P365: Day 22-41

hello friends!  my it's been a while since i last posted anything hasn't it!  well...it's been a busy past couple of weeks to say the least.  a quick recap of what's been going on:

my mom suffered a "mini-stroke" and was in the hospital for 5 days :(  doctor's ran all sorts of tests and fortunately all tests came back with good results.  seems that stress was the biggest factor in triggering the attack.  it broke my heart to see my mom in that condition. i'm so thankful to live close enough so that i could get to her side as quickly as possible.  anyhoo - she's do much better now and although her energy is still low, she's feeling 100 times better than that Friday.
the day my mom was discharged was also the day we had new guests arrive from opposite sides of the country to attend a house church seminar that was being held out Seoul Baptist Church / New Life Fellowship.  We had a young lady from southern California and another young lady from New Jersey.  both wonderful to meet and get to know over a period of about 5 days.

during that weekend, DH and I also managed to go see The Blind Side movie with Sandra Bullock.  LOVED.IT.  Seriously...I had to control myself b/c I just wanted to cry out loud so much.  Maybe I'd just had a very emotional past week or so...but this movie was SO GOOD.  if you haven't watched it.  GO NOW.

i also didn't get to work out for that entire last week of the month...but that's better than not working out the entire month, right?

last weekend we celebrated my niece's 100th day of life.  it's a Korean tradition known as "paegil" believe.  something about it being a signifucant milestone for Korean babies to make it to the 100th day of life.  her parentals held a lunch at Todai and we got to hang out with family and friends.

also, this past weekend was Nancy's bridal shower hosted by her friend Lola - who is an extremely sweet and kind friend of the bride to be.  it was a Sex and the City themed shower complete with Cosmopolitans, yummy food, and of couse all the girls looked fabulousl  one of the best things about the shower was being able to spend time with out of town girlfriends...Jane, Kai, and Diana - was soooo good to see them all!

i made two sets of cards this past weekend as well.  a set of thank you cards..and then a set of kid's birthday cards.  it was so nice to get back into my card making. it felt like it had been forever since i last scrapped.  i even had to pick up a few new tools and goodies to get me back into the swing of things.
my mom suffered a "mini-stroke" and was in the hospital for 5 days :(  doctor's ran all sorts of tests and fortunately all tests came back with good results.  seems that stress was the biggest factor in triggering the attack.  it broke my heart to see my mom in that condition. i'm so thankful to live close enough so that i could get to her side as quickly as possible.  anyhoo - she's do much better now and although her energy is still low, she's feeling 100 times better than that Friday.

P365: Day 22-Day 41

 

Day 22 = trip to costco during lunch

  

Day 23 - dinner with my niece and her parents :)  love her in the cute little Puma track suit we got her for Christmas

 

Day 24

 

Day 25 - fruit bowl in preparation of arrival our of house guests

 

Day 26 - the only pic captured of my mom's hospital stay..my parking stubs from visiting my momma

 

Day 27 - appetizers (water crackers topped with cream cheese, cucumbers, and smoked salmon) we made for a special dinner with our two guests and our house church members

 

Day 28 - arrived to find this on my desk at work :)  thanks, Chris!

 

Day 29 - the formally bare wall at our church that got a beautiful makeover with some specialized wallpaper...design courtesy of Chan Do :)

 

Day 30 - last day of the House Church Seminar.  This is a group shot of the attendees along with their hosting shepherds (i'm in the pink scarf, DH behind me and our two guests are to my right)

 

Day 31 - wow.  this first month of the year went by FAST

 

Day 32

 

Day 33 - my running shoes need to look a bit more worn in.  clearly i work out indoors.

 

Day 34 - a rice cooker.  no Asian home is complete without one.

 

Day 35 - a sweet surprise that DH brought home for me.  Cupcakes from Crave.

 

Day 36 - the new goodies i got to get me back into my card-making :)

 

Day 37 - cosmos from Nance's bridal shower

 

Day 38 - congrats to the Saints on their Superbowl XLIV...and this is what happens to Colt's fans in my workplace.

 

Day 39 - meeting A for the first time!  such a cutie!

 

Day 40 - flowers at my mom's house

 

Day 41 - hanging out with my mom and her friends for an early Lunar New Year celebration dinner.

Okay, i think i'm pretty up to date now...i'll post more pics from that past weekends event later!  TTFN!

