Kaween

Congrats Nimah & Ryan!

2009-09-03T21:05:00.003-04:00

Nimah and Ryan, I am truly OH SO HAPPY for you guys!! You guys looked oh so beautiful and oh so handsome, the perfect match!

I really enjoyed doing the preparations with you guys! Especially the tastings you invited me to hehe!

Full Album.

Charlevoix Travel Log

2009-09-03T06:47:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday!

2009-09-02T21:52:00.004-04:00

This year, our birthdays were rather quiet. Happy 10th to Caleb and happy 27th to me! Wow, do I look tired!

Charlevoix Aug 21-24

2009-09-02T09:37:00.003-04:00

View Full Album

Stay tuned for our very travel video log!

Toronto Aug 17-19

2009-08-20T12:55:00.003-04:00

A few pics from Toronto...

Full Album

A Day in Joliette

2009-08-13T23:04:00.004-04:00

Finally! A day to relax and not have to worry about work! We headed to Joliette with Milton and Gloria at 1 o'clock yesterday. I guess I still haven't recovered from my lack of sleep for the past... 5 weeks? I slept the minute we got into the car until we arrived at the mall in Joliette. Of course, Tiki Ming would be our first stop!

After filling up our tummies with Uncle Newman's yummy fried noodles, we headed to the beach. On our way there, we made a couple of stops for some photos...

Then we headed to Montee-Coupe...

Our last stop was dinner at Porte de Greque with Uncle Newman and Auntie Winnie. Yummy!

Full Album.

Cary & Ben's Wedding

2009-08-06T08:48:00.004-04:00

Cary & Ben's Wedding Planning from the beginning to the end...

Invitation Production

Tasting at the Hotel

Wrapping Favours

Painting the Aisle Runner

Fake Cake Making

Feasting After Hours of Hard Work

The Morning of the Big Day

Getting Ready for the Ceremony

Anxiously Waiting

da da da da!

Reception

The Completed Fake Cake

Finally! Happily Married!

A Day at Le Chantecler

2009-07-27T21:35:00.004-04:00

After setting up a wedding at Mont Gabriel on Saturday, LP and I got to spend half a day of rest at Le Chantecler before a super crazy week! Will probably be the busiest week this year... can't wait till next week!

I finally had a chance to update my company website. It's not completed yet. Still have some products to put up, but at least most the important pages are up. Hope you like it!

Some Recent Weddings

2009-07-03T00:29:00.000-04:00

This is what's been keeping me super busy! Plus lots of invitation and stationery orders I haven't had a chance to take pictures of just yet. More sleepless nights ahead...

Canada Day in Ottawa

2009-07-02T21:32:00.000-04:00

Wow, a day when I did absolutely no work! Even though at times my mind was thinking about work and weddings, it was great just to get out and catch up on some sleep in the car since I didn't have to drive.

George was one of these guys... somewhere in the march. Hellooo George!

Nice shot, Goh!

Ah B seemed a little uncomfortable hehe!

Mr. Banana dude...

I scream for ice cream! This was our last stop before heading home. We also had beaver tails before this last stop.

Here's the full album.
Enjoy!

Happy Daddy's Day!

2009-06-21T23:29:00.002-04:00

After 15 Mosquito Bites...

2009-06-16T10:11:00.011-04:00

Here are some of our highlights from our 4-star camping weekend at Mastigouche - Lac St. Bernard. It's 2.5 hours away from Montreal... well depends who's driving, if it's Eddie, it takes 3.5 hours.

Click here to view our complete 4-star photo album.

And... drum rolls please! Da da da da da da da dum!
Our over own 4-star travel show!

Part 1 of 3

Part 2 of 3

Part 3 of 3

I'm Alive and Well!

2009-06-09T11:20:00.003-04:00

Hello world!

It's been a while since I've posted. The wedding show back in January went very well and it's been non-stop ever since I got back to Montreal in December and I am busier than ever! You can visit my online portfolio to see what I have been up to lately. I also moved into my new office/showroom in April. Thanks to all those who helped me move and Ryan who helped me make those amazing shelves for my vases!

Highlights:
January - wedding show, ice fishing
February - clients, clients and more clients
March - Abbotsford for 2 weeks, decor & floral class in TO
April - new office/showroom
May - wedding season begins
Here are photos from my past 6 months.

This coming weekend is the only weekend I don't have any weddings and I'm excited to be going camping! I've never been wild camping because freezing at night in a tent, eating out of cans and going without showers and toilets just don't appeal to me very much. This weekend won't be a 5-star hotel vacation, but at least it's a "4-star camping" experience. I started packing last night...

Stay tuned for photos after the weekend!

Finally Over... Or Not

2009-01-13T16:34:00.004-05:00

The wedding show finally came and gone! Very tiring standing for 8-9 hours straight, setting up and taking down the displays were tiring too, no need to play Wii Fit anymore! But it was definitely worth it. The show went well and we had great reactions from brides/grooms, other wedding planners/vendors, so I am very thankful. This wedding season is looking very promising.

One of the brides caught me just in time before I left for the day on Saturday...

End of Day 1
=D "V"
Yay!!

More photos from the show.

I am so thankful for my two wonderful Mui Mui's, Gloria and Caroline, for their help at the booth, doing last minute things and Caroline running around getting us food when we were starving... they definitely worked harder than I did! And also for ah Alfred Goh Goh for taking care of all the technical stuff before he took off to DC for his conference. My booth was pretty high tech compare to other wedding planners!

Now that the wedding show and my decoration jobs are over for the winter season, I waste no time and I begin my invitation orders. I thought I can rest a bit after the show, but looking at my schedule, it's going to be busy busy busy again.

Also, happy birthday to Billy Boy!
After the show on Saturday, we went to Modavie at Old Montreal for Billy's birthday.

Still in Baking Mode!

2008-11-29T17:50:00.003-05:00

Yup, more baking! Baking is so much fun and satisfying, well... at least when they turn out the way I want them to...

So I finally made a durian cheesecake. I really like the recipe because the cream cheese taste isn't so strong (if you can taste it at all) and did not dominate the cake. Yup, it's not about the cream cheese, it's all about the DURIAN! I know... this ain't exactly everyone's favourite cake flavour, but I love it!

And I was right, LP smelled durian from miles away! Even though I cleaned up everything before he came home that day, he still smelt durian (or in his words "cat pee").

Green tea yogurt mousse chiffon cake...

Yea... you must have noticed by now that I'm a fan of anything and everything green tea! I guess it was also because I bought a package of green tea powder. Each recipe only needs maybe 4-6 tablespoons of green tea powder, so might as well make more desserts with the rest of the package. My favourite so far is the Green Tea Yogurt Mousse Chiffon Cake.

And here's the cake from the last lesson of the cake decorating course I took...

I must say, I am the worse at the rose. We learned to do it over the course of 4 lessons, 1 step every week. Some people in my class got it right away. You've no idea how many roses I tired to make and how much time it took me to finally come up with 4 somewhat decent ones for my cake. I had a lot of fun in the course and would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in cake decorating.

Well, this is all the baking I will be doing for now. I will be back to Montreal on Tuesday! Vacation is over... back to crazy work work work mode in Montreal. January Wedding Show preps, here I come!

Been Busy in the Kitchen

2008-11-22T14:02:00.003-05:00

I guess there's nothing else better to do here besides being in front of my computer 24/7 trying to get some work done while I'm away from Montreal. Nowhere else to go in this small little town. So I've been busy in the kitchen trying out some desserts...

Fruit Arrangement for Calvin & Karen

Green Tea Pound Cake

Green Tea Cheesecake w/ Raspberries

I am taking a cake decorating class every Wednesday evening, 2 hours a week. This is a buttercream icing decorating course. Probably not icing for Chinese people... at least for me, it's too sweet, but the icing does look great. The first lesson was all talk, blah blah blah. Lesson 2 was hands-on. We had to do a rainbow cake in class.

I've to admit, while the rainbow is nice and all, but the cake wasn't edible. HAHA! It just won't bake properly for some reason, I guess I did something wrong. I'll try another recipe next time. But I flat iced the cake anyway and took it to class to decorate it. Then it was sitting on our kitchen counter for 1 whole week because I didn't want to throw it out.

A good student practices what she learns (but who am I to talk about being a good student when I was never a good one since high school and throughout university). I actually baked an edible cake. A soccer chocolate cake! The church had a soccer game last night and they ordered pizza for dinner, so I made dessert. The white icing is almond flavour and the dark part is chocolate flavour. It was a two layer cake and I put even more chocolate filling in the middle!

More pics of the cake and some "in-progress" photos.

And more calories for them...

I made more than enough chocolate chip cookies for everyone to have at least 2. Of course there were left overs because some of these people who played soccer weren't exactly very young... but LP were more happy to keep the rest in his office. He tried to convince me not to make him bring all of the cookies to church so he can eat all of them.

I also tried to make mango pudding and taro tapioca, but nothing special. Those are the easiest desserts to make, any Chinese can do that.

Next on my list... DURIAN cheesecake! But I've to wait until LP's at work to try it out or he will kill me. And... find a way to keep it in the fridge without stinking up the rest of the fridge. Although I probably won't smell it anyway, but I guess for LP he'll be able to sniff it even with the fridge closed.

Oh My!

2008-11-20T02:32:00.003-05:00

I can't believe what I just did today... I reused a ziplog bag! That is SUCH a SI LIE thing to do! I think I'm becoming more and more like my mother... that scares me.

A Little Seafood, A Little Exercise!

2008-11-11T14:46:00.004-05:00

LP had to preach in Vancouver this past Sunday, so of course we made the most out of our trip. Coincidentally Micah was in Vancouver for a few days for an interview at UBC. We went for seafood at The Sandbar in Granville Island on Saturday. That was oh so very yummy!

Jadon and Nolan were very well behaved. Besides Ivan and Jason, they are the most well behaved kids I know!

After a little seafood (you can never have enough of seafood!) we went back to the Wan's for a little dessert from True Confections Inc., and a little Wii Fit!

Nolan's such a cutie, he's like a little Buddha and you cannot find any other baby or adult with a back as straight as his!

More photos...

Fall in Abbotsford

2008-11-03T18:15:00.002-05:00

Tuesday Morning...

2008-10-07T07:45:00.006-04:00

Sipping my cup of tea and working hard making invitation samples.

Listening to:
- "Come What May" from Moulin Rouge
- Thinking of having this song in our wedding video

Having a hard time:
- Choosing only 20 photos out of 3300+ for our wedding video

Can't wait:
- My client's brown themed wedding this Saturday at Intercontinental Hotel! Love that place!
- Ming & Johnny's wedding next Saturday

Sold:
- My whipped cream wedding gown for $300
- Didn't really fit the other bride but she loves it so much so had to buy it off me

Trying to sell:
- My other two wedding gowns
- My two cathedral veils

Vote IRWIN!

2008-10-01T14:35:00.003-04:00

One of our wedding photographers had a change to shoot the soccer game between Montreal Impact & Puerto Rico Islanders and 3 of his photos were chosen as a few of their favourites. Now go vote for your fav photo! It's only fair if you don't know which ones are Irwin's, but if you REALLY want to know... well you can see the "comment" section of this post.

VOTE HERE!

Home Sweet Home!

2008-09-24T13:44:00.008-04:00

I haven't posted in 2 weeks! Because I'm now back in Montreal and I am busier than ever! Life is "back to normal!" This was a surprise visit back to Montreal. No one knew I was coming back, my mom was so surprised as I walked through the door! My daddy also came back from Asia the same night I got back. Surprises are so fun!

So many people to meet, so much to plan, so much to do... so different from Abbotsford. I haven't even been taking as many photos as I do in Abbotsford. I don't "document" very well in Montreal! These are the only photos I have on my camera...

Teppanyaki with my all time fav buddies.

Sorry... didn't get a pic of Leo and Goh Goh.

I finally cooked a real dinner for my parents.

Congrats Eric & Greta on their recent wedding!! I don't know why I always like sitting at the back in all of the weddings I've attended at MCAC...

