The Year was 2007, ahem, it is now 08

How much do I love?

2008-03-08T11:29:00.000-08:00

How much do I love the hot dogs in downtown LA?

Weekend in the snow

2008-03-05T21:43:00.003-08:00

So much snow this past weekend in Mammoth, here are some photo highlights:

Convict Lake, home to Liz's new boyfriend

Snow 20!

Angela and I under the Wooly Mammoth

Our mini snow man: Donna, me, Kirsten

The girls: Dani, Jill, Sarah, Kirsten, Donna, Liz, me and Angela

Angela and I on our romantic Gondola ride

Gondola ride up was so pretty, we could see for miles but the way down was so scary. It made us wonder how anyone can ski that going straight down?!

On top of Mammoth Mountain, 30 degrees, 20 milewinds, 11.053 feet. Very, very cold and windy but an amazing view!

Liz and Julianne working on our puzzle, which I believe we never quite finished but a great pastime in the cabin.

The year 2007 has long gone home, it is now 08

2008-02-24T18:01:00.000-08:00

Great in 08 is my new motto (okay lame, I know) but it is going to be one great year. This year Huy and I get married, we take our first international trip together (alone) to Thailand and Veitnam, a new home and a husband!
Okay, so I mentioned the marriage thing twice, but hey, I am excited!
This weekend I got a chance to go check out the wedding site and do some final paperwork. It was great to back to see the site again especially in daylight and get pumped! The site looked better than I remember and it was still slightly decorated from a wedding the night before, so the festivity was hanging in the air with the misty fog. This is a picture of the tree that Huy and I say "I do" under.

I made Beth play the part of the bride and stand under the tree for a few pictures, while directing her position I found some leftover rose petals from the night before and Beth couldn't resist in tossing a few in air. Okay, so I made her do that too, but I know she secretly enjoyed it, look at her smile!

After a muddy walk over to the reception tent, we made a new friend. I named him Ben and I wanted to take him home, but it seems that he belonged to someone else. He made the reception site that much more charming, we are so inviting him to the wedding!

Seeing the inside of the tent made this dream of getting married seem like a reality. It looked beautiful. Mind you I have an active imagination, so what you can't see in the picture, I made up to be the most amazing room with candle light, paper lanterns and lots of rannaculus flowers.

To end of the day, Beth and I went to lunch at Wood Ranch BBQ joint, it was one of Huy's favorite restaurants while he was in college at Pepperdine in Malibu. Well, to honor Huy's non-presence at the wedding planning day (because he is off in Germany gallivanting with the boys) we had a scrumptious lunch with out him full of tri tip and mashed potatoes!

Wedding planning has had it's moments, it has been fun, somewhat stressful when trying to make decisions but really it has been fun to dream about the wedding with Huy. Looking at the site only increases my excitement and makes me forget about all the little details left to be done.

Julian Camping Experience, take two

2008-01-30T18:59:00.000-08:00

We went camping again this past January in Julian, this time with a few friends. It was a fun weekend of camping out in the freezing cold, fishing, apple pie, home cooked meals over the campfire and some good natured man Olympics--throwing large sticks. Here is the trip in review:

Dani and I relaxing by the lake while the boys fished, not much bitting that day, we all agreed, frozen mackerel is not the best bait choice.

Huy fishing on the cold but sunny Saturday morning.

Dani bundling up! It so cold at night that with my $9.99 special from Big 5 sleeping bag I almost froze to death the first night. Huy is such a gentleman, he took my bag and gave me his zero degree mummy bag. With the boiling hot water in the Nalgene bottle and Huy's bag, the second night was almost warm!

Eating yummy apple pie at the Julian Pie Company, unanimously voted the best place in town to get pie!

A brief tribute to Adam and his man sized appetite:

Adam throwing stick: Video 1
Kenny throwing stick: Video 2
Huy throwing stick: Video 3

H2DO

2007-06-30T18:20:00.000-07:00

We got engaged!!

