was a theist.
lol... you know, that's how I remember timelines these days. By when people believed what. |
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Comment posted by les (ip: 69.23.133.40) on 06 / 07 / 2005 at 6:35 AM
les's website: http://www.camacho.tv |
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Wow. Aggins. Wow. Webe coollist. Wow.
NATSUKASHIIIII!!!
Haha, I had a dream with Ange & even Des in it the other night. Must've been after looking at Ange's wedding pics on Kat's blog.
Did you ever notice that all our efforts to keep each other localized -- or keep the great group bonds -- seem to be thwarted time and time again? Hehe. God is cool. I can't wait to have all you crazies in one place for all eternity. (^_^)
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Comment posted by ramone (ip: 219.122.201.221) on 06 / 07 / 2005 at 4:58 AM
ramone's E-mail: fulfilledinjesus@yahoo.com
ramone's website: http://art-for-jesus.blogspot.com |
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| By the way, when you are coming? |
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Comment posted by Daryl (ip: 210.166.36.154) on 06 / 07 / 2005 at 3:48 AM
Daryl's website: http://datchan.blogspot.com |
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| tick tick boom |
i'm so proud of these guys... a whole buncha my classmates from high school got together and decided to do a musical - they produced it, they starred in it, and did the lighting, set design, etc. it was awesome to recognize almost all the names in the "bulletin" program =) the musical was good too... written by jonathan larson, same guy who wrote "RENT". my favorite songs were "no more" and "therapy"... made me laugh =)
i can't wait till the next one they decide to put on...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 06 2005 at 9:38 am |
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| leaf |
i took this shot 6 months ago when kathy was here for Christmas/New Years... it was such nice weather, even though it was winter we took an afternoon walk wearing tank tops! and this picture looks like it was taken in the fall... socal has GREAT weather =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 04 2005 at 10:15 am |
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| yummay! |
hahaha... my students saw a bunch of my prints yesterday and they were like, "ms puen, you take silly pictures!"
why yes, i do =)
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 03 2005 at 7:56 am |
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Wow. Genius. Amazing.
I've tried only a few size pics, but this is by far one of the coolest I've seen. I think the other coolest I've seen is that one of your students from Taiwan.
Props. And more props. What are props, anyway? Have some more. Props! |
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Comment posted by ramone (ip: 218.42.225.112) on 06 / 03 / 2005 at 5:41 PM
ramone's E-mail: fulfilledinjesus@yahoo.com
ramone's website: http://art-for-jesus.blogspot.com |
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Cannibalism is bad, mmkay? :D
That looks like it took far too long to set up and take. |
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Comment posted by Greg (ip: 68.109.80.169) on 06 / 03 / 2005 at 6:37 PM
Greg's E-mail: tievape@yahoo.com
Greg's website: http://gregiskhan.blogspot.com |
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| twins |
last saturday night we were playing poker and marc was in this outfit... jaime disappeared upstairs and then shows up in the same "lucky outfit" =)
their shirts didn't quite match up so marc wrote the brand name on jaime's shirt
and they were so cute in their matching outfits! hahaha...
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 02 2005 at 3:33 pm |
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| in the swimming 'ool |
when i was little, there was a sign on my cousins' pool:
welcome to our swimming 'ool.
(notice there's no 'p' in it, let's keep it that way!)
heheh... anyways, on to more pictures from this weekend =)
my three cousins make an underwater bridge
willis starts going through the banaag tunnel
he almost makes it!
whoops! ride 'em, cowboy!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on June 01 2005 at 8:26 am |
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| what a fun weekend! |
this memorial day weekend we played pool, swam in a pool, ate out, had barbecues, played badminton, played bocci ball, went to the beach, played tennis, played poker, went to the driving range, hit up a few parties, had more barbecues, played basketball, and ate out some more. yah... pretty much just enjoyed hanging out and being in the sun, and having fun with sports and other activities.
let's start off with some photos from friday night pool
the group photo outside q-bonkers - missing carlo (taking the picture) and perry (why was he already in the car?)
if you look at this pic from the side it looks like willis is shooting a huge bazooka
cheeno trying to copy willis
marc, cheeno, & ted ran over to chubby (my scion xA) to take a picture with perry
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| Entry posted by kgrp on May 31 2005 at 12:02 pm |
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| ben's nacho chicken |
yum! & easy, too!
1 lb chicken (i used boneless skinless breast, cut)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 small can of chicken broth
1 can mexican diced tomatoes - spicy if you like
1 onion, chopped
shredded nacho cheese - 8 oz-1lb
nacho cheese doritos
preheat oven to 375 degrees. boil the chicken till it's cooked. combine combine chicken with all the ingredients except for the cheese & doritos in a mixing bowl. line the bottom of a 9x13 casserole pan with crushed doritos. pour the mixture into the casserole pan. top with shredded cheese (& with jalapenos if you like...)
bake in oven for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.
eat & enjoy!
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| Entry posted by kgrp on May 27 2005 at 11:49 am |
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