William's new found buddies from the wedding!

Their chairs nicely dressed up for the reception. It felt SO good to have done all 193 of the chairs!

Cake cutting time. Yummy! I'm guessing it's another CHAI creation? Because it looks awefully familiar! I can't wait to see Johnny & Ming's cake when they get married! (Johnny's parents are bakers and they own St. Cinnamon at Foubourg, go pay them a visit!)

Samuel's babysitter is back! He left for HK yesterday morning, I'll miss him!

Well, I do have some pretty exciting plans as I will be taking my business up a notch! Signed a few clients since I got back, they're small clients with an average of 100 guests per wedding, but it's a start (after putting my business on hold for so many months!) and once again preparing for the Bonaventure wedding show in January (2009). Super excited!

Things on my to-do list this week:
- Plan for Ming's bridal shower
- Shopping with Ming for wedding decors and go to her photo session, AWW! Can't wait to see her in her gown! And Johnny... well... he'll look the same no matter what...
- Design the back of my business card
- UNPACK my suitcase from Abbotsford... yea... I've been back for two weeks now and I haven't really touched my suitcase...
- Clean up the rest of my wedding mess in the house

Gotta get all these things done before Friday (and today is already Wednesday!) since the weekend will be super busy with things to help out for the MCAC drama production. They are pretty awesome! Here's the promo clip and poster if you haven't already seen it:

So invite your friends!

Craving for:
Triple yolk mooncake!!

This is a toughy!
What would make you keep a business card? Ideas from others so far: calendar, fav. recipe, dates of Valentines day from different cultures, if an iphone was stuck to it... Keep the ideas com'n!

Harrison Hot Springs

2008-09-10T11:25:00.006-04:00

After being in Abbotsford for a month, I still consider myself a tourist. Once in a while I'd look through the huge pile of tourism brochures I have. The 19th Annual World Championships of Sand Sculptures looked really attractive and fun to see. So we made a trip to Harrison Hot Springs on Sunday. It is (another) little town about 45 minutes from Abbotsford.

Some sand sculptures were a little disappointing because they looked like high school kids built them just for fun, and a lot of them were very abstract, couldn't tell the meaning behind the sculptures and there were no titles to a lot of the displays. I thought they could have done a better job with the titles at least.

Let's start with my favourite display. Titled: The Boy's Turtle Tank. Subtitle: "Can you 'see' the glass?" This display won the People's Choice Award. Very creative! Can you "see"??

My next fav was probably this one called "Delivery" because it's real life. The happiest moment in a delivery room. All the other displays were fantasies, so I thought this sculptor did a good job in terms of choosing the subject. The sculptor was just finishing his sculpture when we were there, he showed another tourist a photo of his son, "this was my inspiration!"

Here are some of the more creative ones from the competition...

I guess this was done by a Christian sculptor. Titled: "Let the Light Shine on Me"

Harrison Hot Springs is such a beautiful place. I want a house there!

One Month Anniversary

2008-09-06T17:41:00.006-04:00

Today marks my 1 month anniversary in Abbotsford! Thinking back on the past month, the Lord has blessed us richly. Although I always seem to complain that this is such a small and boring town, I do know that this is really not that bad (I just have to admit that it's not that bad!). Well, in terms of places to go and things to see, BC is actually a great place to explore, lots of culture and history. We went to Langley, Surrey, Richmond, Burnaby, Vancouver, Seattle and we'll be visiting Harrison Hot Springs tomorrow. I think you'd agree that we did a lot of traveling this month!

Other than visiting places, the other thing I did the most was, of course, COOK! I love cooking because the best thing about it is that I don't have to deal with the mess I make in the kitchen. I do the cooking, LP does the cleaning!

Sweet and Sour Pork

Baked Pork Chop Over Rice

Other than traveling and cooking, Wii would my next source of entertain. I've also been making some business plans for the coming year. Things are looking good... hopefully! BUT unfortunately, some sacrifices will have to be made... won't tell you what the sacrifices are just yet!

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

2008-09-05T17:00:00.002-04:00

Today's devotion once again reminds me that God always has everything in control. If we believe that God is the God who could erase our sins, the one who could defeat Satan, the one who could die our death and rise again, then He can definitely take care of His children, their needs and their concerns. So why sweat the small stuff and worry about our education, our career, our future? Be like the woman, in 2 Kings 4:8-37, whose boy laid dead on the couch and was still able to say "it's alright... everything is alright"!

A Brief Guide About Bridesmaids

2008-09-04T11:18:00.001-04:00

I posted this on my business blog and thought I'd share it with you guys too 'cause I think it's such a cute video!

Dessy.com: Bridesmaid Dresses
| Wedding Dresses | Flower Girl Dresses

Happy Happy Labour Day Weekend

2008-09-02T18:58:00.004-04:00

What a wonderful weekend! On Friday, the Wans drove down from Vancouver for a visit.

Saturday was spent in Richmond, did a little shopping. Dropped by the Chocolate Factory in Burnaby and the Chinese Classical Garden in Vancouver Chinatown (it was a pretty crappy garden though hehe).

Then we headed to West Vancouver to visit Byron and his parents. Auntie Teresa and Uncle Spencer made yummy yummy food!

Sunday after church, I found out our Pastor Dave is pretty cool with is motorcycle!

After lunch, we were going to go see some sand sculptures at the Harrison Hot Spring. It is a little town about an hour away from Abbotsford. When we were about to head out, I realized only half the sand sculptures are on display, the rest were still being carved (it is an annual competition they have, local and national competitions). I hope we will have the change to go this coming weekend when all the sculptures are finished. So we decided to go to Chilliwack, another tiny little town 30 minutes from Abbotsford. There is a garden there with some beautiful displays of plants and flowers. So off to the Minter Garden we went!

For Dinner, LP cooked for once! That's only because it was my birthday! Fried rice! Yummy!

We went down to Settle on Monday. It was great seeing Isaac, Steph and Emilie again. Isaac and Steph didn't know each other from MCAC (one went to English service, the other went to Chinese service), they only met in Seattle. This is in deed a small world after all!

World's first Starbucks!

Of course I had to buy a buy of coffee from there.

Seattle's famous Pike Market...

Seattle Aquarium....

We met up with Steph and Emilie in the later afternoon. Steph just moved to a new place on Sunday, near where Bill Gate lives!

Tour of Microsoft... this is where Mr. Yuen works...

Isaac pretending to work hard at his desk...

Wow, this is messy!

You have probably seen what this table can do (on You Tube)! Way cool!

Can you tell what this building is??

My Home in Montreal...

Demo from You Tube...

Dinner was just amazing! I got to choose between Italian (no way!), steak (didn't feel like it), and fondue (LP and I had a really bad experience at Fondumental in Montreal, I was if-y about this choice, but I wanted to prove us wrong and that there IS a good fondue place in this world!) I'm SO glad I chose FONDUE! We had a 4 course fondue meal in the evening. Just... amazing... Indescribable!

1st course, cheese fondue...

2nd course, salad... like no other salads you have ever tasted!

3rd course, main course. Lobster tails, shrimps, sirloin steak, beef, pork, chicken, pasta... TOO yummy!

4th course, dessert. Chocolate fondue...

And... 5 more-than-satisfied tummies! We spent three hours there, so sad when it came time to leave :(

The Faithful One...

2008-08-27T11:40:00.007-04:00

Ever since I came to Abbotsford, I have been wanting a different new "toy" everyday. First it was a new laptop ($1000+), then I thought maybe I should get a desktop since I never had one and Dell had a super duper deal that Justin was trying to tempt me into buying ($450+ and of course, he purchased one himself. Oh that computer geek!). After I went to bed that night (as the Chinese would say), "tucked up my pillow and thought real hard about it", I decided I don't want one anymore.

I was getting some work done on my laptop the next day and thought... if only I have another computer monitor, then I'll have a double screen so I can watch Chinese series at the same time with that other monitor ($200+). Then somehow I got over that, but sooner after that thought went away, Justin (yes, once again, it's Justin...) tells me about this mp4 camcorder from eBay ($120+)!

Well, at least with each new item that I want, it gets less and less expensive! But yesterday... I wanted one of those black babies/wives that everyone seem to have these days.. a DSLR camera! According to Alexei, $1,000+ for the figure/body and another $1,300+++ for one of those pro-grade lenses!

Or! I can get a consumer DSLR and a kit lens for about $700+ and that will get me very decent photos...

Ooooooo!

Well, while I've been going through all these struggles of mine everyday, this whole time LP just wants a PS3 to play Metal Gear. I guess he's the faithful one...

This blog post is dedicated to Mr. Garvin Lee. STOP BUGGING ME TO POST, you blanket stealer! Unless maybe you can get me one of these toys for my birthday!

In God's Presence

2008-08-24T15:27:00.003-04:00

Have you ever enjoyed someone else's company so much that just by being in the same room makes you smile and makes you happy? Whether it is your significant other or a brother/sister in Christ whom you long to spend time with, not necessarily doing anything special, but just by being together brightens up your day.

That is the way it should be when we're in the Lord's presence. Like King David, a man after God's own heart, our hearts should move to unspeakable joy when we're in the Lord's presence.

You have made known to me the path of life;
You will fill me with joy in Your presence,
with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.
~ Psalm 16:11

Angry at God

2008-08-22T16:19:00.002-04:00

Today's Devotion: We're not forbidden to be angry at God. But what do we do when we're angry at Him? Do we run to Him, pour out all our feelings, let Him restore us and receive His peace? Or do we ignore our anger and just let ourselves be angry at God?

Our First Guests

2008-08-21T16:51:00.005-04:00

LP's internship supervising pastor is Pastor Dave (left) (all pastors in the world is called Pastor Dave!). Prof Kraemer (middle) is the Director of Vicarage at the seminary. Prof Kraemer came for a couple of days to meet with the three of us. Internship (Lutherans call it VICARAGE and LP's a VICAR) Orientation was back in June, but because we were too busy getting married, he came out here from Edmonton just for us.

We invited Pastor Dave and Prof Kraemer over for lunch today. It is our first time having guests over at our place and my first time cooking for people. Ooops, forgot to tell them that when I invited them over... but it turned out quite alright. Of course I didn't try out new dishes today, I made 4 dishes I had already tested out on LP and he approved. We'll have more guests coming in the next two weeks, I will lots of practice before I go back to Montreal to cook for my parents hehe!

Do Re Mi Fa So!

2008-08-20T11:06:00.005-04:00

Today's devotion is based on 1 Chronicles chapters 5 to 8, but there's a section called "If time is short, focus on..." As you can imagine, instead of reading 4 chapters, I skipped to the "if time is short" section and focused on 6:1-49. If you flip to this passage, you can see that it is a super easy read as it is a genealogy of Israel's priesthood. The author of 1 Chronicles spent 31 verses naming people whom "David put in charge of the music in the house of the Lord". The devotion booklet reminds us that those who serve God's people by planning and providing music for our times of worship have a unique privilege and carry a special responsibility. They direct God's people to their Lord and help them to open up their hearts to Him in worship. Of course, God doesn't look at our excellent technical performance but rather, he looks at the performance of our hearts, the undivided worship of a heart made righteous by the blood of Christ.

The application for this passage is that we're encouraged to find a way to express our appreciation to our worship leaders and church musicians, to pray for them and that the congregation worships from righteous and thankful hearts.

I had the privilege of joining the Chinese choir during my "official" last six months at MCAC. I was telling Yeung C-moe how amazing it is that the choir members have been so devoted all these years. Even though I sometimes hear them complain about choir practices and the long hours they have to put into practices, kudos to them for all these years of service! It takes a lot of commitment and sacrifices to serve in the choir. They are at church 45 minutes before service starts to warm up their voices and to practice the day's song offering. After Service, they are to put in a good 2-3 hours of practice every week. No more lunch out, no more play-time on Sundays because by the time choir practices finishes, it'd be dark out (well, in the winter anyways). Many churches I have visited does not even have a choir during Sunday Services. I am proud of our church for such an amazing and devoted choir.