P365 - Day 21

21/365 = cozy delight

this is a hand knit scarf that my brother's wife made and sent to me all the way from New Hampshire.  i called them to thank her for the scarf and my brother said she's made like 3 for everyone in their family. and that it only takes her a day to make one.  makes me want to pick up my knitting again.  i attempted knitting about 5 years ago and ended up making a 4"x4" square. lol

today was a really lovely day in houston.  temperatures in the 70's, sunny, and just gorgeous.  what a shame to have to be inside an office for most of the day.  except during lunch when one of my sweet co-workers took me out for a belated lunch :)

i did manage to make one card tonight.  i purchased a new black ink pad which really impressed me with it's non-smearingingness (yeah - i just made that word up).  it's made by Ranger and i hope it lasts awhile b/c it's a rather large ink pad:

this picture makes me want to invest in a good desk lamp.  my pics are just dark. (and i'm just not a big fan of using a flash when taking pics)

and here's the card i made using the stamps i got yesterday...and then i colored in the cupcake images with regular felt tip markers but i really am curious to try out the Copic markers.

okay - that's all for now...i'm super sleepy. what a surprise. not.  maybe it's the weather?  i dunno.  i  hope i get my energy back soon.

P365 - Day 14: Barganza!

14/365 = a BCBG dress I found at Marshall's today during lunch...

or maybe it's a long top - but in any case, i got it for only $10!!!  Barganza, I say!  here's a closer look at the cute bow on the top and the cuter $10 price tag :)

i LOVE a great deal.  so i'm thinking for winter (Houston winter anyways) - i'll pair this with some black leggings and a black cardigan....and for the summer with just a pair of cute sandals....yay!

okay - i didn't go work out today b/c 1) DH ordered sushi for dinner (yum!  and one can't leave sushi sitting out waiting while one tries to work out!) and 2) Grey's Anatomy season premiere was tonight and finally 3) I ended doing housework for about 2 1/2 hours instead for my work out.  cleaned all the floors, did 2 loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the garage enough so that i could put my car back in it, dusted everything, and switched out over a dozen hangers in my closet.  i happened to have also grabbed a package of skinny hangers like these (except mine are pink) for about $13. love them...may have to go back for more.

oh and i also caught bits and pieces of the new season of Project Runway in the midst of my cleaning madness.  hopefully this season will inspire me to finally open and use the sewing machine my mom got me for Christmas ;oP

and finally I did happen to quickly make two little cards whilst i was synchronizing my iPod (i downloaded that Genius tool on iTunes yesterday so I wanted to get that feature working on my li'l Classic)....and here are the cards that i made and used the stamps I purchased earlier this week.

 

simple and sweet.

Happy Friday folks!

P365 - Day 13

13/365 - where we had picked dinner up from tonight...one of my fav places:

i just realized i've taken a lot of pics at the end of the day for my P365.  i should try some day shots huh?  and today's picture was taking with me holding my camera while driving away - through my closed car door window. my skills amaze me - lol.

and believe it or not...i did make it to the gym again today.  so much for that 45 min work out...i think it got negated by my chicken burrito bowl. :P

also, today i made it to the office at 9:04AM.  i would've been on time or even a bit early if i didn't stop and fill up gas...but you gotta do what you gotta do.  in this case - avoid running out of gas.

which brings to mind the fact that DH and I are on the search for a new car for me.  since my dear Honda's transmission went kaput during Christmas week and my husband's recent realization of how much driving i do everyday...we decided it's probably a good time for us to get a new car.  so we've narrowed it down to two cars, i think.  the 2010 Honda CR-V or the 2010 Chevy Equinox. 

 

i actually test drove the CR-V a couple of weeks ago and quite rather liked all the new features.  well, new to me anyways.  i was flipping the back seats all over the place, pushing every button i could find, looking in every nook and cranny.  and enjoying that new car scent.  it was so fun :) 

we were supposed to go and test drive an Equinox last weekend, but never really got around to it.  i did find out today though, who at the office had just gotten a new Equinox (i had spotted it in our parking lot just after the new year).  anyhoo - the gal at the office that owns the Equinox shared with me just how much she loved her new vehicle - even offered to let me drive hers to try it out. (sweet girl).  we peeked into her car after lunch today and it really is quite nice inside.  so now i'm even more excited about going to test drive it :) 

we're really not in any rush to get a new car just yet...since my '99 Honda Accord has just had the transmission fixed and i'm able to get from home to work and back...so we will likely be taking out time on this year's major purchase for the Parks.  that's okay by me.  i haven't had a car note in 4 years...so i'm not in any hurry to get a new one now.

i really like the Honda...mainly b/c i've owned a Honda for the last 10 years.  but then i really like that you get more bang for your buck with the Chevy.  and i drove a Chevy for 5 years before i got my Accord so I like Chevy too.  plus it's the "heartbeat of America" :) 

what are you thoughts between these two car choices?

