SF Trip!

Headed up for a day of biking with Hansen, Kiran, and a ton of Harker people! It was an absolutely gorgeous day - not as windy as normal in the city, and about 15 degrees warmer.

Grabbed lunch at La Boulange, where we discovered how hard it is to get a picture of a large group of people in which everyone looks good (or is even paying attention haha).

Proceeded to bike around a LOT. Went along the Wharf for a bit, up Fort Mason to Crissy Fields... Admired the Golden Gate Bridge then biked along it. The bridge itself was rather windy and a bit chilly, but again, probably not even near how cold it would have been on a typical day.

Hansen took *tons* of pictures haha. Great guy to steal pictures from. =] But it was absolutely gorgeous. Just looking at the bay waters, the mountains, the clear blue sky and breathing in the fresh air (or gusts of wind haha)... It's stunning.

Headed back, grabbed some delicious gelato (green tea and strawberry honey lavender for me!), then dinner at Boudin. Hansen, Kiran, and Amanda ended up having to run off to catch Caltrain. Finished dinner with Evan, Peter, and Richard, then biked back to Embarcadero to head back to San Bruno and pack up to go home (where I am right now!).

Definitely darkened a few shades today. Biking for that long in the hilly city was definitely tiring, but totally worth it. I had a wonderful time.

There are quite literally too many great pictures from today (courtesy of Hansen!) for me to even try to upload a representative number haha. I'll post a couple, but go check Facebook for the full glory of Hansen's photography!

Headed off to grab lunch with Lisa, Gunjan, and Karishma tomorrow, then bringing Christie and her family to GrX and grabbing dinner afterwards! At least, that's the plan as of now. =]

***

Sidenote: It was also Pride Parade today (and tomorrow for that matter), and seeing all of these flamboyantly dressed people on BART was quite an experience. It was sort of, dare I say beautiful? in it's own way, but just gave me a lot to think about...

Summer Shutdown!

A week off! Time for some rest and reflection. =]

I will strive so that the only fear which rules me is that of the Lord.

Books

Bought myself a little something today. =]

I've always loved books. They've always been a source of escape and comfort, an outlet for imagination. I just love curling up with a good book and a blanket, a cup of tea... It's absolutely wonderful.

I was never one to buy books - I generally checked them out from the library, since I read pretty voraciously. I really do want to start a small library though. I have enough books to give myself a little reading corner in my house in the future, and that would be absolutely wonderful. Just a comfy chair by a window, with a full bookshelf.

Heavenly Father

Thank you for all that You've done in me. It's astonishing to think that just six months ago, I was lost and struck down by this world, helpless and hopeless. And in these six months, You have helped me grow so much. You have changed me in so many ways and challenged me in ways I would never have imagined. You have shown me Your love and Your grace. You have filled my life with wonder and joy.

Lord, thank you for Your mercy. Thank you for fellow brothers and sisters who have embraced me and pushed me in my journey. Thank you for working through me to help me towards who You made me to be. Lord, I am so inspired, so struck with awe, that others find inspiration in me, and I know that it has nothing to do with me, but all to do with You and Your work.

Thank you for never giving up on me God. For being faithful when I stray, for always pulling me back towards You and the Truth. I know I have sinned immensely, I have often grown complacent in my pursuit and gone through the motions. But Lord, I know that You are always with me, and that brings me joy and passion. And I pray that I never again lessen my pursuit for holiness Lord, and that I will always honor You with my thoughts and deeds. I pray that my life will be testimony towards Your greatness and Your love.

Heavenly Father, thank you. Thank you for opening my eyes. Thank you for giving me life.

A World Away

Absolutely exhausted today. Guess it's my own fault for staying up until like 3am, but I would do it again. Matt flew off to China this morning (he's actually probably still on the plane), so we had a last Skype session for a couple of months.

But yeah, resulted in me being rather unmotivated at work, though we still got a fair amount done. Pretty much worked on the paracyclophane synthesis and figured out why our CB[7] experiments were so messed up (!).