Our choir conductors, Yeung C-moe and Josephine, must spend countless hours choosing and preparing songs each week and the energy they put into each choir practice is worth appreciating. And of course, my Goh Goh pianist. Watching him sit at the piano on Sundays from 10:30am all the way through service (on the days he has to play for singspiration/worship) to 1:00pm and then again from 2:15pm to sometimes 5-6pm including small group practices. Sometimes the girls and guys takes turn resting and practice, he doesn't get to rest because he's often the only one at the piano. He must have a sore back every week!

Let us help encourage our worship leaders and choir members and remember them in our prayers.

There is Something to Give Thanks for Everyday!

2008-08-19T02:48:00.006-04:00

Because I have more time on my hand these days, I have been reading Connie's blog often. She blogs about her cutie baby Samuel. At the top of her blog, there's a photo of her and Ah B with a speech bubble that says "There is something to give thanks everyday."

That is so true! Sometimes I get so caught up in thinking of the things that I don't have here in Abbotsford that I forget to give thanks for the things that I do have!

I give thanks for the beautiful condo God provided for us in Abbotsford. This place is fully furnished with more than we need. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two TV's (although not one single channel, so no Olympics for us, but we get to play Wii with it to entertain ourselves), a modern kitchen and all the cooking utensils we need, no air conditioning, but there's a fan so we don't have to suffer from the hot weather too much.

I give thanks for a place to worship on Sundays. We are blessed to have such a beautiful church, and a caring and friendly congregation.

I give thanks for my hubby for being so patient with me even though lately I have been cranky with so many things I am going through and have to adjust to.

I give thanks that during the past year, I am able to travel to so many places to see so many things, places and people. Thousand Islands, New York City, Washington DC, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Edmonton, Banff, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Abbotsford, Richmond, Vancouver...

I give thanks for GPS, and Goh Goh for finding me an inexpensive GPS the day before I left for Abbotsford, so we can easily drive to places in BC without getting lost.

I give thanks for internet, otherwise I would be even more bored! I give thanks for the different ways we can communicate with our family and friends back home in Montreal. I am able to email my parents who are still in Hong Kong and China. I can webcam with Gloria and Auntie Betty even when I'm cooking in the kitchen. They saw how I made those fry calamaris! I am able to see cutie Nathan and Goh Goh through the webcam as well.

I give thanks for all my friends who cares so much. Even though they are far away, they always check up on me to make sure that I am not too bored and that everything is okay here.

I give thanks for God allowing to be able to cook food that's actually edible! I was telling people I don't know how we'd survive in Abbotsford without good food from Montreal, especially how we're blessed with all the Aunties who always cook for us and invite us into their homes for dinner. Now it is our turn to invite others to our home and I pray that we can be a blessing to others.

(shrimp in wine, seafood pancake, steamed fish)

(phad thai)

Giving thanks for all these things reminds me of a song Caleb loves singing "Because a thankful heart is a happy heart. That's why I say thanks everyday!"

A Day in Vancouver

2008-08-18T23:15:00.007-04:00

After not getting out much for the past week and a half, I finally saw some familiar faces yesterday! After lunch, we drove to Richmond and Vancouver. First, we went to Steveston Highway (Richmond) to the International Buddhist Temple. It is North America's 2nd largest Buddhist temple and we saw some pretty funny things!

Visiting this temple makes me very sad. Seeing people lighting incense, burning offerings to these statues, praying to these man-made "things," paying to get their names displayed in the temple and hoping these gods of theirs would bless them... I am bless to know Jesus and do not have to hope that Jesus would bless me. I know for a fact that He is blessing me. As I looked through the photos we took, they reminded me of the passage that LP preached on yesterday: Matthew 15:21-28. The passage is about this Canaanite woman who comes to Jesus crying and begging Him to help her daughter who is oppressed by a demon. She cries out after Him and even though she calls Him "Lord" and "Son of David," Jesus ignores her at first because He does not care about the "correct" names that she calls Him by. If we try to use the right words, actions, or worship to please God, we are manipulating Him. Jesus looks at our faith and our humbleness when we come before Him. Because the Canaanite woman has such great faith, even though the disciples want her to go away, even though Jesus calls her a dog! She does not care about these things but continues to look to Jesus because she has faith that only Jesus is able to help her daughter. At last, it is because of her great faith that Jesus heals her daughter.

After visiting the temple, I wanted to go to this Malaysian restaurant for some afternoon tea. As we approached the restaurant by the waters, I spotted that "CLOSED" sign! So disappointed!

That didn't stop me from having afternoon tea! We drove to Richmond Center to have dim sum while we waited for Steph and Emilie. Since I came to Abbotsford, this is the first time we ate out!

After some dim sum, we met up with Steph and Emilie for some bubble tea. Steph and I have been longterm "we gotta gain weight" buddies! Steph was the first one I made tacos with. Those "we gotta gain weight" days were so much fun. We'd indulge ourselves with all the fatty foods we can inhale in one night, but we'd still be as thin as a pair of chopsticks when we stood next to each other! It was great hanging out with her again. Hope to see them again very soon, either in Vancouver/Abbotsford, or we will drive down to Seattle to pay them a visit and have another "we gotta gain weight" night! And I got my first birthday present this year. Thanks Steph!

We did have a lot planned yesterday. Since we rented a car, we had to make the most out of it! Right after bubble tea in Richmond, we drove to Vancouver and had dinner at Karen and Calvin's. Phan, Jeff and Jadon's cousins were there too. Oh! And Nolan is such a cutie! Okay... I find all babies cute, but I don't want kids of my own! We had this discussion last night and Phan agrees. Hehe!

Karen lent me some cookbooks and she even passed along this (super old) cookbook that Chan c-moe got as a wedding gift which was passed to Karen when she married off to another city! We had a little "ceremony" and took a photo to send to C-moe haha! I really enjoyed the time with them. I even asked Karen if she will follow us back to Edmonton next year! They recently moved from Edmonton to Vancouver, so it just seems like wherever we go these days, Calvin and Karen are always close by! We should be seeing them again in two weeks. This time, they will come visit us in Abbotsford, can't wait!

Karen taught me a very simple and yummy dish. I tried it out for lunch today... Enoki mushrooms wrapped in beef with black pepper sauce!

After hanging out at the Wans, we went to get some groceries at T&T (again!). I will go to T&T for food every opportunity I get! Actually, another reason why I wanted to go was to get a $15 off coupon for The Greater Vancouver Lantern Festival (in Richmond). I've never been to a Lantern Festival. I've always wanted to go either in Montreal or Toronto, just never had a chance to. But to be honest, I was so disappointed last night. The displays were too "Chinese" and old fashion! We speed-walked through the whole festival in 15 minutes. I probably would not have gone even if it was for free, we ended up paying $10 per person with the coupon and $5 for parking. Well, here's my favourite display... the Totem Poles.

Disappointment aside, I had fun yesterday and it was great catching up with some old friends from Montreal. I guess what they say is true. This world is small, indeed. Even though I am now away from home and people who I used to be close with have moved away from Montreal, we will all meet again one day. Even if not in Edmonton, BC or Seattle, we will definitely meet again when we see our Heavenly Father. I guess this comforts me a little as I am still trying not to miss my family and friends too much. Sometimes I just can't help it as it can get lonely here in Abbotsford.

The complete photoalbum: A Day in Vancouver

Busy or Bored?

2008-08-15T12:03:00.009-04:00

I finally sorted out all the photos from our trip to Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand. It took so long because we took lots of photos with 4 different cameras, so I had to put everything in order and delete the unnecessary ones.

Some of the photos are also on Facebook, but not all of them... can't put everything on Facebook!

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Home)
Port Dickson, Malaysia (Water Chalet)
Hong Kong
Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok Canal Tour, Thailand
The Ancient City Tour, Thailand
Bangkok Aquarium, Thailand

Ever since our wedding, our schedule has been tight. We left right away to Asia, visited some relatives, hung out with some friends whenever we could squeeze them in our schedule and our families had 4 banquets to celebrate our wedding. Even when we came back to Montreal, we had a busy schedule.

We made it just in time for Lam and Hoi-Ying's wedding, we spent some time with cutie Nathan then LP left right away (came back on Friday, he left on Monday) to Abbotsford. I stayed another week and a half to settle things for my business and deal with the mess I made from our wedding. We were in such a hurry to leave for Asia that everything was just dumped in the basement after the wedding.

Oh and of course, thanks Joshua and Ruby for the yummy dinner before I left Montreal!

Once I came to Abbotsford, everything changed all of a sudden. No more running around meeting people or trying to get everything, no more hectic schedules. Everything slowed down. But maybe slowed down too much. If you know me well, I'm not the type to just sit around and do nothing, I have to do something. I am itching to do something productive and not just sit here all day sorting out my photo. HA! I guess I should really figure out what to do with my business. It's difficult to do any business when I'm always traveling around.

Alright, so let me go and try to do something productive now (not that buying groceries, cleaning and cooking aren't productive)... but as you can see, blogging everyday means "I'm bored."

Freshly Fried...

2008-08-14T16:55:00.004-04:00

We just had some fried calamari for lunch... YUMMM! And yes, I made it from scratch!

Life in Abbotsford, BC

2008-08-13T19:04:00.006-04:00

Yes, an update a lot of you have been bugging me about... Lots to update, so let's just start from the beginning of this whole Abbotsford thing (I'll update about our Asia "Wedding Tour" another day). This is what I came "home" to after getting off the plane at the smallest airport I've ever been to in my life (airport with only 1 gate)...

THIS HUGE MESS!

Yes... LP managed to mess up this place within just one week of being here. Now the "after" pics... after I spent some time cleaning it up and redecorating the place...

Couldn't stand the green color of the couch, so had to cover them up with something... doesn't look too nice, but better than what's underneath those sheets.

And... here's the rest of the condo.

Entrance...

Guest bathroom...

Laundry room / storage...
LP's study (書房)

Pretty big balcony...

Master bedroom... by the way, we NEVER make our bed (and everyone knows that!)... but I did it just this once, for the purpose of these photos.

Walk-in closet from the master bedroom to the bathroom...

Bathroom #2...

We are very blessed that the church LP interns at is able to afford such a beautiful condo for us. It is very close to everything like the bank, supermarket, the mall, fast foods, car rentals... everything is within walking distance.

Oh and this is what the previous intern pastor left us in the fridge... what a gift!

It's been exactly a week since I got here. I think I became such a 師奶 "si lie" over night, literally.

All I have been doing is pretty much grocery shopping, cleaning, tidying and cooking three meals a day... Yup, three meals a day and lots of food! At this rate, I think LP will gain weight pretty quickly.

Calvin and Karen are right... wherever we go, as long as there's Lee Kam Kee, we will have good food! This is what I brought from Montreal...

I'm glad I brought those with me because a Chinese supermarket is a 30-minute drive from where we are, it's not even in Abbotsford anymore, we've to go past Langley to Surrey for a T&T Supermarket. And I can't live without yummy Chinese food. Fastfoods and take-outs are just not my thing. I'm proud to say that we haven't had one single meal out so far! But I should stop depending on Lee Kam Kee and pre-marinated food and really learn how to cook from scratch.

Even though it's 30 minutes away, we still made a trip there and we stocked up gooood! Our super long bill came out to $368.53 + another $100 from another place. We went shopping after lunch, but both of us got really hungry just being in T&T (it's not surprising for me, but it's rare for LP to get hungry just looking at food). We just couldn't resist! Our excuse for buying so much was because we decided not to buy a car, we needed to rent a car to go that distance, so might as well go all out.

Some of you asked me how was church on Sunday. Well I dunno... we had to leave right away after service to buy some more things for the house and had to return our rented car. And I didn't really bother going to church early to meet the people. So I can't really say. Though the people who sat around me were very friendly. And at the beginning of every month, they recognize those whose birthday was that month, so I had to go up on stage... with this other guy who was turning NINETY-EIGHT! But I was pretty much all by myself in front of the whole congregation. There was suppose to be more people, but the rest of them were out-of-town for vacation. As much as I miss MCAC, I do look forward to worshiping at that church on Sundays.