June 30th, 2007

The day started off early in the morning with a breakfast date at Plums with Huy. After we ate, Huy planned on showing something he made for me where we "needed space". Knowing Huy, I thought he had made a kite for me and we needed the space that only the beach could provide. Which is what I thought when he brought me to Newport Beach near 60th st.

The actual gift was a DVD slide show that he had made of our pictures from the past year of us dating, it was our story set to our favorite music. Each picture brought back a memory of good times on road trips, silly times making our own corny music videos and happy times of holidays with family.

After watching the slide show on Huy's laptop, he pulled out a Bible from his backpack and wanted to read a passage to me. Huy read from John 13 on the night of the Last Supper when Jesus washed the disciples feet. After reading it, Huy asked if he could wash my feet as a symbol and comittment of him serving me in our relationship. Huy pulled out a little plastic lunch box, the kind you take to work, and poured water into the makeshift basin. As he washed my feet, Huy affirmed me in the intentionality we have made in creating a wonderful, loving and serving relationship. And also in the area of ministry with my small group, encouraging other women to develop and grow their walk in Jesus.

Once Huy made that great posture of his heart towards me, he pulled out the Bible again and told me he had another gift for me. As he opened the Bible, he began to rise to one knee and pulled out the ribbon bookmark that had a beautiful diamond ring tied to it. He then asked me to marry him!

At that point I just lost it. I started crying and asking lame questions like "do my parents know?" and "are there other people here that know, don't we need witnesses?!" Huy patiently explained that he had been planning this day for over the past two months. He had secretly met with my parents to ask for my hand, drove all the way to Bakersfield for that one! Had recruited multiple friends to help him pick the perfect ring for me. Which he did an amazing job at, I love, love the ring he chose to symbolize his love and commitment for me!

Huy gave me the Bible that he had read from, it was a gift to me with my new name engraved on it. Next, he gave another little book that had the whole day outlined for me. First I was off to the spa for a whole body massage, next my good friend Luisa picked me up and Huy had paid for mani's and pedi's together! Then, even after that, Luisa took me dress shopping for a new dress for that evening, Huy even included a little cash in the book for me to buy the dress! He thought of everything.

The last part of the book was what we were to do that evening. Huy picked me up at my house, after I got ready and we headed to Hollywood. Where Huy took me to dinner at a new restraunt called The Geisha House. I had to pull the engaged card there because our hostess wanted to seat us at a table next another couple. Being as our special night, I requesting a "private table" and the lovely hostess gave us the entire upstairs to ourselves!

The meal was great and we toasted to sake wine, named the "Happy Bride". We moved a little further down Hollywood Blvd to the Pantages Theater where we got to see the musical "Wicked" and from amazing seats in the seventh row. The show was great and it was wonderful to get all dressed up to go to dinner and the theater!

To end the evening, Huy took me to our favorite park bench in Corona Del mar, overlooking the ocean, where we had first held hands and proposed to me again under the moonlight. I was a little shocked the first time, so I made Huy do it again in the original place he intended to propose. He was champ and did the whole thing again. I loved how we started the day and ended the day with a wonderful moment.

With the moon shining over us, we know we had spent a day that neither of us will forget. Filled with tears, laughter, nervousness, excitement and joy, we made the biggest step in our lives so far. I couldn't be happier....to have shared it with anyone other than Huy Do.

New Job

2007-05-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

I got a new job this month. I am really excited to finally leave Guess after 4 1/2 years and finally join the Anthropolgie team. I had interviewed for over 6 months and finally was offered the store at the Irvine Spectrum mall as a Visual Manager.

Check out the website at http://www.anthropologie.com for what the store looks like!

I start in June!

Day Hike

2007-04-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday the 14th.

A really cheap date.