Taught Alan and Josh how to use Snapchat during lunch. Best. Idea. Ever.

Got my package from Matt. Tons of letters (most of which I have yet to read), a tenth avenue north album, a skirt/dress (technically skirt, but I'm short xP), and a special album of songs his whole family contributed towards. The last is definitely my favorite. It's beautiful.

Have a wonderful journey Matthew. I love you.

Chez Papa

I would just like to say that I had an amazing lunch today, and that is all.

Rest and Reflection

Today was... amazing. I was (and honestly still am) rather bummed that I wasn't able to go to the Radio Alice concert (Ed Sheeran and Sara Bareilles!!!) but in the end, I think it was worth it. Had an amazing time today, and while the concert would have been amazing, it started raining by the end of it as well.

Woke up in the morning, ate food, talked with my mom and aunt. That was really about it haha. Caught a BART back to San Bruno.

Rode with Daniel and Char to GrX and then worship practice. =] I really shouldn't have been so worried; Daniel wasn't kidding when he said he'd make it simple for me. Just chords (the note and the fifth mainly), and most of the songs were in E. It was tons of fun though, and definitely different. But the fact that the chords were simple made it easier for me to concentrate less on making sure I didn't mess up and more on actual worshiping.

Pastor Sean is in Michigan with his family, so Tim and Carol from YWAM SF came to preach today, and centered their sermon around four questions:
1) What is the Lord trying to teach me?
2) What changes does He want me to make?
3) What obstacles do I need to overcome?
4) What sin is in my life?
It was pretty thought-provoking and they had quite a few good quotes. I think I do prefer Pastor Sean a bit more, but it was wonderful nevertheless.

Got to Skype with Matt again! I've missed him terribly. He's off to China in two days (!) so I suppose I just need to make the most of these few days during which we'll have constant contact. I'll always be praying for you love. =]

Back to work tomorrow! Let's get this CB[7] to work...

Temporary simple blog theme for now. Something went funky with my standard one, so I suppose I'll need to replace it later...

The Usual

Had worship practice this morning. Which basically entailed Daniel and Gary working out chords, Stasia singing, and me sitting there overwhelmed at what I just got myself into. Thankfully I'm actually just doing synth now, which shouldn't be too hard, considering it's just chords and 4/5 of the songs are in E major. And the 5th is in D. Oh well, we'll see.

Helped a guy get around on BART! Came to visit his aunt from India and just flew in this morning haha.

Grabbed lunch with Jess at a Thai place in Ulfert Center, picked up a few egg tarts (omnomnom). If not much else, my sis and I definitely share a love for good food. Also had her chop off some of my hair. She might have cut it a bit too short for my liking (and a bit too straight haha) but ah well, it'll be long again by summer's end...

Sam's being blocked by Michael. Woops.

Chilled at Tommy's with the crew, just like old times. =] And of course, what else but Publish or Perish? I'm so amazingly blessed to have been able to share my high school experience with these amazing people, and even more so to be able to keep in touch and get together throughout college (and beyond!). They're sincerely such wonderful people.

Every day I go through life absolutely blessed that God has put such amazing people in it.

Dead Raccoons

Those things are super freaky. Rode my bike past one and when I realized what it was and saw the face, I nearly crashed. Also proceeded to shudder and have a mental freakout all the way to my destination.

And how blessed am I that He always has the best plan for me?

Lack of Posts

Sorry for the lack of (lengthy) posts recently! I've been absolutely exhausted; not completely sure why, but I'm ready to sleep by 10pm. Totally going to bed soon...

Plus not too much super exciting has happened. Josh and I have been essentially taking a break from my project and performing some penny alchemy haha. Yeah... Have I mentioned how blessed I am to have such an awesome manager?

Anyways, we'll see how blog updates proceed from here. Might become more numerous, might not. Hope all of you are doing well! I'm chugging along, slowly but surely. =]

Someone needs to transform me into a decent singer in the next 3 days.