Here's what LP's office looks like...

So far, it is a pretty boring town because there's really nowhere I can go and no one I know to hang out with... all the people are so far away in Vancouver! Though we do plan on visiting Vancouver sometime soon. Well, Joe Choi is right... Abbotsford "is pretty much a white middle-upper class Bible-belt town." Many Christian organization headquarters are here, including Campus for Christ. So next time Joe comes here for a conference or Gloria and Lydia come here for training, I will have someone to hang out with!

Called to Love: Egypt

2008-07-29T08:58:00.004-04:00

I have been very excited for Billy as he is in Egypt right now on a short term missions trip. Yup, my little brother on a STM! During the time I was in Hong Kong, I saw Billy run around hunting for ideas and buying materials for the kid's program his STM team is in charge of during their trip. I have never seen him so seriously and "grown up!" I'm so proud of him!

Please keep Billy and Sam in your prayers as they have been in Egypt for a week now. You can read their updates on their blogs:

Billy's Blog | Billy's Bio
Sam's Blog | Sam's Bio

Almost Forgot...

2008-05-21T08:51:00.005-04:00

Yes and I almost forgot... LP will carry out his one year intern in Abbotsford, BC, a little less than an hour drive from Vancouver. AC does not fly Abbotsford, only Westjet does. Plane tickets are $1000 during high seasons, which adds to my depression! I take Air Miles donations. Merci!

Refuse to Go

2008-05-21T07:40:00.005-04:00

I've been a little depressed lately as the wedding approaches. I realized when I think about wedding planning, I get depressed. How can this be? Who doesn't know I love wedding planning?! I have been avoiding wedding planning not that I don't want to marry LP, but because the more wedding planning I do, it means the closer it comes to the day I have to move away from Montreal. It was definitely easy to always say to myself and tell people that I have no worries and trust that God will watch over me. But I realized that deep down inside, I refuse to obey. I do not want to leave my comfort zone. Montreal and MCAC is my comfort zone. This is my home.

I have been a cry baby lately... every time I think about moving away, I cry. I cry during Sunday Service, I cry during choir practice, I cry when I pray, I cry in prayer meetings (you don't see me cry? I've been doing a good job hiding it, huh?). It definitely doesn't help when Pastor Chan counts down every single day for me and always keep track of "my lasts" at MCAC. "This is the last time you..." I just feel that no one understands how difficult it is for me to take this step. Every time I hint that I don't want to move away, all people say is "everything will be alright. You will start a new life and find new friends." But I don't want a new life, I don't want new friends. I feel that people think I am very independent and I can handle many things myself because I hardly show the other side of me, the very dependent side, the side that wants to be pampered for once. Or maybe... it is the complete opposite. I am WAY too pampered at MCAC.

I wish I can end this post by saying "I know that God will watch over me and all I have to do is to trust and obey." But I can't just yet...

Now I am off to get my gowns altered.

No, I didn't loose or gain weight (unfortunately). They just never fit. They looked like a perfect fit in our wedding portraits, huh? Pastor Chan didn't notice either when he took our photos. I think lately I have been good at hiding things and making things seem perfectly fine even though it just doesn't feel that way deep down inside.

Anxiously Waiting...

2008-04-23T18:58:00.006-04:00

Just finishing the last of the invites that will go out this weekend. FINALLY! My printerS have been going on non-stop for a while now, inkjet on the left printing the inserts and laser on the right printing the envelopes. I'm surprised they are still surviving!

I am also in the middle of finish the last of my customer orders. Hopefully, I will not be tempted to take on anymore jobs since I really do need to start my own wedding planning.

This past weekend, it was a fun weekend down in Toronto with Ming, Johnny & Goh Goh. We didn't really do much, but it was fun and relaxing. Food, food, food & more food and also some Game Cube in the evening at the hotel was just great.

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while now, but didn't get a chance to. Pastor Chan recently did a 7 week workshop on the book of Daniel. For those of you who understands Cantonese, you can listen to the workshops from our MCAC website (titled: 「不變的神、不渝的信」但以理書研經聚會. The workshops really spoke to me and reminded me that all I have to do is to trust in God and that He will provide the best place for us to serve. I was reminded not to worry about LP's intern placement. I shouldn't have preference to a church based on location (close to Montreal), the people, or other things. This is not about me, but rather, I should look at where God wants LP to learn. We should put things in the perspective of "forever," then we will realize that things are so little and so tiny. Being close to Montreal, my family and MCAC is not so important anymore compare to "forever." It's time to let go!

The intern placements will be announced on May 2. We are anxiously waiting on God...

Off Panic Mode

2008-03-26T20:19:00.004-04:00

My panic attack only lasted for probably 24 hours... I wish I am still in panic mode so I can get stuff done faster...

Pastor Chan emailed me again today... 88 days left! People keep asking about it and telling me my mom is really nervous that I am not nervous at all.

I shall begin producing my invitations soon, probably tonight... I wonder if I'll be able to get them done by next weekend. That's probably really pushing it since I still have to take care of a few of my customer's orders first.

I went dress shopping with my 4 bridesmaids on Good Friday... no luck! I didn't think it would be easy to agree on dresses, but didn't think it would be that difficult! I already told them I am not picky, as long as the dresses are in the same shade of (baby) blue and in the same materials, I'm okay with whatever styles they choose. Somehow, they still can't decide...

On my list of things to do (hopefully) by the end of next week:
- Purchase materials for our invitations
- Book Videographer
- Book Dove Release
- Visit Reception Hall with parents, GM & PC
- Make a list of people who will be singing in the choir

Oh and also! We got news on the intern placement locations. Three of them are in tiny little towns out in Albert somewhere, never heard of those tiny little towns. There is a Chinese Lutheran Church that requested a student intern, but they're out in Vancouver. The closest to Montreal is Waterloo. WATERLOO! Pray pray pray!

It's Official...

2008-03-12T23:54:00.003-04:00

Pastor Chan called me earlier today to remind me that there are only 102 days left until my wedding! I've officially started to be in mini-panic mode! Yet... I still slacked off today doing some other less important stuff.

I wonder if I'll ever be in full-panic mode...

Last Half of my Trip in the E-Town

2008-03-12T23:42:00.000-04:00

Wedding stuff done:
- Eesigned my wedding band. Yay, I can't wait to have it made!
- Set up a wedding gift registry at The Bay (account only, no items on the list yet)
- Very rough outline of the banquet program down on paper
Yup... that was it! Aiya...

I won't blab about my last week in Edmonton, these photos speaks a thousand words:
- My Confirmation into the Lutheran Denomination
- Beautiful Banff
- Fun at the Wan's
- LP's Seminary
- Miscellaneous

The E-Town

2008-03-04T19:01:00.005-05:00

Sooo I'm finally here, in the boring E-town!

My plane was overbooked so instead of taking the direct flight to Edmonton, I volunteered to take the next flight to Toronto to transfer to Edmonton. I didn't want to do that at first because I wasn't feeling all that well, but the $200 voucher they offered was very attractive. Knowing that I will be taking the plane often enough in the near future, I decided to their offer. The plane was scheduled to arrive in Edmonton at 4:30pm, so I figured there's still an hour before dinner is served at the Wan's residence. But of course, the flight was delayed...

After getting off the plane, we went straight to Calvin and Karen's for dinner. Jadon and Nolan were such cuties! Hopefully we get to chill again before I head back to Montreal. Darn, I was too sick to remember to take any photos.

I went to bed right away after getting home, actually stayed in bed for 36 hours until Thursday morning! Thursday morning... interview time! Before the interview, LP asked if I was nervous, maybe I seemed nervous? I wasn't nervous at at all. It wasn't like a job interview or anything. We were basically just chatting with one of his professors about vicarage (intern) in August. We talked about my joys and concerns and what kind of a church LP and I preferred to intern at. Even though we do have our preferences (a Chinese church close to Montreal would be perfect), but of course, just because that's what we prefer, it doesn't mean that's what God prefers. There's a whole committee who, through much prayers, decides on where we will be placed. We are so anxious to know where we will be going! May 2 is when we will know. I can't wait!

I've been here for a whole week now, but not much wedding planning went on. People keep telling me... it's only 3 months away. I don't know why I'm not panicking yet! I'd rather be panicking than not so that I can actually get some planning done. The most important thing right now is to design our invitations. Well... let me tell you, we're far from finalizing a designing. Not good...

So far, my favorite meal was at a Malaysian restaurant. It's been so long I've had Malaysian food! Most of the time I get cramps when I get spicy food, but this time, I didn't care, I went all out! Luckily, I didn't get cramps after the meal. My favorite was nasi lemark (combination plate). Although the satay and ice kachang (shaved ice) were nothing like the real Malaysian style, I still enjoyed them. Can't wait to get some real Malaysian food this summer!

Isaac's family was very welcoming, they invited LP and I over for dinner on Sunday. It was great seeing their family again after the summer. I had the opportunity to learn a few dishes from auntie Lily while we were there.

Oh and they had these "things" in their living room which I'm sure Pastor Chan would find amusing! So I took a few photos for him, maybe he'd get a set for his living room haha.

Gotta sign off now, we will head to Andy and Lidia's place for dinner soon. Haven't seen them for the longest time. I've known Andy since I was young, we never kept in touched though because I was still very young when he left Montreal. I've served with Lidia for a year or two when the South Shore church was first planted. Can't wait to do some catching up with them later.

Right... before I sign off... I gotta show up photos of LP's bookshelves... they're not stacked with theology books, but rather... of Japanese comics!

Save-the-Dates

2008-02-19T11:43:00.004-05:00

Finally, we are almost done giving out all our save-the-dates. The last ones should be out this weekend (hopefully).

Here are the four versions we had... not sure which one I like the most though. What do you think?

And... here's the e-version for most of our out-of-town guests. Some STDs were mailed, snail mail! When was the last time you received a handwritten letter from someone! (Click for larger view)

Well our save-the-dates are almost out of the way... but still no signs of the final version of our invitations. We thought of a few designs, but far from happy with them. SIGH!

Counting down... 7 more days until I leave for Edmonton for two weeks! We will be doing lots and lots of wedding planning while I'm there (hopefully)!

Hopefully I can get these things done before I leave next week...
- Give out the rest of the save-the-dates
- Dress shopping with mommy
- Gown alternations (yea... they didn't really fit well when we had our photo shoot)
- Meet with and book videographer
- Also have a million things to take care of at work before I leave. AIYA!

Meanwhile, I am also working on something very special for our thank you dinner. Stay tuned!

LP Invited to Preach in Saskatoon

2008-02-11T12:20:00.001-05:00

Friday Morning Radom Updates

2008-02-08T07:59:00.000-05:00

A typical morning in my room working...
Sipping my cup of tea...
Loving the view outside my window...

I want to go ice fishing!

I'm finally back in work mode. This past week was pretty productive... finished a couple more pages for my new business website. Still many more samples to make, lots of pictures to take and many more web pages to make.

Air Canada seat sale is finally here! I'll most likely be leaving to Edmonton on the 26th and coming back on the 11th of March. I haven't booked my tickets yet, will wait a bit just in case there are some changes. I didn't want to be gone for two weeks because I know I won't be as productive with work. But on the other hand, I need to set aside these two weeks for wedding planning! Every time I want to design our invitations, there always seems to be something that's more important at the moment. So hopefully without any distractions and things I need to take care of at home, I will be able to come up with some designs and make some other important decisions.

Since I am not serving on any church committee this year, I decided to join Chinese Choir full time. There aren't many more months/weeks left until I get married, but I will definitely treasure and enjoy the rest of my days here. Haha, yea... people always say that I make it seem like I will die soon...

Well on a happier note... Happy Chinese New Year! Another year gone by. The year of the rat... Billy's a rat (opps, I didn't mean it that way...). His birthday just past but he's only 23 'cause his birthday is at the end of the rat year, kinda sucks for him. Well I hope he recovers from his basketball injury soon!

