we totally won our volleyball game. it doesn't eliminate the crushing loss we had last week, but it does go a long way towards making us feel better. but i did have an unfortunate incident, as we were moving courts, i grabbed a set of VW keys which i thought were ryan's...turns out they belonged to another guy, who was so not happy with me. whoops. i was just trying to be on the lookout for my team. besides, who just leaves their car keys on the floor like that? in the parking lot, i made helen and ryan hide me from him as he drove away. i talk big, like i'd actually brawl, but really, i'm more likely to hide until they go away.

i seriously look forward to our games. it is so much fun to be out there and playing and hitting. :D it's almost like the IMA, but more expensive and without the refs and with a lot of emphasis on post-game drinking at the outback steakhouse. i wish 24 hour fitness has sports leagues...that would make my 3-year membership much more worthwhile. it's just so exhilirating and more so when we're winning.

i have also decided that at work, patients/customers are no longer the enemy. there was a period of 2-3 weeks where i was in no mood to deal with patients/customers at all. i think it may have been just a thing...like the novelty of working there has worn off, as it has almost been a year since i started working. but now, i'm all better and can answer the phone with some semblance of cheerfulness.

i saw the rundown on saturday and i have to say, it was quite entertaining. and currently, i'm watching the rock on the craig kilborn show, and dude, i really like the rock. now i feel like watching the scorpion king. :D

the tonight show's "jay-walk all-stars" is the best!

i drove 3 hours to seattle today and made it just in time for our 7 o'clock volleyball game. sadly, we were not victorious today. let me draw a picture for you - in "The OC" terms. our team will be ryan from chino. the other team, let's call them evil luke the waterpolo player. our team wasn't exactly the underdog team, we were just way shorter [just like ryan from chino!], but we were nice and called the mistakes that we made, like being in the net, etc. the other team, not so much. [we 'fessed up just like ryan when he burned down the house] and there was a moment where one of the girls on the other team hit it twice [double hit] and we called them on it. then a wee bit later, a guy on our team blocks it, then hits it [totally legal]. so a guy on the other team makes a huge deal out of it, and in the end, he's wrong[just like how evil luke is so often wrong]. he said, "sorry, we don't know the rules like you guys." umm...right. it was a disappointing loss, because, they so weren't better than we were, just taller and not as forthright [just like luke]. at the end of the day, we lost, but at least we lost with integrity. but i wanted to kick somebody in the head [just like how ryan feels towards luke] ok, i'm done. can you tell i'm having oc-withdrawal?

good thing more shows are premiering this week, like one tree hill. woohoo! it is an entertaining show. it is not in the same league as gilmore girls/everwood or the oc, but it has it's moments. the popular brother on the show is horrible. i don't know if it's the writers that make him sound so unbelievably lame, or if he just stinks as an actor. his portrayal of a jerk-jock boy is a little over the top, but everybody else is cool. and now to watch my taped gilmore girls - yay!

i am home in portland for the weekend and it has been busy. a wedding on saturday that was great. as the bride and groom walked out of the sanctuary of the church, they blasted a hip hop/pop song from the 90s...i think. anyway, the groomsmen and bridesmaids donned sunglasses and strutted along to the music. it was totally funny. and yesterday we had the bridal shower for chris and then a bunch of us helped paint some tiles, which was fun and according to some, therapeutic. we watched a little bit of the emmys as we were painting.

so i was reading through the list of winners and one category was "outstanding variety, music or comedy special" when i read the title of the category, all i saw was "outstanding comedy special" and the winner: cher: the farewell tour. i did a double take and then saw "variety and music". whoops. sorry cher.

i set up my uw e-mail to work within outlook express since i know uw is going to cut back my storage capacity or get rid of it altogether. and as i was doing that, i had time to look through e-mails from the last four years and it's funny to discover that i've corresponded with many different, and often random, people. even better is that as i read through some of the e-mails, it triggered some good memories. this then caused me to think on how over the last couple of weeks, my memory has been triggered a lot, by a time of day and a certain amount of light in the nightsky, the way the air smells after the rain we've been having, the temperature outside. maybe it's the changing of the seasons, both weather-wise and life-wise.

this past weekend's main event - garrett's bon voyage to japan bbq:


here are dennis, simon, chong, siobhan, and guest of honor garrett


that's abe, dennis, garrett, and melvin


people milling around and eating


down a pathway lies this tiny stretch of sand/beach. it was mentioned that the background looks fake. against said background are noah, cassie, helen, stuart, and abe


garrett and his sister ginger


the mandatory group photo


a fun version of the mandatory group photo

mariners won!!! it was such an awesome game! i'm not a huge/die-hard baseball fan, but i definitely support the mariners and it's so much fun going to safeco field for games. edgar martinez made it to 2nd base - with a busted toe no less. the whole stadium stood and cheered. seattle loves their edgar. and randy winn with the grand slam! i think he's earned a better nickname than "winnie." the other fun part of the game was some people a few rows in front of us were busted by the alcohol monitor guys for having brought in a flask. tsk tsk.

