Okay, maybe I am a little bit of a bandwagon fan, but I’m so glad that the hype (no…the facts) got me to notice Stephen Curry, because he is absolutely killing it! Steph Curry is 6’3 point guard for the Golden State Warriors. He’s Christian, he’s well spoken, and the best shooter in all basketball…and I am not kidding. He leads the NBA in 3 pointers and his accuracy is over 45% (that’s good in basketball terms).

The Warriors, this year, are 1st in the regular season with 2nd place 10 games behind, and presently have swept the New Orleans Pelican 4-0 in the first round of the playoffs. Game 3 was so exciting in which Curry scored 6 points in the span of 9 seconds to tie the game (everybody thought it should have been an “and 1”) in the 4th quarter, and got the Warriors back from a 20 point deficit to win it in overtime. I’m predicting they’ll go against the Houston Rockets in the 2nd round, and totally win against whoever they play against in the weak Eastern Conference. Anyways, I’m hoping that everybody on the team stays healthy and that they enjoy the ride

In order to kinda get to know me again, I should let you see…what’s been happening…I mean, I don’t even know where to start! We bought a house in Santa Clara in January 2014, and have lived here for almost 1 ½ years. Housing prices are crazy in the Bay Area. I mean, I thought our price was extremely expensive, and yet, prices are now $125k MORE than it was when we bought ours! During this time, as mentioned in my previous blog post, we’ve been going through a few renters. I think Anson would rather have a long term person, but I feel like they have been working out well. Our recent renter has been here since September, and the new one who is moving in today hopes to be here for at least 6 months to a year. Our prices are pretty competitive especially since everybody seems to want to live in the Bay Area. All the construction that I ever see is for high density housing…granted, the apartments look pretty nice, but that also just means more people and more cars on the road…it’s someday gonna turn out like LA…

Anyways, I work at Bill Wilson Center as an Accountant. I was hired as an Accounting Clerk, and was promoted 6 months later to Accountant 1. The pay still is not that great (Anson has had 3 raises in the span of 1 year and 1 month and makes 3 times as much as me, but maybe I shouldn’t compare). My pay is still the best I’ve had in my lifetime and is one way to support my family. I’m also learning more things that before. I know full-cycle Accounts Payable, deposits, cash receipts, program fees, reconciling advances, gift cards, help case manager with checks, petty cash, and gift cards, etc. It’s busy, but it makes the day go faster.

As for church, we are on worship team three times a month every other month. Our worship leaders are Daniel L, Tim C, and Joe K. Kinda like Daniel’s sets more since he knows how to pick songs that are better with bass and drums. I play piano when it’s needed, but I rather play bass since we don’t always have much time to practice. We attend our respective bookclubs/man groups every other Tuesday. The girls are hosted by Janette (though we might be splitting since we are getting more people into the church), and the guys are led by James and meet at our house. We also do Sunday refreshments once every other month. I enjoy doing this since I like making/preparing food and it brings me joy to feed people. I like shopping too! Anson doesn’t like this as much…but we only do it 6 times a year. Don’t want get too burnt out.

As for what’s been happening recently, Judy and Alex just got married on Saturday. We helped out in the welcome team and had the hard job of not letting 2 couples in until the Judy walked down the aisle. They got married at RBF, so Friday night was busy with practicing for worship while all the decorations were being put up. We also put back the drums and bass after the ceremony. We carpooled with Cindy to San Jose Country Club where the reception took place. Deb L of course was the MC…every wedding I’ve been to up here has been MC’d by Deb (Jocelyn and Peter, Amy and Eric, Kevin and Cassandra, Mario and Claudia…). It was good to see them go from friends to dating to now being married. Yay!

It is our three year anniversary of being married! I can’t believe it’s already three years…wow, how time has passed. In one month, I’m also turning 30. I don’t know if it really bothers me…it’s just a number, but I’ll no longer be in my 20’s anymore…guess a cool goal that we obtained though is that we also have reached a landmark in net assets before turning 30. That’s in large part due to our house appreciating like crazy. For our first year, we went to Monterey, 2^nd year, we went to Half Moon Bay, and this year, we’re just gonna stay local, but we’re taking a day off this Friday. We’re gonna catch the early show for Avengers: Age of Ultron (opening day!), and had crab boil for lunch (bucket of crabs, shrimp, corn, sausage, etc). My favs…movie and good food!

