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Find rest, O my soul, in God alone

Happy 21 to me!

Thanks all for a wonderrrrful 21st Birthday!!! My phone and gmail were going off the hook with texts, calls, fb wall posts, and I was super humbled in all the ways people served and showed me love through helping me cook, taking me out, giving me gifts, writing cards, playing in Prospect Park, just spending the day with me :) I thank God for each and every one of you and for the friendships that He's given us.

Highlights:

Say hello to my brand-spanking new 5-quart, 325 watt KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer -- you guys really know the way to a baker's heart ;)



Prospect Park!! Thanks Mikey, Alison, and David for bearing with me running around like a headless chicken in the kitchen (kinda rhymes) and for cooking up a delicious feast. Thanks to everyone who made it allllllllll the way out to Brooklyn and got lost in the Park, for playing in the intense sun, and for mingling and chilling with me and with each other.




Birdland -- Thanks to Patty, Michelle, and Janet for sharing 50 years of Bossa Nova with me in this classy venue. Absolute best way to end my 21st, exactly 1 year after we all first met each other in Shanghai!

new house!!

Whooo new house :D Allow me to give you a brief tour...

I live in Diamond Bar, a southeastern suburb of LA whose residents are primarily wealthy Chinese families... some Koreans, too. As you enter through the metal gates, you drive up a few very steep hills and then you reach out house which sits at the end of a long circle. Voila, my house! 5-bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, 3 car garages ... that balcony is right outside of my room :)



Enter through the front doors, pass a fountain on the left...


...and you'll see our (now empty) living room. Our baby grand will probably go here, along with some couches and stuff. On the right is the dining room, then through that doorway is the ...


..living room with giant TV and not one-- but TWO kitchens. One regular (with TWO ovens) and one "chinese"-style kitchen (it's more like a small room with a powerful stove, huge vent, and sink, perfect for cooking greasy stuff).


Downstairs is also a bedroom+bathroom for my grandparents, and there's a door that opens up to the...


...backyard! Full with swingset, pavillion, and grill.


Upstairs we have a rec room (see below), 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a laundry room, closets, and place where we put the computer/fax machine.


My parents' bedroom is sick. Just look at their bed!


This is the rest of their bedroom that leads into the bathroom. There isn't a door that separates them, which I think is a bit strange...


Master bathroom windows to a GREAT view of the city, giant bathtub, two sinks, toilet (with its own room/door, thankfully), shower area with TWO showerheads, and the biggest walk-in closet I've ever seen. It's an L shape and the size of my bedroom at school.

Nighttime view! :D Behind the fence is the city of Diamond Bar.

Puffball

Oh my goodness. I don't think my hair has been this short since... ever. I opted to get my hair cut in LA instead of spending $40+ at Sei Tomoko in New York, and what I got was ... disastrous. Okay, maybe not that bad -- semi-salvageable, I suppose. For some reason, I think all Chinese/Taiwanese people like to cut LOTS of layers, and that's what happened. Layers just make the haircut look like a mullet!! I don't know why they think it looks good! Anyway, I asked my mom (who cut my+bro's hair growing up) to even out the layers so I look less fobby, and I guess in order to do that, my hair had to be cut to the length of where the layers first start. *sigh* If I concentrate hard enough, maybe I can unleash hidden powers to make my hair grow faster overnight like when Harry Potter did so in the first book... maybe? :(

*EDIT* picture....

iNecessary?

My current LG phone is a good 4 years old, and even though I've taken great care of it and it's served me well, it's at the end of its life... I need a new phone, and looking around the AT&T store, there really aren't too many great options. The LG Shine only holds 250 contacts (I'm at 243 right now...), and the other ones are 'meh'. I coveted Sara's Blackberry Pearl 2110 when I saw her typing away at it, but since the introduction of the new 3G, I've been slowly leaning towards conforming and getting an iPhone. I was meaning to get an iPod touch for my birthday anyway, but since the iPhone acts as an iPod as well, why not shoot two birds with one stone by getting an iPhone?

So, when I called my mom earlier today and asked her whether or not I would be allowed to get the iPhone, she challenged my arguments of "having the internet is so convenient! I need a new phone and was going to get a new mp3 player anyway. I can still be on the family plan..." and asked me simply "do you absolutely need it? Sure, having the internet at my fingertips, cool applications like a guitar tuner, unlimited text, a new sleek phone, and 8GB of music space would be really awesome... but surely I could deal with my shuffle and a newer but more modest phone... Even though it sounds like my mom doesn't want me to get it because the extra $30/month cost adds up, she'll let me if I truly believe I need it. I have a few days to think about it....

What should I do?!