last night i was at my church fellowship and after the study, we sat around and pigged out on ice cream and other snacks. while pigging out, we started some interested discussions. i learned quite a lot about people's feet. some people have a bigger 2nd toe than big toe. apparently that means they have tempers. a couple of the guys are flat-footed, which means they'll never be drafted, so i'm told. one guy has big feet and can spread his toes really far apart...he says that he can stabilize himself that way in case it's windy. hahaha. this all reminds me of another person, and i can't remember who it is, but they are able to interlock their toes, as people would do with their hands while praying for example. how's that for a neat human trick?

in other exciting news, my roommate went to canada and got the "magic straight perm" or as some call it, "the japanese ion straight perm" done. it looks fantastic. she says people keep trying to pet and touch her hair. i can relate and when it happens to be, sometimes i just want to turn and bite their hand off. :) i'm a little anger ball when it comes to certain things. i'm unpredictable.

currently listening to:

john mayer - heavier things

lillix - falling uphill

michelle branch - hotel paper

freaky friday soundtrack

currently watching:

angel season 2 on dvd

the oc

newlyweds: nick and jessica

so this friendster phenomenon is getting out of control. it was cool in the beginning to see how people were linked through theirs friends and stuff like that, but now i'm feeling a little cynical about it. i've come across people with like 100+ friends on their "friends" list and i wonder how many of those people are really friends? the testimonials on friendster are interesting too. people only have good testimonials. i mean, have you ever read a bad testimonial about someone? it's not like they'd approve a bad testimonial that someone had written about them. and, sometimes, you get requests from people that you kinda don't want to approve and add to your list, but to reject their request for "friendship" just seems so mean. the other person would get a rejection e-mail and pretty much says, "so and so doesn't want to be your friend." and then they'll know you rejected them. and, the majority of friendster seems to be occupied by asiany people, which is ok i suppose... but i feel like i know enough asians, you know?

i just called my cousin and my mom was there hanging out with her mom. while my mom was there, my brother im-ed my cousin to ask my mom to get him some drive-through taco bell on the way home. my mom was like, "no, i don't want to go to the drive-through." my brother responds with, "you just don't want to go because you can't say chalupa!" hahaha...how funny is that? so i made my mom get on the phone and say "chalupa." in case you're wondering, she said it just fine. we had a good laugh. then my mom called my target dress tacky [well, the chinese equivalent to tacky.] and i'm trying to get her to pay for my bridesmaid dress because it's stinkin' $224. if i didn't have to get shoes to go with the dress, a bridal shower gift, and 2 wedding gifts, i would pay for it...maybe. and her response is, "i'm poor." it's really funny if you know my family...or even me. :D but my mom's like, "why can't you pay for it?" it's because she's got no idea i joined 24 hour fitness and had to pay buttloads of money upfront. she'd freakout if she knew, but that's only because one summer when i was in high school, i joined nautilus for a summer membership at $75 and i only ended up going 3 times. she was quite mad. so there's no way i can tell her i'm signed up for 3 years... maybe i'll ask convince my dad to front the money for the dress. afterall, i am they only daughter and oldest kid... :)

to finish the wedding recap, we sang, they lit the unity candle and then went to greet/hug the parents. this is where the waterworks really started kicking in [they sort of started when the couple read their own vows...] all in all, it was a fabulous ceremony and the message portion was quite funny - solomon was funny at wing onn and joyce's wedding last week too. and then on to the reception at the bellevue hyatt hotel where they had wonderful people with trays of snacks and an open bar, which was emphasized by the mc tim [brother of the bride, who can be seen in a photo from the Sept. 1st entry with a drink in hand] several times. one of the fun events during the evening was a special performance by "the soy boys" - tim, chris, james, parker, and steve. the guys sang "wonderful" by damaged [or so i'm told] and then they played music for steve as he sang "grow old with you" song from "the wedding singer" with his own lyrics and a funny slide show. good times.

and then there was dancing. marie, the flower girl, had the dance floor all to herself as she did her little dance and had all the guests' attention as they applauded her. as the evening continued, the boys of sfcc got their funky groove on. sometimes...too funky. one of the funnier comments during the dancing time occurred while i was holding lydia, one of the flower girls from last week's wedding. [keep in mind she was tired] a guy from my church asked lydia if she wanted to dance since a bunch of the other kids were out there and she said no. he says, "story of my life." hahaha...how funny is that? us girls thought that was quite funny because it was said in such a self-deprecating kind of way.

anywho...on to the photos:


here are james and joana - they are super fun!


dan, william, and their friend richard [dan was the self-deprecating comment guy]


parker and melissa - approx. 3.5 years and counting [i think...]


after two nice pictures, julie requested that they strike some poses... haha.


melissa and me - lander 8 roommies


vern, baby ben [who's about to wail] and awesome mel

wedding number 2 of 4 took place yesterday. it was a fun event. we were part of their wedding choir and we sang "arms of love" and since the bride and groom didn't cry or look horrified, we safely assumed that the sounds were favorable.

