since mid july, i have been using a fitbit charge hr. the device is worn like a watch. it show the time, steps taken a day, miles walked, heart rate, calories burned, flights of stairs, and alarms. there is also an app you can download on your phone/ipad that can track your food intake, your workouts and how effective they are, monitor your sleep, and tells you when you need to charge your fitbit’s battery. all in all, it’s amazzzzing!

i think i’m one of the last peoples to finally switch to having a smartphone. what do i think? i like it that i can finally participate in line messages not just when i’m at phone, but at real time. i won’t miss people’s app messages that have important info on it. i’ll have a gps, music player, calculator, easy texting, unlimited calling…all on one device. yes, battery life is less than 2 days. getting another charger to put at work, but so far, 5 stars!!!

I’m in a funk. I think I’ve been in a funk for a while now…I mean, yes, I always knew that I like mindless entertainment, and it is okay in small doses…but I don’t know what else I do with my time that is productive when it is not cooking, cleaning, or working out with Anson. I’m able to get organized at work, but that’s cuz I’m being paid for this. When it comes to book club stuff, I kinda wait till the last minute to finish it. I accumulate all my scrap book stuff in a compartment in the closet, but it just keeps building up. I haven’t used my desktop computer regularly since we’ve moved (partly cuz it couldn’t connect to the WIFI and the printer went wonky when Ubuntu was upgraded), but that also dissuaded me to blog more since it’s harder to blog on the iPad. Okay…problems written out…resolution time!

1. Computer is back online. I’ll try to use it more in blogging. It’ll also conserve the battery life of my iPad. And since I’ll be in the room, it’ll give Anson some space for some alone time.
2. Regularly update my scrapbook/blog (look at it once a month. I’ve already set up as a recurring thing on my google calendar…jia yo!)
3. Learn a new skill? I’m iffy about this one…I hate languages, and I’m already getting stumped on the 2^nd lesson in German ;/ maybe take a class at the Santa Clara Adult Education Center? I downloaded the Coursera app (what Uncle Kenway uses to learn new things), but the classes just sound so dry…) Write a short story? It’s so hard for me to even blog…that just sound improbable…there are many things I can learn. I think I need to keep my options open.
4. Of course, be better at devotions and prayer. I only get as much as I try to put into it. Develop my relationships with my book club members. Hang out with them. Be better at sending out the prayer requests. Sing worship songs and play guitar/piano more. Prepare in the study more….even though it is hard to understand!
5. Help in researching some household projects that we’ve been meaning to get to: new dual pane windows in our room, new driveway so that people don’t scrape their cars using it, new backyard that will be less maintenance.
6. Just bought a FitBit. I’ll see how it is, but a goal most people set is to do 10,000 steps per day…not sure how much I do now, but I think it’ll make me more aware of how my health and fitness is day in and day out.

Maybe if I set up these kinds of goals, Anson would be more willing to go out with me at other times. My goal should be to be able to go to the Exploratorium if I get my blog organized, do my bookclub stuff regularly, report my research on windows, and do 10k steps for two weeks…fine, maybe a month. I’ll refine that, but this is a good start! Thanks for letting me organize my thoughts, blog! You really are a big help!

A few things have happened the last few weeks. Last, last weekend (Friday, May 29 to Monday, June 10, 2015), Anson and I went up to Portland for a mini vacation. I had planned this before my parents wanted to go to Hawaii. We used our weekend pretty well. It was actually hotter than expected and only rained on the last day (which we mostly avoided). In a nut shell, on Friday, Jo-Ann brought us to SJ Airport, the flight was about 1 ½ hours, we hiked Forest Park, ate lunch at The Waffle Window, went to Costco for salads, and checked in to the hotel. On Saturday, we did a free 2 hour walking tour: Secrets of Portlandia, ate at some local food carts, explored Powell’s City of Books, drank coffee at Public Domain, explored the International Rose Test Garden, ate dinner at Nicolas Restaurant, and watched the Starlight Parade at the hotel. On Sunday, we hiked Wakeenah Falls and Multnomah Falls…and then went to the gym at the hotel. On Monday, we checked out of the hotel, ate lunch at Shut up and Eat, bought Voodoo Donuts for people back home, explored The Grotto (La Pieta), and flew back home on Southwest where Christine picked us up.

Aaron is now engaged to Lauren. They’ve been dating for a year more or less. I guess it is going well, but I don’t really know her that well. I hope that they’re job situation is good since they both work at the same company. That just makes it scary if their workplace ever doesn’t do well. I think they work to produce a cancer drug, but it has yet to be approved by the FDA. They’ll be getting married at the end of the year on 12/19, so we’ll be coming down that weekend since we’ll probably help out at the wedding.

My dad has been getting older. Last week, someone went into his computer, so he wanted to buy a software from Microsoft to clean it up. That night, he totally forgot about this. He had told my mom and me in different conversations, but he acted like nothing ever happened, and that he didn’t buy the software. We were pretty freaked out at that. They prayed about it, and the next morning, he was starting to have some recollection of it. It makes me a little sad that my dad might be losing his memory, but I guess that is just what happens as we age. I might be like that when I’m older since I sometimes forget things that I was about to do.

Our roommate, Jo-Ann, who has been with us the longest (since last September…so nine-ten months!) just received two job offers! I’m so happy for her since it has been maybe a few months of searching. She will either work in the Mountain View school district or a staffing agency (?) for schools up in the East bay. She has by tomorrow to decide, so she’ll have a lot of research to do tonight. I’m biased and hope that she’ll take the MV job since then, she’ll stay with us. She has been a really nice roommate and friend for the time that we have known her. However, I know that East Bay is where her church and friends are and it’ll be less of a drive to go hang out with them (she’ll have to move if she takes the East Bay job), but it is her decision, and I’m just happy that God has been able to answer her prayers. Woohoo!

Alrighty…fulfill your vow! Blog time!

I just turned 30 on 5/25/15…did I do anything fun? Ehh, I went to work J Whaaa? Why? That day is Memorial Day. Isn’t it a holiday? Yep. I still wanted to go in order to finish up some stuff. For dinner, we went to Little Sheep right when it opened at 5:30. Glad we went then cuz by the time we left, there was a pretty long line. I just ordered whatever looked good, and we definitely paid for it 😉 While and after dinner, we watched game 4 of the Warriors vs Rockets in the Conference Finals. Too bad Warriors lost, but the good thing was the Steph Curry was still okay after a nasty fall he had in the second quarter. And it was good that they came back to Oakland for Game 5 in order to win and celebrate at home on Wednesday. After the game, Aaron and Lauren called to wish me a happy bday and Christine surprised me and came over and brought me a scarf and homemade green tea and butter red bean macaroons. One of her finest works! She helped make my day!

So…what do I think about turning 30? Ehh, it isn’t that big a deal. 20’s are young peoples. 30…sounds more sophisticated, but really, age is just a number. Seems like the years just keep going by. I should really try to cherish the time more. Wishing for another 30…plus 30 more years!!!

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