Anson’s mom will be coming up to help take care of Uncle Tim next week. She uses all her vacation in order to see him. She loves him very much. Not sure if Uncle Tim and Aunt Helena will be moving back to Southern California at some point since it’s closer to Aunt Helena’s family, and they can help her and give her support. We’ll pick Auntie Esther mom up on Saturday and probably eat lunch with them up in San Mateo.

I think that’s probably it for now. Hope that helps ya remember my oh so busy life. I’ll try to go into deeper stuff at some point. Laters.

At work, I am actually very caught up. After being here for just a little over a year, I am finally feeling like I’m mastering my work. That means that I have a little more time on my hands. And you know what I have been doing poorly at? Blogging! I can count on my two hands how many blog posts I’ve done this year…and last year. I got to step this up. So, my resolve? Since I have more free time at work (of course, I’ll only do this during my 15 minute breaks!), I will use that time to be more productive and finally catch up on letting y’all…get to know me again, because…

I sometimes don’t really know me now. I’m just busy or tired or both. Blogging always helped me sort out my feelings, but whether it’s just work, church, family life, etc., I just haven’t been writing these things down…and I should! My memory is not as it used to be, and it never was very good to begin with. So, in dedication to my three year anniversary (it’s just conveniently falling on this day), I am resolving to do 50 entries…this year. I did it before, and I loved it. I want to remember who I am when I look back on these entries. Help me love this again.

We’ve been renting out our 2 other bedrooms since May of 2014 (bought house in Jan 2014). We include, all utilities, wifi, paper towels, toilet paper, dishwashing/laundry detergent, and hand soap. We’ve mostly been renting out to friends of friends from church, but we are now branching out to people on Craigslist…of course, must interview them to make sure it’ll be a good fit. Seems like our pricing is still very competitive even though we are increasing the rent, since we had seven inquiries within a few hours. Had to adjust the post though since our other renter is more comfortable with another female in the house instead of male. Newest renter moving in tomorrow! Hope it’ll be a good experience!

Sarah
May 18 – Aug 9
Law student, internship at Yahoo…free meals!
$400/month in smaller room since need to pay for double housing at Davis

John
May 18 – May 31
Law grad, lawyer working in Oakland, 2 hour commute, moved out in two weeks
$750/month for bigger room, very clean, actually irons

Stephanie
July 30 – Jan 15
Acquaintance of Janette, works at Boston Scientific, now attends RBF
$750 for bigger room, moved to smaller room after Sarah moved out in Aug-14 for $600/month

Jo-Ann
Aug 31 – Present
Friend of Christine O., Speech Therapist, church in Hayward, currently looking for jobs in schools
$750 for bigger room, moved to smaller room after Stephanie moved out in Jan-15 for $600/month

Hongla
April 28 – Present
Found on Craigslist…within almost 24 hours, commutes to SF for work, likes board games, anime
$800 for bigger room

as customary, anson and i went down to LA for the Christmas holiday. we left early morning on 12/25, thursday and came back monday morning since i still had to work. it was short, but a good time of being with family and friends

on thursday night, the pang and wong families ate dinner at the wong house. my parents bought a duck, chow mein and made some veggies, and the wongs weren’t supposed to make food, but auntie esther mom ended up making soup, two fish dishes, and baked egg rolls. aaron made curry corners (not sure the English name). lauren (aaron’s gf) did not make it since she was traveling with friends. we first suggested that we eat out for dinner, but uncle ken dad had surgery recently, and we didn’t want to put too much strain on his body.

on friday, raymond came over after taking his car to the shop. we had sushi at a restaurant in the same shopping plaza where bcd tofu house is located on saticoy and lindley called “sushi for you”. yellowtail sashimi totally melts in your mouth. we then went hiking at san vicente mountain park. it was sooo cold!

on saturday, the wong family went to forest lawn to visit the burial place of auntie esther mom’s parents. forest lawn houses this massive painting of the crucifixion. it was in a church and they have a showing every hour with a narrative of what is going on in the painting. we also saw a stained glass production of the last supper. i was surprised at how the narrations for both works were very blatantly gospel…pleasantly surprised =) for lunch, we went to hk kitchen (bleh), and for dinner, anson and i ate hot pot with my parents.