side note before i continue with the wedding recap: "charlie apparently work for the washington county road services and while watching delinquent youths pick up trash along the side of the road, found my wallet a ditch." this is an excerpt from my, cousin's blog. i pointed out that she incorrectly conjugated the verb "to work" she said, "what? what's wrong with it?" i was like, "i work, you work, she/he works..." and she said, "i don't get it." and then she thinks about it for a second, and says, "shoot...i'm such a fob." hahahaha...her grammer has really gone down the tubes in this last year. oh yea...and she forgot the "in" in the phrase "wallet in a ditch" but if you check now, she's gone back and fixed it so she will look smart.

i was at northgate mall on friday evening and i stopped by the bon. my goal was to find a cheap dress to wear for a wedding and the bon happened to be having the "one-day" sale that really lasts two days. as i was standing near the checkout counter, i noticed three guys walking toward another section with piles of clothing in their hands. my thoughts were the following: "gosh, that's a lot of clothes to try on...do they know that the fitting rooms have a 4 garment limit?" "wait...where are they going? that section is for older women... eh, whatever." "hmm...not to stereotype, but...what if they're like punk kids... yea, better not to stereotype. i'm sure they're just adding to their wardrobe." seconds later...i hear a security guard yell, "STOP" and some other stuff that sounded like warnings and was said in a threatening tone. apparently, these 3 guys, and a couple of other guys, were pulling a "grab and run" and were thwarted by a salesguy that found them a bit suspicious and called in security just in case. all the clothes were dropped and all but one guy got away. i'm mystified...it was so...blatant of these guys. they just had mounds of clothes and were just going to walk right out the door. inconceivable.

today i went to work and after work, i wasted some time at bell sq. before i had to be at a wedding rehearsal. while at the mall, i ran into some friends from dorm/early college years. it was really nice to catch up. ever since i moved out of the dorms/off-campus, and stopped frequenting by george, i don't get many chances to see that group of people anymore. at the wedding rehearsal, we watched them run through the ceremony and then we [as the choir] sang "arms of love." i can't tell if we suck or not, but angela [the bride] said we sounded great. as long as she's happy with the result, that's all that matters. and then it was on to dinner at hunan garden in bellevue. it was several courses...fitting since angela and steve are both chinese [well...taiwanese if you want to be technical about it] and are having a wedding. get it? lots of food...like a chinese wedding? ok fine, i'm not funny.

during dinner, there was lots of fun to be had. lots of laughter and catching up with people. it was great. towards the end of the night, one of my pastors daughters [who is severely allergic to nuts] accidentally touched a piece of the dessert, which is like a thick and sweet peanutty soup with soft mochi like balls in it. she just touched a bit of the mochi ball and broke out in rashes and her face started to swell. her mom busted out the benedryl and was waiting to see if you had to pull out the pen looking medicine shot thing that gets jammed into the upper thigh of the person with the allergic reaction. thankfully, the benedryl started working almost instantly. it was kinda scary for a moment there. lydia's [the child in question] sister, apphia, walked over, and quietly asked me if i would pray for lydia. i think that's the highlight of my day. apphia is only 4 and i was extremely touched and blessed by her love and concern for her little sister. these kids are so much fun to babysit. plus, they think we're funny. :D

sometimes, work really sucks. there are moments when i just want to tell people who walk in to turn around and walk right on out. but, i can't. boo.

fun summer tv: the oc [tuesdays 9pm on fox] and newlyweds: nick and jessica [tuesdays 10:30pm on mtv] the nick and jessica show is stinkin' hilarious. i could explain it, but it's just not as funny. watch it. you will be amused.

this weekend, i attended the wedding of wing onn and joyce. they had a very, very, very nice wedding and reception.

tim and parker, were on round 4 of drinks before we were even seated for dinner. they were quite boisterous in their enthusiasm during the reception.

i'm sure you can guess that we all had a ton of fun. the whole thing was pretty ritzy and we got nifty and creative party favors as shiv and garrett are modeling. it's a watch battery [or something along those lines], wire and a blue bulb on top. something sciency and having to do with completing the circuit to make it light up.


we left at 11:30pm and they had the place until 2am...i have no doubt that the party continued on until the wee hours. weddings are so much fun! and i have 3 more to go to in the next month! the first of the next three being this coming sunday - steve and angela from my church. a group of us get to be part of the wedding ceremony as a "choir" and i use the term loosely. :) another packed week and weekend.

in the last week or so, it feels like i've had no time to sit and rest/veg. the other day, after two hours at ikea [i caved in the face of temptation...i purchased stuff that i don't really need. i may need to enter retail rehab, but only after my friend coralie goes because she's way more of a retail addict than i] i was drained. my cousin asked me what would fix my lack of energy and i responded with "time by myself." haha...she glared at me. but honestly, doesn't being around too many people [like at the mall...or ikea during labor day weekend] just suck the life right out of you? [don't deny it - you know it's true] my remedy is to take a nap and veg in front of the tv for a bit until i feel better - which is just what i did all afternoon and it was wonderful.