We don't have any family traditions for Chinese New Years. Dad's never here for it anyways. He always makes sure he spends it with grandma in Malaysia, and of course he brings back lots of "lai si" for us. The only tradition we have is dim sum with the Zion Fellowship. Every Chinese New Year, they would all take a day off work and go to dim sum together.

Wedding planning... like I said, none yet. But I finally got the rest of our save-the-date magnets done! Just have to give them out, or mail them out. Btw, save-the-dates (magnets or cards) are very common. They allow guests, especially out-of-town guests, to know when the wedding is so that they can make travel arrangements and take days of work if necessary. And I think that especially at MCAC, with so many weddings, anniversaries, events and activities throughout the year, you need them! People started asking when our wedding is months/year ago so that they can reserve the date for us. How sweet of them! But then... there are some people who ask us as if they know for sure they will be invited =P Haha! What to do with these people?!

Today will be a busy day. I will work a bit, probably mop the floor in my room (yea...). I'll be having lunch with Gwendonlin (with Mom & Pastor Chan) before her family takes off to Vancouver for a new beginning. Then off to meet a client in downtown. Dinner will be HOT POT (yay!) with the Bethanies at 6pm in the gym at church. And then I'll be going up to the Fisher Hall (how convenient) for fellowship at 7:45pm. Tonight's fellowship starts later than usual because it is the annual Chinese New Year Friday night joint fellowship. I'll be exhausted by the end of the night.

Saturday is finally here tomorrow. I better start getting some work done now so that I can go out. I've been pretty hard working this past week, so I NEED to get out tomorrow.

Cutie Ivan & Jason Vidoes

2008-01-25T09:28:00.000-05:00

Vacation, Vacation, Vacation!

2008-01-24T14:39:00.000-05:00

Taking an evening/over-night bus to Washington really wasn't that bad. I actually slept pretty much the entire bus ride. The only time I was kept awake for 45 minutes was when they almost didn't let me cross the US border! They kept hassling me because I didn't have a return ticket to Canada. "Why should we let you into our country? How do we know you will go back to where you came from?" WHAT? I had a Canadian passport and I'm so sure not everyone who travels to the States always have a return ticket on them when they cross the border!

"Why don't you have your return ticket on you?"
"'Cause my friend has it."
"Why would your friend have your ticket?"
"Because he purchased my ticket at the same time he purchased his and he's already in Washington."
"So how do I know you will return to Canada?"
ARGHH!!

"Where will you be staying in Washington?"
"At a hotel... Hilton."
"Do you have a reservation number?"
"No, not on me."
"Why not?"
"Because I didn't book the hotel."
"Why didn't you book the hotel?"
"My friend booked the hotel."

Ooo-K...!

"What do you in Canada?"
"I'm a wedding planner and I have an online business."
"You're a wedding planner huh?"
"Yes."
"Well, you're not a very good planner considering you know nothing about your trip, the hotel you're staying, no return ticket..."
"My friend is picking me up at the bus station in Washington, he has everything taken care of and I trust that he does, so why do I need to ask for the hotel reservation number in advance and my return bus ticket?"
"Your friend is picking you up at the bus station?"
"Yes, he is."
"Right, not if your trip ends here tonight."

Great! It was past midnight when we had this conversation... I was tired, let me back on the bus so I can sleep!

"Let me make some clear, just because you're at the border here, it doesn't mean we will let you cross, you came here to 'apply' to travel into our country, doesn't mean we will permit. And if you cannot prove to us that you will return to your own country, we will not let you come across. See the cameras up in the ceiling? This inspection is being recorded and everything you said was being recorded. Let me ask you again, do you have a return ticket to Canada?"
"Yes, I do have a return ticket to Canada, just not on me."

The dude punched his keyboard pretty hard as he unwillingly 'allowed' me into HIS country! What a great way to start my vacation... thank God no more unpleasant incidents during the trip. The rest were awesome.

Thursday morning, finally got to Washington and Goh Goh did in fact picked me up at the bus terminal!

I finally got to meet my cutie cousin, David! Too bad we couldn't spend more time together and he wasn't feeling well when I saw him. I didn't even get to hold him!

There was a "storm" in Washington as the bus arrives at the bus terminal. It was really just 2in of snow, but the entire city seemed to be malfunctioning! Some roads were blocked off because of the snow, some museum entrances were blocked off as well. We wanted to have seafood buffet, but the buffet was cancelled for the day because of the "severe weather." We were basically laughing at them the whole day. To us, what is 2in of snow?? They probably would have cancelled school and university classes if more than 4in of snow had fallen.

Here are some places we visited during the "snow storm."

The Capitol
Our tour guide really wasn't much of a tour guide. The main entrance was blocked off because of the snow, we tried to sneak to the front for a photo but got yelled at by this dude with his machine gun so ready to point at us and shoot.

I know... I just had to blend in with the rest of the Washington-ians with my umbrella while it snowed away 2in of wet snow.

Washington Monument
Waiting in line to go up.

Smithsonian's Natural History Museum

Goh Goh's fav. oyster shells...

There were other places we wanted to visit but we didn't have time because everything in Washington basically closes at 5pm. Too bad, but next time! In the evening we went to Georgetown, didn't take any photos though, just a small little town with some shops and we had dinner there. That basically concluded our Washington trip.

Couldn't wake up on Saturday morning to catch the bus, so we only got to NYC on Saturday in the afternoon. Vincent, Venus, Ivan and Jason met Goh Goh and I at the bus terminal. Our first stop was up the Empire State Building. What a long way up! So many different elevators we had to take to go up, and it cost us $20. But the view was great, we spent a good two hours there and in the gift shop. The boys loved it, I'm glad they had fun.

Thanks Vincent and Venus for treating us to Japanese!

After dinner at Time Square...

We spent quite a bit of time at the M&M store! There were so many things we wanted to buy that we just had to go back again the next day.

Sunday morning was, of course, spent in the house of the Lord. We had service at the Princeton Alliance. A beautiful modern church...

Trinity Church... we just watched National Treasure 1& 2 during the Christmas holidays, so it was pretty cool I got to visit it soon afterwards, but there was no secret underground passage! Haha!

Wall Street...

Our one and only McD's meal during the trip before the musical.

The LION KING musical was just AMAZING! It was my all time favourite Disney movie, I really enjoyed it from beginning 'till the end. Everything, especially the costumes and the sets and props were very well done. Just amazing! Too bad we were allowed to take any photos in the theater.

Monday... This time, Goh Goh didn't lie to me, he really did take me to go on the Ferry, unlike LAST TIME! Got tricked into going on the "ferry" when it was a monster jet boat ride which they get you wet on purpose! The ferry was free, so it was especially enjoyable, didn't have to pay to get wet, haha!

Grand Central Station

Rockefeller

MET, very interesting!

Tuesday, we made a trip to Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell (was also in National Treasure).

We also dropped by the United States Mint near the Liberty Bell. We couldn't bring our cameras in even if we didn't take any pictures. Venus has to stay outside so we can bring the kids in. Thanks Venus!

Last shot (of course, of the buses for Goh Goh) before we headed home for Ivan's violin lessons.

That pretty much concluded our trip to DC, NYC and NJ. It was really fun and relaxing, although my feet were sore from all the walking, but it was worth it. Crossing the Canadian border was

Now... back to Montreal, back to reality... back to work :( Also back to some real wedding planning! which is the most exciting thing to be back for.

I'm Back!

2008-01-08T07:14:00.000-05:00

Back from where? Nowhere, really... so I haven't posted in a month. Boy, does time fly! You probably think that a lot happened in the past month. Not at all! Basically all I did was paint, pack, move, unpack and more moving this week. No parties, no wedding planning, no nothing, just moving.

LP came back on the 17th (got stuck in Winnipeg for a night because of the storm) and all he did was help us with the new house without a complaint. I'm so thankful for him. Caleb was a great little helper too.

My Ex-Room...

Moving started to slow down on Saturday. All the beds, my room and half the house have been moved. We rented a van for two days last week to move ourselves. We will be hiring some people to move the rest of the stuff after we finish packing (which would take forever because Mom refuses to throw out her junk). I slept the entire day yesterday, needed to catch up on my much needed sleep!

Because our house was a mess, we couldn't have a Christmas tree this year. But Caleb still made our home very Christmasy with his creativity. He's so thoughtful...

We managed to squeeze in some play time whenever we can.

Dec. 24 - Christmas Eve with the Bethanies at Milton's.

Dec. 25 - Chinese Christmas Service (LP preached).

Dec. 26 - Boxing Day Dinner with Johnny and Ming.

Dec. 31 - New Year's Eve at Johnny's.

Jan. 1 - Family Dinner on New Year's Day.
SO much better than Firegrill!

Jan. 6 - Dinner with Uncle Newman and Auntie Winnie.

After dinner entertainment.

Well... still no wedding planning yet... only 6 months away from the big day! Yikes! I guess we will do most of our planning when I visit Edmonton during LP's March break. But the way I see it, we will end up procrastinating during the break, then I will be all stressed comes May. LP will be leaving next week on Wednesday afternoon. At night, I will be busing to Washington to visit my uncle, aunt and my super duper cutie cousin. Then I'll be joining Goh Goh to New Jersey and New York to visit Vincent, Venus and their cutie Ivan and Jason. Can't wait!

Also congratulations to Simon and Connie for giving birth to their 8 lb. Samuel on Jan. 5! YAY FINALLY!! Can't wait to meet him!

Baby Shower

2007-12-07T08:40:00.000-05:00

I forgot to post some photos and videos from Samuel's Baby Shower on Saturday. So allow me to do that before I go back to my daily painting routine. Sorry for the quality of the photos, I think I forgot to turn on the flash.

Mommy & Daddy-to-be

Care Package

Diaper Cake

Cookie Favours

Baby Food Tasting Game

Who's Fastest?

Guess Who?

Guess what they're doing!

Daily Routine

2007-12-07T08:12:00.001-05:00

While it is exciting to be moving to a new place, this week was super boring for me. My routine since Monday was:
1) wake up
2) paint
3) sleep

I didn't like the dark blue in my room, my mom didn't like the burnt orange in the family room and the kitchen and none of us liked the neon green in one of the rooms in the basement. So I had to do something about all that. Tape all the edges of the walls/windows/kitchen cabinets/counters, fill in the many holes the previous tenant made on the walls, paint the first coat of primer and then two layers of colour paint. In deed, painting is super boring! Luckily, sometimes Goh Goh (Alfred) would come at night to help me and keep me company. He even helped me shovel the 3 feet of snow that was covering my driveway on Monday (well he had to, otherwise we couldn't have gotten into the house), what an awesome Goh Goh! So far, I've only done the primer in the family room and the kitchen and the primer and 1 layer of paint in my room. I hope to finish the first coat of paint in the family room and the kitchen by the end of today and hopefully I can go to Elisha fellowship in the evening.

And here's my dinner for the past couple of days. Hey it's pretty good if you don't have that everyday!
That's my update for now.
Back to the new house for more painting...

Counting down...
2 days left until my dad's back
9 days left until my hunny's back

Joke of the Year

2007-12-07T08:06:00.000-05:00

True story...

Random Dude: "So ah... Pastor Terry... Caryn's getting married."
Pastor Terry: "Yes, next year."
Random Dude: "Well um... isn't she a little too young to be getting married?"
Pastor Terry: "Too young? What do you mean?"
Random Dude: "Well, she's only in Cegep!"

Bible Verses from Daddy

2007-11-30T08:11:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning, checked my email and I couldn't help but tear. I know for sure I'm going to cry so much on my wedding day!

Dearest Caryn,

Now these Bible verses are specially for you:

For "Future" Wives

1. "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything." (Ephesians 5:22-24)

2. "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." (1 Peter 3:3-4)

3. "Charm is deceptive, beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." (Proberbs 31:30)

4. "A wife of noble character is her husband's crown..." (Proverbs 12:4)

5. "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value... Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.'" (Proverbs 31:10-11, 28-29)

Caryn, being a wife, and a mother, a daughter-in-law, and a Cmoe all at the same time will not be easy at all! You will need a lot of love, patience, forgiveness, mercy, wisdom,... Mom and I have been praying regularly for you and we will continue to remember you in our prayer for as long as we are your Mom and dad.