It seems like every time Saturday the 14th rolls around we are on some adventure. Last time that particular day rolled around last October we were in Lake Mojave renting a patio boat to surprise our Fuel friends on a Mariners Houseboat trip. Today we spent the day on our least expensive dates, for only $5 we went for a day hike.

We drove out to Trabuco Canyon in the hills, my favorite hiking area in all of OC. We took the side road for only off road vehicles to get to the hiking trail. After bumping around for about 20 minutes we ended up at the trail head. We hiked up the hill for about 4o min till we got to one of the only water falls in all of Orange County, Holy Jim Falls. One of my favorite days because it was just Huy, me and the camera enjoying the afternoon sun.

Chicago

2007-03-04T14:27:00.000-08:00

Huy and I were invited to a wedding in Chicago in March of this year, it was one my first friends I had made in Orange County in the old days of the Green Room at Mariners Church. We decided to make a whole weekend of it by inviting our friends Cody from Orange County and his girlfriend Carmen from Pittsburgh.

Our flight out Friday night was delayed 5 hours, the weather in Chicago was pretty bad, over 500 flights were canceled going into O'Hare. We finally got in at about 4am, facing 14 degree icy snow, that pummeled our faces as we waited for the rental tram, decidedly woke us up enough to make it to our hotel by 6am.
We stayed at the Hilton downtown, well actually we napped there for about 4 hours before heading out to enjoy the day with Cody and Carmen.

We spent afternoon eating famous Chicago style pizza and shopping. While we were walking the 26 degree town, with random intervals of snow and wind, Huy got a call from his dad and brother that Lance, his nephew, got in a near fatal car accident the night before; so Huy mentioned it to me and I agreed that it was worth the 2 hour drive to go see him in the ICU, after the wedding that night.

The wedding was beautiful in the small town of Joliet at the train station. It was good to enjoy
the company of friends and see Bryan get married. After the ceremony we headed out to the Silvis/Moline area and got there around midnight. Lance, was awake for about 10 min and we got to see him, he looked better that what was described on the phone. I am sure it was encouraging for Lance to see his Uncle Huy and know that he is cared for.

Once getting back to our napping ground we slept for a few more hours before crossing the Indiana border to see my old friends from high school, Stancie and Adam. They took us to an organic breakfast place along side Lake Michigan in Michigan that was scrumptious and we took the morning to catch up on our lives since the Wilson's had moved to the Mid West.

In total of that weekend, we saw 7 old friends, 2 members of Huy's extended family, got 8 hours

of sleep and were in 5 states and had a shared an amazing weekend of God's protection and provision and humor.

Welcome to the New Year

2007-01-29T19:52:00.000-08:00

As I look over the past year, I see how many times I was blessed in 2006. After a rough year in 2005, with my best friend moving back to San Francisco, I was looking for a new place to live and a new roommate and adjusting to being fully invested into my Orange County existence. I had no more comfort zone, no place to call home other than here in Costa Mesa. I was ready for 2006 to hit and to be "all in" for what God had for me.

That year took me to many heights and blessings. First, I met my new best friend, Huy Do. One sunny, crisp morning at church in Irvine at Mariner's, I introduced myself with a high-five and an exclamation of "China!" to this lucky man. The back story is that a mutual friend of ours had insisted that I must know Huy if I had gone to China on a missions trip. This friend questioned me for months in the spring and summer of 2005, claiming that Huy was "The China Missions Guy". But I never met him, not one China trip meeting or function. But after a flyer was passed around Mariner's with Huy's picture on it, that our mutual friend showed me, I finally could put a face to a name. But I still had not met him. Early March of 2006, I finally met this "China Missions Guy". On the patio during Global Outreach Weekend, I met my new best friend and the best man in my life. I turned to him, with my photographic memory and lack of coherent sentences, shout "China!" and gave him a high-five. Thus our relationship started on that day and has been the biggest blessing of my life. God was clearly telling me, for my obedience to him in the rough year of 2005, He was blessing me with a new and very special person in my life. For clinging to my Father during the hard months of losing my best friend to the City, I gained a new friend that has shown me what true love is. Full of grace and mercy, Huy has shown me that the impossible is possible when you dream big and with your feet planted and your heart open.