on sunday, we went to ccac. they’ve revamped their lights and it feels like a concert there now. tim lin was the guest speaker. for lunch, we ate with gavin, webber, cres, and raymond at pieology. i have discovered a new favorite. pieology is like a subway or chipotle version for pizza. you can customize your own personal pan pizza with whatever ingredients for only $7.95. it is medium sized, but i could only finish half. we then went to boba my tea where they have the cool fat cups (that probably hold the same amount as the older cups…and they’re less practical since they don’t fit in a car cup holder, but i like them nonetheless! for dinner, i ate yummy steamed fish with my parents, and wrote up my 29 predictions for next year and the highlights for the year of 2014 (which will be my next blog entry…enjoy!

at 5pm, we arrived at rohnert park and met the group after their ride. alex and daniel had fallen while on the ride, the girls were the best in their group, but it seems that anson was holding back. go sexy cow! they were provided dinner, different souvenirs (mist spray, t-shirts, etc). all in all, a great saturday for the bike party and our girl’s wine party =) we both enjoyed in our own ways! let’s do it again!

things have changed =) i think i left off with you when i was at Cupertino Healthcare and Wellness Center as an AP/Payroll Coordinator. the job was a contract position from october 2013 until around february 2014 to fill in for jeniffer until she came back from maternity leave. she had all the intention to come back to work, so being the responsible person i was, i searched around for a new job. i interviewed at a couple places, and there was one place i especially liked since i’d have better pay, better benefits when made permanent, and it was only 2.2 miles away from our house (Cupertino Healthcare was 7 miles away). the manager seemed like she liked me and even showed me around the office. i came in again for a 2nd interview with the controller, but i don’t think i did as well in that interview, so they went with another person…i was sad since i liked the environment, the position, and i thought that God was leading me to this job…He had a plan though =)

while i was interviewing, jeniffer resigned! i guess she wanted to stay with her baby girl. because of this, i was able to become permanent staff at cupertino with benefits and accrued vacation and received a 12.5% raise. it was busy and sometimes stressful since i was responsible for 180 some odd people’s paychecks, but i had my own office, a permanent, stable position, and i even made a snack bar for my coworkers =) fast forward 1 month 1/2 later…the place i interviewed for contacted me, said the other person did not work out, and if i was still interested in the job.

i was confused. i thought that this door had been closed to me, and it was opened again? do i want to be their 2nd choice? why did it happen this way? well, i found out why…since i was in a permanent full time position with a raise, i now had leverage. at the time of my interview, i was still contracted, no benefits, with less pay, but now i had a bargaining chip, so i went all in…i told them my situation, that the job was a temp-to-hire, which was not as ideal, and negotiated for another +10% raise…and they accepted, and then i accepted! since mid-April, I have been at Bill Wilson Center as support staff working in their accounting department. this was what was in God’s plan all along. it was the job that i wanted, but he told me to wait, made me be a better worker in the position that i held and Cupertino, and then gave me the job with an increased salary!

so let me tell you a little bit about the new place. Bill Wilson Center is a non-profit organization that helps children, teens, and families with various services including transitional housing, counseling, food support, etc. they are located in santa clara and service the whole county with their various sites and case managers (whom we at the accounting department mainly encounter since the case managers need gift cards, bus passes, and checks from us). i work in their main office and we pay alllll the bills. there are usually around 100+ bills per week which is the most i’ve had at a company in AP. (NTS had about 150 per month!). I focus mainly on Accounts Payable. Mon, Wed, and Fri, I do the deposit in the morning which includes checks for donations, payments for invoices, client fees for counseling. mondays and fridays are more my slow days that i can use to catch up with advances, filing ap, check receipts, gift card receipts, etc, but they can also be busy during certain events like the building dreams luncheon in which i had to process about 200 credit cards. tuesday and wednesday is mainly receiving and coding all invoices (yes, it takes that long). coding at a non-profit is much more complicated since it is not just coding to the specific expense, but also to the program and the grant that pays for it. chrissy is my manager, lien is another accountant, janet is the controller, and david is the cfo…that is our whole accounting department =)

i am still quiet compared to everyone else. they are nice though. they brought me out for my birthday and gave me an orchid…which i have killed unintentionally i’m getting better at coding and making fewer mistakes. and i just became full time as of two weeks ago! it’s been a journey: vp discount, unitone, nts, maxreal, cupertino healthcare and wellness center, and now bill wilson center. it wasn’t always easy…it took three months to find the job at unitone which wasn’t even in my field, and i cried every week when i was there. i broke down and quit maxreal because i couldn’t handle the pressures of being a loan processor, but there has also been many good things: my four year stint at nts because an in-house recruiter found my resume on the now defunct hotjobs site, getting good experience as a payroll coordinator and them even willing to hire me after not being in the accounting field for a year, and now this job…each step of the way, i have learned more and more. i thank God for his provisions and his trials and his blessings.