Love always,

Mom and Dad

CLAIHR Fundraiser Quiz Night Table Cards

2007-11-22T22:56:00.000-05:00

The Ottawa Chapter of CLAIHR -- Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights -- held a Fundraiser Quiz Night on November 10 to raise money for their upcoming February Conference. Part of their proceeds will also go towards a humanitarian organization, which has not been decided.

I had the privilege of sponsoring the table cards for this event. They had a global and international theme for the night. Each table featured a country, facts and information was on each table card for the guests to enjoy and learn something about the country they're "at."

I am really glad to hear that CLAIHR and the guests enjoyed the table cards:

Dear Ms. Lim,

My name is Fadi Yachoua. I am an executive member of Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights at the University of Ottawa. I am emailing you to thank you for your work and support of our fundraiser that was held a few weeks ago. The table signs/cards you made were beautiful. They were a perfect addition to the decorations and fit perfectly within our theme. Many of the law students and practitioners in attendance enjoyed the facts you included, especially the one in relation to Antarctica and the list of nations that are contesting territorial control over the Antarctic! (:

Again, thank you for your contribution and effort. I wish you all the best with your work and business.

Kind regards,
Fadi Yachoua
CLAIHR U of O Chapter

Lately...

2007-11-21T22:03:00.000-05:00

Time really flies, I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I last posted and there's only 24 days left until LP comes back for Christmas, YAY! This year, LP has a month Christmas vacation (unlike last year, with only 2 weeks). I am very excited, I can't wait! This will be the last time LP comes back before our wedding. Hopefully, we will be able to get some wedding stuff done as there has been no progress since we took our wedding portraits.

Business is going nowhere as I have not been replying emails from my potential clients... I know, it's not a good imagine I am giving my business, but I really don't have time to take on customers. I am thankful that I am blessed in this way, I do not have to worry about my business and bringing in the money for my family, I can serve God freely as I wish.

Things I have been busy with:
- Updating my new website
- Settling odds and ends after our office lease ended
- Table cards for CLAIHR Fundraiser Quiz Night
- Children's Christmas Musical
- Church Christmas Decorations
- Simon & Connie's Baby Shower
- Preparing to move

Making Simon and Connie's Baby Shower invitations was really fun. They are finally out and RSVP's are coming in.

Yup, we will be moving to a new house in Pierrefonds-Roxboro. YAY! I can't believe my parents took care of finding a new place and signing the lease all within 2 weeks! While it's exciting to move, it really gives us a headache. We have way too much stuff at home, especially stuff for our businesses we can't throw away. Moving in the winter will not be fun. Changing addresses and phone numbers will also be a pain. We will get the keys on Dec. 1, then we will have to spend a few days repainting some of the rooms and fixing up some stuff. Can't wait!

A Timeless Celebration

2007-10-28T08:25:00.000-04:00

I was depressed for a few days after being treated rudely by the landlord, but now I am back up and running making new business plans. I am re-doing my website, all my business stationery and giving my business a new and more professional image.

After deciding to have a storefront at the beginning of the month, the first thing I did was to really get cracking on my business name. Even before I decided to lease the store, I have spent literally months trying to come up with a more professional business name. After months and months of headaches, I finally decided on a name. A TIMELESS CELEBRATION. I hope you like it. If not, too bad, I don't want to start from scratch again hehe. I chose "celebration" because I was hoping to not only target engaged couples, but also feature other special occasion products in the store and of course my dad's oil portraits that's been such a hit with anniversaries, grandchildren's birthdays, weddings, engagement, family portraits, etc...

Brushing up on my business skills, I've been reading some articles on marketing and advertising. Blogging is actually becoming very popular in driving new customers to your website. So I followed the trend and have started a blog as well. It will feature unique gift ideas, what the industry has to offer, trends and basically anything to do with events and weddings. Of course, I will still blog here as this is where I blog about more personal things. Hopefully I will get some loyal readers and this is where I can generate a steady clientèle instead of on and off like right now. So for the next little while, I will work on finishing up my new website and spend more energy on marketing and advertising.

Soon I will also have a Facebook group! Haha, yup, they actually mentioned Facebook in the articles as being one of the best way to market your business without spending a penny. You can also purchase some advertising features on Facebook for very little money. Hope you can help me spread the word once the Facebook group is up!

These are little things I'm trying to work on to have a solid foundation before rushing into anything. Although, a storefront would probably give my customers a more professional image than a home-based business. But I guess right now it's not the time and when the time comes, I will know for sure. I will work on my web-based business for now, that'd be the smart way to do things since I will be moving every year for the next three years. Deep down inside, I still hope to find another store near my place. On Thursday, I actually drove up and down St. Charles, St. Jean's and Des Sources looking for vacant stores. I jot down some phone numbers but didn't get a chance to call them yet. I know one of them is for a space that's smaller than the one I was about to lease and it costs 5 times the rent. That is in sane!

That's about it for now, little steps at a time. I know I will soon be busy with the children's Christmas musical, so God knew this is not the time for a store. I am suppose to do the props for the musical, but not sure how "exaggerated" they want the props to be. Perhaps a 20 feet tall background? Or nothing at all?

I also joined the Chinese Christmas Choir. I wasn't going to join because of my busy schedule (or at least I'd like to think I've a busy schedule), but realizing that this will be my last Christmas Choir ever (ok, maybe not EVER, but less chances to join) in Montreal :( I decided to make it fit into my schedule. That'd take up most of my Sundays until Christmas. No that I always get work done on Sundays anyway.

Time to Move On

2007-10-27T15:03:00.000-04:00

So, I've been trying for a week now. The landlord's cell phone has been off and there's no one at the office (his secretary is on a one month vacation). At first I thought he blocked my number from his phone, but I tried blocking my number and using another phone to call him, still no luck. It's very weird, hope everything is alright with him. But it's time for me to move on! I am now making new plans and coming up with new ideas. This will be a long and challenging process, but it teaches me to be patient and not to rush things. In His time!

My Wedding Boutique

2007-10-17T17:35:00.000-04:00

Hehehe, now I do have my own Wedding Boutique! My dream come true. Thanks Goh!

Better Days Are Ahead

2007-10-17T15:39:00.000-04:00

Some how I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to sign the store lease on Monday. I guess I had doubts the whole time, that's why I said I shouldn't get too excited and get my hopes up!

So, Monday I had the appointment with the landlord and I was all ready to sign, I even brought my cheque book to write him a few postdated cheques and give the deposit for November's rent. I went in and told him that I'm ready to sign except that there're some typos in the lease that his secretary prepared. Basically she took another tenant's lease and changed the company name and other information that applied to me. I realized she didn't change everything that needed to be changed. So I wanted to tell the landlord that. I showed him the lease and pointed out the typos, he didn't even look at the lease for a second and said "look, I don't want to negotiate anymore, I'm telling you, lawyers are there to screw things up!" I looked at him and I was completely confused! WHAT? What did that have to do with lawyers? I was in there for 30 seconds and didn't even mention anything about the lawyer.

I also wanted to point out that we agreed to put down the first and last months' deposit upon signing the lease. But in the lease, it says the first month and last 2 months' deposit. I didn't even finish what I wanted to say, he said "just put down what you want and I will take a look at it." Horrible attitude, rude and completed made no sense! I was so frustrated I just left since he showed no interests in signing the lease that day.

I waited for his call all yesterday hoping that he would give in. No call. I waited all morning today. No call. I finally gave in and called him. I said "Hello, how are you." He said "I'm fine Caryn, but I am not happy." ...WHAT? "I will not take your offer." What in the world is going on? I told him "I don't understand." "Look, you saw what happened and I will not accept your offer for now." O.H M.I G.O.S.H! WHAT did he mean by "you saw what happened?" I'd love to know what happened 'cause I obviously didn't "see" what happened! "Look, I'm in a meeting right now and I just can't accept your offer." Speechless, I said "okay... can I call you back." He said call me back later.

Can someone please tell me what happened??

I was so frustrated, sad and worried when I got off the phone. I wasn't feeling well for the past few days, have a million things on my to-do-list and everything seem to be going wrong. I was so disappointed and was about to break down in tears. I was so depressed! The acceleration of my business and my dad's business depended on this store. It was literally 3x or more cheaper than any other stores we looked at and the other stores in that tiny mall brought good traffic. What was I going to do if we didn't have this store?? Luckily I wasn't depressed for long because LP reminded me that even though I don't know what I was going to do if we can't lease the store, God knows what I will happen and that He's our Heavenly Father. I prayed and God immediately comforted me.

Then my dear Goh Goh Alfred said to cheer up and that he will let me shop with his money and he actually took like 30 minutes to draw $1000 for me on msn with his mouse. It's so silly but it made me laugh so hard for the first time in three days. Then, with the business side of her, Gloria gave me legal advice! Later, my dear Isaac, with his busy schedule as a new Microsoftie, took time to write me a long email. It meant so much that you wrote to me and reminded me some things that I knew but had forgotten because I was too busy worrying. It's not over yet, I know that by the time I go to bed, Jasper will email me too (update: indeed, Jasper did message me. He said he wants to come back and kick the landlord's butt. Haha! It's okay, Jasper, just come back for my wedding!). I'm so blessed with all of you, literally around the world. LP in Edmonton (and in my heart and mind, hehehe don't puke!), Mui Mui and Goh Goh in Montreal, Isaac, even though you're in Seattle and Jasper in Australia, I know you'll always be there to listen and comfort me when I'm feeling down. I love you guys!

I will in fact call the landlord back. Not today though, I've had enough for the day. I will call him tomorrow if I feel like it. Just to see what he has to say. But whatever happens, like my future hubby and Isaac reminded me that God is definitely our Heavenly Father and that better days are ahead!

CCM Walkathon

2007-10-15T09:37:00.000-04:00

We were really blessed by God on Saturday to have such beautiful weather. At the beginning of the week, we were struggling whether or not to postpone the Walk. Of course there's always pros and cons when postponing an event. Even though it was said to have 90% chances of rain all day Saturday and only 1 degree, we prayed and by faith we decided not to postpone the Walk. Rain or shine, we were going to complete the Walk. Later on in the week, the weather forecast indicated only 10% chances of shower in the morning and 60% in the afternoon. We knew right away God would bless us with beautiful weather and allow us to enjoy our Walk.

Indeed God did bless us with good weather. It wasn't too cold, around 10 degrees and it only rained the minute when the last participant arrived at our destination, Beaver Lake. Our group photo was taken out in the rain, but the Walk was really great.

I also came down with a cold Friday evening. Saturday morning was worse, I was freezing cold all morning, but I wasn't tired at all. I only felt all my energy drained after I left Beaver Lake, which I am very thankful for. Believe me, you wouldn't want to see me cranky all morning.

We had 70 people sign up, but in the end only 50 participants showed up. Our goal was $10,000 and we collected $2,500 in corporate sponsors. So we figured if 70 participants show up, each person would have to raise around $110 to reach our goal. With 50 people in the end, our total on Saturday came to $7,500. There are still some people who has yet to return their Donation Sheets. After we collect all the money during the next week or two, our grand total will look more like $8,000+. That's pretty awesome for only 50 participants! Praise the Lord!

Most money raised: Winnie Woo ($500) & Mr. Yu ($400) - Prize: $100 gift certificate to Orchid.
Fastest walker/runner: Robert Wong & Keith Foster - Prize: $50 gift certificate to a massage.
Youngest participant: Jonathan Yung - 15 years old
Oldest participant: Mr. Yu - 63 years old.
Most participants from fellowship: Elisha and Bethany from MCAC, yay MCAC!

Do continue to pray with us that the funds will be used wisely to reach out to the Chinese community in Montreal so that they may become part of our big family one day.

Thanks Gloria for your hard work throughout the whole planning process with promotion and all the other stuff and the day of the Walk! What would I have done without you, sista?? !