Not more than a few weeks later I was asked to join a leadership team at church that transformed me spiritually in my walk with Christ like no other time in my life. My pastor, who ironically was the one who detained me at the patio that day I met Huy, asked me to sign up for a 18 month commitment to help lead in our 20's ministry called Fuel. This ministry, group of friends, has been the one driving force for me to call Orange County home. I moved to the OC in late 2002 after graduating from SFSU and suburbia scared me. Strip malls, parking lots, large brightly lit streets and no noise, I feared Orange County and my decision to move here. It took the Green Room/Fuel community to show me that there is so much for me to enjoy here. That community took me in, I had great friends that loved me for who I was and didn't care if they went bowling on a Friday night instead of heading for the bars. Bryan, Ross, Jeff, Kim, April, Josh, Amy, Tomas, Grace, Brenton and so many more came along side me and gave the gift of a fun friendship without anything in return. They would repeatedly call me, text me, invite me, anything to get me out of my own head and just enjoy life again. Game nights and kayak trips were our "big weekend plans", add in all the times we would laugh till we cried and I was set, I had a group of friends that I could share life with.
So when, Justin asked me to join in leading this community, I said yes. I had no idea what a leader was to do, sound like or look like, but I signed up anyway. I am glad I signed up before I knew. Since April of 2006 I have not stopped seeing the amazing life changes that God has been in the lives of the "Fuel-ers". To be a apart of this, something that is so much bigger than me or Fuel or Mariner's, is the second biggest blessing of 2006. My walk has grown so much deeper, I see God in an entirely new way, God is tangible to me now more than ever. This crowd of Fuel-ers is out to change Orange County, whenever we go anywhere we take the place over, people wonder, "who are all those kids that are having so much fun?"

A dream realized was the first 17 days of September 2006. I finally had the chance to travel to Europe for over 2 weeks with my best friend. That whole trip seemed like a foggy dream. Seeing Paris for the first time, my heart was full. The Eiffel tower under a full moon was too much for me to handle. I had been dreaming of traveling to Europe for as long as I can remember and even to this day it seems like it didn't happen. Kimberly and I had a whirlwind tour of London, Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome in a very short time. The hardest part was that we didn't get any actual rest. We wanted to absorb everything that we had harsh reminders to slow down, that forced us to find anything American just feel familiar. So we ended up at Hard Rock Cafe... twice! That was something we never thought we would do it was too American Touristy of us. But we did have our "when in Rome..." moments, from eating gelato to shopping at Harvey Nichols to lounging in Paris at Jardin des Tulieres for a entire Sunday afternoon. We experienced many walks/runs in the rain, 101 ways to use a inflatable neck pillow while traveling, crazy street performers, aches and pains, even a rash at one point, crowded, smelly, beautiful, indescribable, breath taking, ancient, historically valuable moments on the best trip of 2006.

The last amazing blessing coming out of 2006 was the Ostriches! For the first time, I decided to lead a small group. I had put it off for over 2 years, it was time to jump in. I was nervous to start this group, but seeing who God placed in my living room over the month of October, I knew He hand selected this group and all the girls in it. These girls have encouraged me in ways that I didn't know I needed to be encouraged, they are the most open, loving, inclusive, friendly girls that I have gotten to know in the Fuel community. I look forward to Monday nights just to be with the Ostriches, they make my week.

With so many blessings in 2006, I look forward with anticipation to 2007. Big plans are starting to form already with a missions trip to Uganda in August, a snow trip to Mammoth, Bryan's wedding in Chicago, paintball adventure, retreat in Santa Barbara, houseboat trip to Mojave, camping in Yosemite and my big bro's wedding! I can't wait to see what God is going to show me more about Him in this year and how I can love others.

John 13:34-35