today, saturday, april 26th, anson and i went to half moon bay in order to celebrate our two year anniversary. last year, we celebrated our anniversary and stayed overnight in monterey. this year, we had a day trip to the closer half moon bay. it took about 45 minutes to get there, and we had a blast!

we left around 10:30am, and made a stop at a place called Dinosaurs of Spanish Town. there were many things like fountains, pots, etc made of stone…and the coolest thing was the lifesized steel versions of dinosaurs making those coming and going out of half moon bay make a stop for some quick pictures with the prehistoric creatures. afterward, we paid $10 for parking at Half Moon Bay State Beach. it was a good investment since it was so close to the beach and in the mid point of the Waterfront Coastside Trail (trail above the cliffs that overlook all the beaches in Half Moon Bay). we ate our lunch (homemade sandwiches with turkey breast, tomatoes, and avacadoes). after lunch, we went south for about 2 to 3 miles, passing Poplar Beach and ending up in Redondo Beach where there was nice soft sand and “roman ruins”underneath a fancy country club.

we then explored downtown half moon bay and looked at all the small shops. kinda funny that most places closed early (5pm) on a saturday. we stopped by a coffee shop where there was free wifi and i was able to update friends/parents of our fun day. we then explored a nearby park, the rest of downtown, and an old jailhouse. the downtown in half moon bay is unique in the way that many shops resided in residential houses. very quaint…for dinner, our trusty friend (yelp) recommended an italian restaurant called mezza luna. we splurged for our anniversary dinner ordering a bloody cosmo cocktail ($8), mussels for appetizers ($11), 2 orders of bread (free), fettuccine alfredo with chicken for me ($16.50), veggie stuffed chicken for anson ($17.50), chocolate ice cream with cheesecake base ($6), and mango ice cream ($5). our bill including tax and gratuities was around $80 (wow!), but compared to some fancy restaurants, this wasn’t a bad price…and hey, we can do this once in a while =) our total for this day trip was under $100 which is more than the price of the comfort inn hotel (coughmotelcough) for $120 in monterey last year.

all in all, it was a fun trip. we were able to see dinosaurs, do some exercise, enjoy nature, have romantic walks on the beach and downtown, visit jail, and have a nice romantic dinner. the hubby normally does not like traveling, but he actually liked this trip. probably won’t go back for our bdays since i’ve already reserved dinner and a movie (the new xmen movie =) for me, and anson wants to have a day of just writing yelp reviews (my funny guy) for his day. we might go back in july and bike the coastside trail. can’t wait!

we got the keys to the house on jan 8, wed. we moved a few boxes worth throughout the week. we got the house grounded which cost almost 2 grand. anson also bought a stainless steel side by side fridge from best buy. it was the only one we found that was a side by side fridge that could fit the smaller area of our kitchen, but it looks real nice. i have to get use to putting food in it though since it has less area than what i’m use to.

the actual moving day was saturday, jan 18th. kevin leong, jacob chang, and christine ouyang helped us move. props to the guys for all the heavy lifting! too bad the guys didn’t stay for lunch. i made sloppy joes for anson and christine…well, it might have been better that it was a small setting since i couldn’t find some of my utensils and whatnot =)

i bought some house hold items including new bathmats, showerhead, and curtains.  we have all our furniture in our room set up, both the computers, and the bookshelf. i’ve been unpacking many of the boxes and we just need to unpack a couple more, put some things in the closet storage, the garage, or the shed. 

tomorrow (sat the 25th), we’ll need to drain the water heater since it’s been making some noise. we’ll probably have to buy a sofa and an area rug since our parents will be coming up in two weeks. if we buy the sofa from costco, we might need to ask tim uy for help and use his van. we’ll also be receiving the washer and dryer from home depot and set those up too.  so busy this month.