Thanks Alexei and Pastor Chan for the photos. Full photo album coming soon...

An Exciting Update!

2007-10-12T14:58:00.000-04:00

Time really does fly by fast, the last mini blog I wrote was 2 weeks ago. Perhaps you were wondering why I randomly wrote GOD IS GOOD? There needs to be no reason for me to say that. Although, on that day, something very exciting did happen.

My goal and dream was always to have a gift shop/wedding boutique of my own. I was planning this probably for the year 2010 or 2011, which would be after LP graduate and we would have settled down by then. That's such a far way off! But I guess going retail is not easy, especially when we'd be moving once every year for the next 3 years and the most important issue is that I need to save enough money in order to lease a location, have an inventory and all those other business expenses such as business insurance, advertising, phone line, internet, and so on.

As you might or might not know, since I will be married off and moving away from Montreal in 8 months, dad and I have decided to move our oil portrait business online after our office lease ends at the end of the month. Then we'd be conducting our business online and cater to a whole different market. But knowing myself, I know that after we get rid of our office and have everything online, I wouldn't dedicate as much time to this business... not that I do now since I've a whole bunch of other responsibilities to fulfill.

On the day of my last post, I was shopping with mom and dad. We saw this little vacant retail store up for lease. I blurted out "maybe Dad should just rent a store instead of having the office so we don't have to spend as much energy advertising the oil portrait. At the same time, I can sell my wedding invitations and all that jazz." Dad right away says, "OKAY!" .... wait a minute... what? Okay? Wow, that was easy... and he was actually serious!

I wasted no time, within an hour, I booked an appointment with the landlord of the vacant store and the next day I was already negotiating with him. The week after, I made an official Offer to Lease, received a copy of the lease within half an hour, faxed it to my lawyer, he gave me the green lights, and now I'm ready to sign!

I can't believe this is actually happening! When I thought I'd have to wait for at least another 4 years, this is happening in less than 4 days!

You probably think there's something wrong with this picture... yes, what about our original concern of me not being here after I marry off in 8 months? What's going to happen to the store, who is going to look after it? Good questions, I don't know! I know, you must be laughing at me for jumping into this so soon without really giving it any thoughts. Somehow, I just have faith and trust that God will provide. If business goes well, then there'd be no problems hiring someone to look after the store for me. If business sucks, it would be obvious by the time I get married, then it'd be time to say bye bye.

You must be thinking I'm so spoiled I get the funds to take this risk. No... I'm not spoiled, I'm just very blessed =D HAHA!

Okay... maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up. I will only be signing the contract on Monday. So anything can happen between now and Monday! Fingers crossed...

Indeed...

2007-09-28T08:57:00.001-04:00

GOD IS GOOD!
AMEN!

Differences between Religion and Redemption

2007-09-23T01:12:00.000-04:00

Religion is like looking at your sons and daughter and say that here’s a list of things, if you do them, I will love you and I will be your dad, if you don’t do them, I won’t love you and I will not be your dad. But redemption is God saying to us “I love you, therefore, love me, obey me, my commands are good, I will protect you.” Redemption says God loves you, and because God loves you, you can obey Him because He will change your heart, mind and life. Roman says His kindness will lead you to repentance.

Religion also says that the world is filled with two kinds of people, good people and bad people. Redemption teaches that there are two kinds of people, repentant and unrepentant people. Redemption says there are bad people who repent and there are bad people who don’t repent, that’s the only difference.

Religious people care about your birth, did you grow up in a Christian family, did you go to a Christian school? Did you win the Bible quiz? Did you? Being born into a Christian family, having a mom and dad who loves Jesus and a grandma and grandpa who loves Jesus. That’s not a problem if you love Jesus. If not, there’s really no benefit at all because religious cares about your birth, but redemption cares about your new birth, that’s what redemption is all about. You need to get born again, spiritually born again. God needs to be your Father, the church needs to be your family, men and women who loves God need to be your brothers and sisters. You need a new life. Have you been born again?

Religion tells you it’s all about what you do, so do this and do that, but it’s not even in the Bible. Religious people love to make a long list of rules. Redemption says it’s not about what you do or what you don’t do, it’s about what Jesus has done, that’s what it’s all about. Jesus went to the cross and on there He said, it’s finished, it’s all done, there’s nothing else we need to do because He has done everything.

Religion never leads to joy, or humility. Religious only leads to pride, “I did it,” or despair, “I can’t.” It never leads to Jesus, it never needs to humility or joy. Jesus alone is humility, Jesus alone brings joy.

Men be a Boaz & Women be like Ruth

2007-09-21T09:15:00.000-04:00

I have been listening to a series of 1-hour+ sermons online from Mars Hill Church in Seattle. One of my favourite series of sermons by Pastor Mark Driscoll is the series on Ruth. So many things in my life right now keeps reminding me of this beautiful short story in the Bible. So I want to share with you things I learned from Ruth. One thing I especially love about Mark Driscoll's sermons is that he always brings his sermon back to Jesus in the end, every sermon should be about Jesus, that's what the scripture is all about.

Here are some of the many things that really stuck out to me..

** Bethlehem means "house of bread" where ironically famine spread throughout
** Elimelech means "God is my King" who ironically lived without faith.
** Naomi means "pleasant" or "sweet" who later on called herself "bitter"
** Malon means "sickness"
** Chilion means "failing" or "dying"
** Ruth means "companion" and was exactly what she was to Naomi in difficult times
** Boaz means "strength" which is fitting because he was able to "hold up" both Naomi and Ruth
** Obed means "worshiper/servant of God" who was the son of Boaz and ancestor of David

** Ruth professes her loyalty to God as one of the only 3 non-Hebrews to do so in the entire OT. The others are Rahab, the converted prostitute in Joshua 2:11 and Naaman in 2Kings 5:15-17. Perhaps Ruth had even more faith than Abraham when he also left his hometown. God never spoke to Ruth and she was a new Christian. Also knowing that as a Moabite woman going to Bethlehem, she would most likely face racism and constant danger, with only the help of and old, broke, lonely and bitter woman, Naomi.

** There are many functions of prayers, one of which is that many times, we fail to act to have those prayers answered. Boaz prayed for Ruth and Naomi as well as for other workers in the field. The prayers that Boaz said for Ruth, he acted to answer those prayers himself. Jesus did the same thing. Jesus prayed that sinner would be forgiven which He hung on the cross. Jesus died Himself to answer His own prayer. And He enabled forgiveness.

** You and I are Ruth, the pagans and sinners, we come to the Lord hungry and empty handed. Boaz is like our Lord Jesus. Boa pursed Ruth, Jesus pursed us. Boaz spoke to Ruth kindly, Jesus spoke to us kindly. Boaz went beyond the requirements of the law all the way to grace. Jesus went beyond the requirements of the law all the way to grace. And we found favour in the eyes of our Lord Jesus, our glorious Boaz. Boaz understood that he too came to the Lord empty handed and because everything he has belong to the Lord, he was very generous.

** Men, treat your friends like sisters, wives like princesses and daughters like gifts.

** Men, don't just look for a girl from a good Christian family, good Christian home who have never gone through much afflictions. If you're looking for that kind of woman, you will never find a woman like Ruth. Do look for a woman that if she had been through hardships, she had run to God and to His people (just like Ruth and Naomi did after their husbands died, they went back to Naomi's home land where there were Christian brothers and sisters there, unlike in Moab). That God had used the afflictions to make her into a woman of character, nobility, work ethic.

** Ladies, be like Ruth. We see in Ruth that she is hard working, she is loyal, she is devoted even to the one Christian friend she had, who was a bitter old woman, and she trusted God with deep faith.

** Naomi speaks of the kindness of God by using the word hesed which is an important theme throughout the book. It means "deal kindly." It summarizes all of God's attributes such as love, mercy, grace, kindness, patience, and faithfulness. The word rightly reveals the nature of God. Hesed is occasionally used to describe godly people who reflect and imitates the characters of God, such as Ruth and Boaz.

** The hero (Boaz) of this book is ultimately illustrated in the Hero of all of Scripture, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the glorious Boaz who came to His earth to look upon us with love and care for us though He had no obligation to do so. Jesus is our hesed, extended to us as a gift from God for our eternal life, much like the hesed that was given to Ruth. And like Boaz, Jesus is our great Redeemer who died to pay our debt of sin, thereby redeeming both us and, one day, the earth.

** Rather than taking advantage of Ruth, Boaz was humble, shocked and delighted that she loved him. Boaz was actually not legally obligated to marry Ruth (Another guy was legally and spiritually obligated and is the closest living male in the family to Naomi and Ruth to take care of them. A man in this position is called the redeemer - Leviticus 25). Boaz did not rush things, he wanted to make sure that he did things right in the eyes of the Lord. By not sexually sinning with Ruth or breaking the law, he shows a determination to remain in a place of holiness in faith that God would bless.

** The story of Ruth and Boaz is the greatest love stories in Scripture. It is an echo of the great love story of Scripture: this relationship is the picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ruth, like the church, which is the bride of Jesus, comes to Boaz as we come to Jesus and she asks "will you redeem me?" And who does all the work? Boaz does, who is a picture of Jesus. As Boaz is like Jesus, we are to be like Ruth, the church and the bride of Christ. More than the money Boaz spent, Jesus gave His own blood, He lives, dies and rises. He gives us Himself as a gift to redeem us to enter into a relationship with us. Why would He do this? He is not obligated, He doesn't owe us anything, that's grace, that's love, that's mercy. Jesus treats us like Boaz treats Ruth and Ruth trusts Boaz. She just sits there in faith that Boaz will redeem her in the same way that we did not participate in anyway in all of redemption. We simply acknowledged that it was Jesus, our glorious Boaz, who does all the work of redemption, we rest in that and we trust in that. We rest in the security that the God who is for us is always for us and that enables us to live lives of humility like Ruth, of boldness like Ruth, and occasional risk like Ruth, trust Him to work out the details because we love Him and we are not sinning and we are in a place where Jesus can bless us.

** There are three types of men in the book of Ruth. 1 - Elimelech who was a bold, courageous, confident man who had a plan and took risks, but he was a fool and it destroyed his family and it lead his family to death. 2 - Unnamed relative in chapter 4, he didn’t do anything wrong, but he just didn’t do anything. He was a guy who didn’t follow through on his responsibilities; he doesn’t take care of that which is his to look after. 3 - Then there’s Boaz, the guy who picked up the messed of these failed men. Are we Elimelech, the unnamed relative or Boaz?

** Boaz was in the state where he was able to redeem Ruth. What was he doing in his previous years? He had been building his business, making a living, he had been investing wisely and tithing generously and he had been conducting himself in a very responsible way, financially. Strategically invest your time. When you are a single man, you do not have the opportunity to extend adolescence until marriage. It is time for you to act like a man ‘cause marriage is for men, not for boys. If you get married, that does not make you a man, you become a man to prepare you for marriage. So that when the woman that God has prepared for you comes alone, you are able to get married, you are in the position to start a family. Otherwise, you are not ready to be a husband, you are not ready to do anything. The unnamed man missed the opportunity to have an amazing woman like Ruth, but Boaz was ready to marry her.

** If you're a Christian and you do business with a Christian, should you get a contract draw, meet with an attorney and write it all out? Yes. Too many Christians think that I love Jesus, he loves Jesus, it will be fine. No it won't be fine because the world is falling apart, things take longer, costs more, go bad, he said, she said, I thought you mean this, no you misunderstood, things go bad. So write it all down and have it legal and binding.

** Some women are drama queens, high maintenance, and they have learned that if they create a crisis, good men will come in and save them, and that’s wicked, that’s not what we’re talking about with Ruth. We are talking about a godly woman who was in a difficult circumstance and the right kind of man saw her character and absolutely adored her and wanted to assist her as her husband. Women who are drama queens, who create crisis hoping to attract a man like Boaz, need to repent.