P365 - Day 12: YAY - I DID IT!

12/365=that's right people - I made it to the gym today!

yep!  i made it to the gym today. spent 30 mins on the bike (as pictured above)...then 15 mins on the elliptical.  then i drove home and walked off the last 5 minutes by walking down to the end of our street to check the mail.  i felt a wee bit stiff...but that's probably b/c i have used my leg muscles in MONTHS!  hopefully i won't be in too much pain tomorrow - lol!

and you may have noticed that I got my Shuttercal account back up and running thanks to FIREFOX!  how come no one ever told me about that before.  why does my web surfing seem so much FASTER?!

oh and another success for today - i made it to the office this morning by 9AM!  Right on the dot folks!  i was at my desk and i even had time to stop by Starbucks this morning....woohoo!

all in all a good day...yay me! ;o)

P365 - Day 11

11/365 = new mags in the mail

I have about 4 issues of InStyle i need to catch up on.  i don't know why i resubscribe to that one sometimes b/c i almost feel like i never have time to read them....then again... i am supposed to start working out again starting this week (hopefully) so maybe i can catch up on them in the gym.

I also got a new stamp set today, which I hope I'll get a chance to make some new cards this week...

cute huh?  it's the Whimsical Birds clear stamp set from TPC Studio.  stamps are 40% off this week at Hobby Lobby and I couldn't resist treating myself :)

tonight, DH and I started a 13-week bible study at our church called Transforming Life Bible Study.  The bible study itself I think was created by Pastor Chai and it incorporates Richard J Foster's book Celebration of Discipline.

at first i wasn't too keen on the idea of taking it right now.  we meet every monday for the next 13 weeks...i was thinking this just wasn't the best time of the year since work is sooooo busy.   but DH was really encouraging and said that he would help me to not get too stressed about it and that we would be blessed by our desire to grow together in our spiritual life.  so i decided last night that i would joyfully take this class.   and i'm glad i did...

because after tonight's first class...i'm actually really excited about it! it's a small class but i feel like everyone is already so willing to be transparent and real. plus i think we have some pretty blunt and straight forward folks that will definitely help us to challenge one another to focus on our "spiritual assignment".

what is a spiritual assignment, you may wonder?  It's "one bad habit or pattern in your life that you would like to chagen because it is repeatedly hindering you from growing spiritually" and it "could be changing of your character, life pattern or a bad habit."  it has to be something with a measurable goal.

my spiritual assignment is that i wanted to take better care of my health and body by working out 3 times a week for 45 mins.  how is that spiritual?  well, according to His word in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." 

ahhh....i've have been bad to my body.  i have not treated it well.  and i think that has really hindered my spiritual growth.  i pray that i can really tackle my spiritual assignment.  with the Holy Spirit on my side, how can I not succeed? :)

another plus to the class...we were all assigned a prayer partner and mine is someone that i'm not close to but would really get to know better. God truly is good - i love how His plans are always the best  for us.

okay - my goal of getting to work by 9am hasn't panned out too well so far this year.  i need to go to bed so i can wake up at a decent time tomorrow morning!  g'nite!

P365 - Day 9 & 10

Hi, all!  Well, I'm sad to report that I still cannot get my Shuttercal account to work :(  So I think I'll likely be posting my P365 on here going forward.

9/365 = Dennis' bday dinner at Churrasco's

Dinner was really nice and it's always fun to celebrate a friend's bday :) 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10/365 = bday gift from Huong...a new scrapbooking tool to add to my collection ;o)

Apparently this is Huongie's new favorite tool.  The Martha Stewart Screw Punch.  Allows you to EASILY punch 3 different sized holes ANYWHERE on the project you're working on.  The yellow card in the background is a sample that Huong made to show me (in the upper right side...that's supposed to be a banner design...the other random holes are from what I did when I first tried it out).  It's really easy to use so i'm going to have to find some fun things to make with this nifty new tool.  thanks, Huongie!

today was a pretty full day and i'm pooped now.  but i didn't want to all too behind in my blogging and P365 pics.  okay - hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

P365 - Day 8

8/365= mmm...cookies

These were cookies that were leftover from HC on Friday evening.  It was our first time having a JCS program for the kiddos and it went well.  :)

It's beautiful outside today...but it's very very chilly.  I think that may be my P365/Day 9 post.  That or the picture of Dennis' bday dinner later today.  Haven't decided just yet.

I've cleaned house a bit today, did some laundry, caught a couple of episodes of True Blook from Season 1.  Now I'm back on my scraproom and am going to attempt to get some scrapping done today.  hopefully a card or 2 or 10 :)

Shoe lusting lately...so I've been wanting a pair of tall black Ugg-like shoes.

I wanted the actually Uggs - but DH absolutely refuses to get those for me b/c he just can't justify $180 for some boots that I'll only wear occasionally (so he thinks). Of course these are boots that I wouldn't buy myself either.  But would've gladly accepted if they were given to me as a gift.  heeheehee...

 I guess my dreams of a pair of Manolo Blahnik black class pumps for $575 is out of the question too...

...unless we hit the lottery. LOL  :-P

Anyhoo - i'm really just in the market for some flat black cold weather boots.  i've have a pair of sand colored short Emu boots that I got at my girlfriend's annual Christmas exchange a few years ago  from Evonne (here's that pic from our 2004 Christmas exchange)

must be this crazy colder than usual weather that has me scouring the net for a decent deal on some black sheepskin boots.  oh well. enough of that.

okay folks - hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

P365 - Day 7

7/365 = my bday :)

so my shuttercal account is still not working :(  but here's my Day 7 pic above...me and DH at Chuy's where we had my bday dinner.

actually my whole day was just a fabulous day!  i am so blessed by the friends that i have...everyone really made my bday special.  from all the emails, text messages, voicemails, FB messages, coming to work and finding my cube decorated, fun and beautiful bday cards (some of which i had even made), so many sweet and thoughtful treats...such as my morning Starbucks from my friend Andra, to my after lunch Godiva chocolixir (pics below), red velvet cake in the breakroom at work complete with New Moon plates and napkins (heeheehee), then after all that I left work to meet DH and some friends at my fav Tex-Mex restaurant - Chuy's.  Where I proceeded to order my usual...Chuychanga with queso and my own side of creamy jalepeno dip (pic below).  I got to spend time with my dear friends and my DH and we had another red velvet cake for after dinner dessert.  i'm clearly an easy to please kind of gal.

so now i'm writing my thank you cards and watching one of my fav movies that i borrowed from my friend Vanessa (who i took a pic with whilst laying my head on her very preggers belly :oP )

And here (courtesy of Picasa) is a photo collage of today's festivities :D

Happy Bday to me! :)

early birthday dinner

today after church and lunch at KoMart with friends, DH and I headed over to my parental-in-laws and had an early birthday dinner for me :)  MIL made LOTS of Korean food...dduk mandoo gook (dumpling and rice cake soup), pork short ribs, chap chae (stir fried glassy noodles with vegetables - aka my favorite korean dish), korean seafood pancake...I'm stuffed now.   I would've take more pictures of the food...but I was so busy eating after the first dish came out...that I didn't get any other food pics.  Here's the soup dish that we started with though :)

so yummy and warm on a very cold evening down here

and for dessert my most wonderful SIL and her hubby brought cupcakes from Crave...

They got the red velvet cupcake for me and it was YUMMY ;)

The in-laws also got a yummy cake that was very light and perfect.  A great balance to the very rich cupcake.

and here I am blowing out my birthday candle - kudos to DH for not getting too blurry of a photo :)

this was also my P365 POTD for Day 3

After dinner I took a pic of our new niece with her grandpa and grandma - so sweet!

and finally a pic with Baby M and her uncle

then we came home and i undecorated the tree and packed everything away.  now i'm just hoping the DH manages to get the tree outside for the tree pick up before it's too late.  did i mention our tree was BROWN by the time we got it out of the house last year.  sheesh...it must've been february before we took out tree down last year. lol.

back to work on Monday and I'm kind of looking forward to it.  i miss my co-worker buddies :)  hopefully i will manage to come home from at at decent hour tomorrow and then make it to the gym for a quick workout.  crazy as it sounds, i actually dropped a few pounds during my vacation time off.  i think it's more b/c i wasn't eating out for lunch every day with my co-worker buddies. :oP

anyhoo - hope you all had a lovely weekend!  ttfn!