** And if you’re a man who keeps tracing the most rebellious and unholy women thinking you’re like Boaz, you’re not, you’re being foolish like Elimelech. But if you’re a man who has the heart of Boaz and you meet a woman whose deep love for the Lord is like Ruth but her life is not easy and with love, if you can make it easier, than by all means, pursue her as your wife.

** We live in a nation that exists in the pursuit of happiness. How do you get happy? What are the keys to happiness? Seminars, books, pills, a lot of places are going to tell you you can get happiness. It’s simple. God made us male and female, God made us to be married, God made us to be children, God made us to worship Him. And when we do these things, we are happy because we are doing the things that God made us to do. That doesn’t mean that there’s no sin and difficulty, but because there’s the gospel of Jesus, even sin and difficulty and be overcome and there is joy and happiness.

** You want to have a good legacy. You want to put people and ideas like your children and the gospel into the future if you love God. The Bible calls us to think about our future and love others, not just ourselves. Patriarchy: a man should love God, be responsible, keep his hands to himself, marry a woman who loves God, honour her and her family, have children and raise the children, that the men would not divorce his wife, but would stay in love together, then they would see their grandchildren and great grandchildren who also love God. This is legacy. The future is in our hands.

** Boaz absolutely understands that when he made his publish pledge to Ruth, he said he will honour his deceased husband and deceased father because the family line is coming to an end. And Boaz said that through their children, there will be legacy, there will be joy for him in the presence, and there will be legacy for the family in the future. This is so important because ultimately Jesus comes from the genealogy of this family. You never know who your children will become.

Just Amazing...

2007-09-19T17:17:00.000-04:00

I can't believe any bride and groom would do this! This was taken out of the Houston Chronicle on Aug 17.

Dear Abby:

My husband and I received a wedding invitation from my nephew's son, whom we have never gotten to know very well. Included was a deposit slip to a bank savings account "in lieu of gifts"!

We later learned that everyone on the guest list received a deposit slip, even the grandmother. Is this proper?

PUZZLED in Colorado

Dear Puzzled:

Please waste no more time feeling offended. The family who issued the wedding invitation is obviously grossly ignorant about the basic rules of etiquette. According to Emily Post's Etiquette (17th edition), when issuing wedding invitations, "any mention of gifts or listing of gift registries is unacceptable."

I am sure you dealt with the solicitation you received as you would any other. Just be glad they didn't have your bank account number, or you would have found enclosed with your invitation a notice stating that your account had already been debited $125 to cover the cost of your dinner.

Congrats Haizhen & Peter!

2007-09-19T14:57:00.000-04:00

View full album.

Rebecca & Crosby

2007-09-19T10:02:00.000-04:00

Rebecca & Crosby, I'm super happy for you! You're finally married! YAY!

View full album.

More of My Birthday

2007-09-03T23:42:00.000-04:00

I'm guessing 95% of the time surprise parties never work out! Somehow people just can't keep a secret. Now you can imagine how gossip spreads so quickly even though only a couple of people are suppose to know about the "secret."

Gloria, thanks for organizing the "surprise" dinner for me on Saturday!

Friday lunch, my parents took me to a Lebanese restaurant. Can you believe they've never had Lebanese?!

Thanks Annie for the treat on Friday!

And fan-q kai goh goh for tonight's dinner!

Congrats Hong & Winnie !

2007-09-03T13:43:00.000-04:00

Thanks Hong and Winnie for letting me be part of your very special day! You guys are such a cute and fun couple! LP and I wish you all the best as you start a new family together. Have fun on your Honeymoon later on tonight!

View the full album.

Sigh... 25...

2007-08-31T10:26:00.000-04:00

I actually didn't remember that my birthday was today until a couple of days ago. I don't celebrate my birthday anymore. No more 50-people parties at my house. I just don't feel like those parties anymore, not even dinner out with too many friends at the same time. But I truly thank all of you for your Facebook messages, emails, text messages and local & long-d phone calls. I am truly blessed to have all of you as my friends !

I have a new toy! One of my fav birthday gifts was from LP. He bought me a Xyron Wishblade for me. It is one amazing machine, not to mention, it has one amazing price. This machine retails for USD$449.99! It connects to your computer that allows you to cut fonts and shapes/designs in any size from 1/2" to 8" wide and up to 39" long.

Can't find a video that shows in depth what this machine can do, but here's the introduce for how to set it up.

Here are the Features & Benefits:
• PC and Mac™ compatible*
• Cut any True Type Font (TTF)
• Create and Cut Welded Words
• Size letters and shapes from ½” - 8” in width and up to 39” in length
• Cut multiple words and/or shapes in various sizes on a single page
• Three interchangeable blade-caps make blade adjustments to cut virtually any paper quick and easy**
• Ability to cut adhesive-backed paper
• Print and Cut technology (Print images to a color printer and cut using the Wishblade)
*Windows® 2000, XP or Mac™OSX

**up to 80-pound cardstock

I can't wait to try out stuff with the Wishblade. It also adds to my Xyron collecion. I have another machine called the Xyron 900. As seen on the Martha Steward Show (not that I watch Martha Stewart or anything... ok well maybe I do, just an episode here and there that has things to do with arts & crafts or weddings), it creates stickers, magnets, labels and laminate out of many items. Simply feed the item (i.e. ribbons, other keepsakes) in, turn the handle and trim. The machine applies an even layer of adhesive to items up to 9" wide. Instantly laminates items up to 8.5" wide. You can change applications quickly with their easy load cartridges. If you don't like Martha Stewart (hey it's great because the audience at that Martha Stewart Show all received a free Xyron 900 that retails up to USD$119!), you can also watch a Xyron 900 in action here. Xyron has so many more machines and tools that are great for scrapbooking and arts and crafts. I want to collect them all!

Missing All of You!

2007-08-29T00:40:00.000-04:00

I came home from prayer meeting tonight, felt like being nosy... like always... Started checking out people's blogs again. I love blogs, an awesome way to keep each other updated on what's happening in our lives, especially those who aren't in the same city.

CALVIN & KAREN! Karen we saw each other almost everyday during the days leading up to your wedding haha! Can't wait to see you guys and the babies in March.
(At your wedding 2004)

The LEWIS family. Micaiah, I hadn't forgotten, it's your birthday this coming Sunday! I will see you at church!!
(Lewis' Farewell at MCAC 2007)

HERM SO... Remember our inside joke?? How's life with your SO?? I know you're in town, and you completely ignored me on Sunday because of your S.O... When ya leaving? We gotta catch up over lunch.
(Those 8-member-choir days... photo was taken in 2003)

(We go way back... remember this? This was in 2001)

MR. YUEN one of my best buds. Told ya, if you were a girl (or if you'd go in a dress), you would be one of my bridesmaids.
(New York was awesome 2007)

MISSY YUEN I shall see you in March and we will watch Heros together!
(Your Farewell at Juliette et Chocolate 2007)

JOE KAN I miss your voice! Hope you're having a blast traveling, I so envy you!
(Van & Joce's Wedding 2003)

PAUL FRANK I miss your ghetto apartment with the ghetto washroom door...
(The amazing wallpaper you made for me, thanks for making me look prettier!)

SAI LO JOE I miss our UNO nights, we hardly play UNO anymore.
(2005 New Year's Sleep Over, remember our chocolate fondue?!)

CONNIE I miss going to Dee's house early in the morning and seeing you still in your PJ's. I will see you next year in Malaysia!
(We hiked up Mont Royal on Canada Day in 2003 with Leo, Joe, Gloria, Dee)

I think the most time I spent was looking through Jasper's blog and photo album. YO MR. CHIK! Aren't you tired of us, me and Angel especially, always telling you we miss you? Your photos bring back so many good memories!

I never knew we were your "two favourite 'let's go on a quickie food run/trip to Toronto!' people." Well... I'm sure we're the only "let's go on a quickie food run to TO" girls! We were in TO last week and we were thinking of you! I even messaged you asking you to guess where we were but you completely ignored me. "I HATE YOU!"

(The following are copyright images from Jasper's online photo album...)

We did the 30 Hour Famine together TWICE

The time we went over to your place for laksa, it was amazing, made me miss Malaysia so much!

MCAC Soccer Tournament...

Went to the Biodome together on that annual "Museum Day" in 2003. I bet you don't remember!

Here's proof!

MCAC Summer Camp 2003. Although... I think I was too occupied with everything else to hang out with anyone at the camp.

Van and Joce's wedding.

The amazing surprise farewell dinner we had that made you CRY! Awww!

SISTA I read your "recent" post again, well it's "recent" because it's still on the first page of your Xanga even though it was written back in Feb. We're not apart yet... but it feels like I miss you already! And I just saw you like an hour ago... and will see you again in a few hours...
(Thanks for always being there)

Which One??

2007-08-28T12:06:00.000-04:00

As much little details as I want at our wedding, there's one big issue we haven't been able to decide on yet... THREE GOWNS! Which one should I wear on our wedding day?? It's so hard to decide because there's something I like for each gown and I obviously can't wear all three... Pastor Chan suggested that instead of changing into evening gowns throughout the evening at the banquet, I should change into different wedding gowns!

Gown #1 Whipped Cream - I believe none of the MCAC brides have ever worn what LP calls a "whipped cream" gown... all of the gowns previous MCAC brides wore all had straight and smooth bottoms.

Gown #2 Mermaid - Again, this is not a typical MCAC style at all and I really like the bottom part of this gown. You'll have to see the actual gown to appreciate the design/style.

Gown #3 Something Blue - Same goes for this gown I guess, rarely (if ever) do MCAC brides have colours on their gowns. I love the train of this gown, there's a beautiful beaded pattern on the train, on the top front and middle part going all the way down to the bottom. The blue will also go perfectly with the rest of our blue theme.

So difficult to decide! As you can tell, I like to be different and don't like to follow the "tradition" of MCAC gowns. Please help!

You can see more pictures of the gowns from our photo album.
And please take a second to vote on the top right hand side and feel free to make comments.

Thank you for helping!

299 Days Count Down!

2007-08-27T22:03:00.000-04:00

Yea... like 2 months of vacation was awesome! But I am super broke right now! I officially started work again today. Well... not like I have an official work schedule anyways. Love my job, love my boss (a.k.a Dad), and I love my work schedule. I was about to go on my FOURTH trip this summer with my family. Dad wanted to go to Quebec City for a couple of days, but then decided against it because we're all super busy and can't really afford to leave town again for another couple of days. Mom and Caleb just got back from HK on Saturday, and has to get Caleb ready for back-to-school on Thursday. Too bad, would have loved another trip, I'm always up for trips!

So... I just realized today that there are only 299 days left until our wedding! I can't believe how time fast time flew by this summer (my last summer being single!). When we first got engaged a year and two days ago, it seemed like June 2008 would take forever to come. But a year had already passed. I thought we still have a lot of time to plan our wedding, but now I don't think we do anymore!

Since LP will not be back until Christmas (for 2 weeks only) and next year, he will only be back like 10 days before our wedding. We wanted to do as much wedding stuff together as we can while he was here this summer. We planned to make our save-the-dates together, for those of you who don't know what those are, since people at MCAC never give them out, they're just to inform others of the wedding date so that they can reserve the date in case they planned to travel around your wedding date. Those were suppose to act also as an 'announcement' of our wedding because surprisingly, some people didn't know we were engaged until a month ago! We also wanted to get our gift registry done, take wedding photos, and make our invitation template. We didn't end up getting any of those tasks done except for our wedding photos. Well, we do have an idea of what we want our invitation to look like, but seems like there's still a lot more refining to be done to make it just the way we want it to be.

There's so much I want to do for our wedding. Well, I guess after this year's MCAC wedding season, I will get started on mine. I know how picky I am and how obsessed I am with the details, so I know I will have to start earlier and not leave everything 'till the last minute. I would not want to be like one of my US clients who ordered her wedding programs 6 days before her wedding! That is insane, if it was me I'd be panicking. At the beginning of this year, I already had my first wedding nightmare! I dreamt that everything was missing on my wedding day. I was standing inside the MCAC entrance where the welcome table usually goes and I was so depressed when I realized that none of the things I wanted to make got done! I was so happy when I finally woke up.