New Short Term Roomie and more...

I had a very eventful weekend. On top of studying some more, I had some fun! Friday I met up with my friends, Alice and Mark, and we had a quick dinner at Chick-fil-a and then we went to the movies and watched "Valentine's Day." We all thought it was a cute movie, but we weren't too happy with the kids in the back row talking at the beginning of the movie. I had to tell them to be quiet. The woman next to me was also looking at her cell phone during the movie which was extremely distracting, so I had to ask her to put it away. What happened to the consideration of other people? We didn't spend $11 to not enjoy the experience!

Saturday I spent the morning helping Andrea move in. She is a girl I know from church who will be moving in with Corinne (someone else I know from church) in March, so she needed a short term place to stay. I welcome the company and she'll actually have 10 days by herself because I will be heading to Seattle this Thursday. Andrea didn't have much to bring since her other things are in storage until March when she has her permanent residence.

I left about 5pm to put up Love INC flyers for their annual dinner. I've come to realize that Coffee Bean has more community bulletins than Starbucks! I was able to put up about 20 flyers, but from the looks of the left overs it doesn't look like I put any up! :) Ah well, I hope it helps the cause. I'm not able to come to the event so I had to help somehow.


From there I picked up an asian salad and brought it to Jazz's place for his Saints Victory Party. I wasn't in a super social mood at first, but give me a few minutes and I'm a social butterfly! It was nice to see a few friends I hadn't seen in a few months, like Tania, Beth and Colleen. I had asked my friend, Alan, to come at the last minute and I was so glad to catch up with him too. Lisa, Nicole, Alan and I went outside (it was so warm in Jazz's place!) to the back deck and chit chatted while cooling down. Jazz was a whirlwind of activity and admitted he doesn't socialize much at his own parties, he's so busy making sure everything is ready! He made his traditional red beans and rice and his cousin made gumbo and of course corn bread! It was all delicious!

Sunday morning I went to the 11am service. I was able to talk with Scotti and Rich (my sister's in-laws) who had just come back from their trip to Seattle to see Erika, Brian and the kids. They had a great trip and it made me even more excited for mine! I sat next to Jenn and Andy (Andy is Brian's brother) during the service and they prayed for me afterwards for my trip. It was so heartwarming of them to do that!


I drove to Carson to pick up my niece, Kristen, and her son, Anthony to take them to lunch. We ended up going to Rizzo's Pizza, which had really good garlic bread(sticks). Anthony, age 2, was asleep the whole time. I drove her back to her uncle's and we talked for a little bit longer before I headed out. Kristen lives in Texas now, so I was happy to see her while she was in town.

Sunday night Andrea took me to the Macaroni Grill for dinner. We both love the place and we have our favorite meals we always order (mine is Chicken Marsala). We had a fun waiter named Darin who took our picture (sorry it's a little blurry). :)

Good Sumaritan Jeff!

Today I got a text from my friend, Jeff, that he was in the area and he wanted to come over and wash my windows for me--isn't that nice? I had some time available so he came over and washed all of my windows! I was especially happy about the window in the bathroom--that has been bothering me for a long time!

It was nice to catch up with Jeff, too. It was nice to chat with him while he worked and of course I got the cleaning bug and did some dusting that I had wanted to do earlier, but my accounting homework got in the way. I did laundry as well, so I feel pretty accomplished. :) I still have to do some general cleaning but I'm on my way. I am going to have a friend of mind, Andrea, stay with me for a month so I want to make sure the place is nice and neat. :)

As a thank you, I'm going to take Jeff out for dinner. What a nice guy! I will definitely be opening my window blinds more often now that the windows are spic and span! :)

Valentine's Day

My Valentine's Day started with several "Happy Valentine's Day" texts from friends and family. I leisurely woke up and decided to go to the 11am service at King's Harbor. It was tough for me to go since I had already gone to a Friday night thing at "Little King's Harbor", but I decided it would be good for me. Boy was I right! Chris Cannon's sermon was exactly what God wanted me to hear.

I ran into a few people I know and it was nice to catch up with them and wish them a happy Valentine's day!

I went back to my apartment and watched a movie and made sure the cupcakes I made for that evening looked presentable. I had purchased a set of cupcake stencils that I was dying to try out--they were all in the shape of hearts. Welp, Martha Stewart I ain't. ;) I realized as I was attempting this, that stencils work best on flat surfaces. Well, cupcakes aren't generally flat. So, although I tried all the designs, most of the cupcakes ended up being all red sprinkles! They at least tasted decent (they were moist, chocolate cupcakes).
The BASIC bowling event started at 6pm. I brought the cupcakes and Nicole brought heart-shaped rice crispy treats and decorated sugar cookies.
There were a ton of people that ended up coming. We had 3 church groups represented which was great! It was a nice mix of people and everyone seemed to have a great time.


As I have promised friends in the past, I try to add a picture of me in the mix. Here is a picture of my friend, Jesse, and I. He is from the same neighborhood as I was growing up. He is the same age as my brother, Todd. They used to hang out here and there back in the day.

Here are a few other people at the event:
It was a guy named Chris's birthday, so Nicole brought a candle and we all sang "Happy Birthday!" to him. Here he is blowing out the candle:

Love is Patient

Today I met up with Nicole for dinner and then we went to the little King's Harbor Church for a time of worship and reflection led by Bryan Johnson, our bible study leader. We read over the "Love" chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. It reads:

Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous;
love does not brag and is not arrogant,
does not act unbecomingly;
it does not keep record of wrongs,
does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
bears all thihngs, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails;
...
But now abide faith, hope, love, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.

I'm sure it is fitting to think of this chapter during the Valentine's Day period, but it popped into my head this morning during my quiet time as well. I was deeply grieved because I know how far from this I really am. That is something that Bryan mentioned and reminded us all that this passage is impossible...but with God all things are possible. And that it also shows us the characteristics of God Himself.

When we were in a time of prayer I kept thinking about when I went to St. John with some friends a few years ago. We had decided to go snorkeling and so several of us swam to the tip of the bay entry to explore the sea life. When we were done we all swam back--separately.

I challenged myself to get back first--mainly because I had gotten a sun burn the previous day and I could feel the heat on my skin. Even though I had flippers the land seemed so far away.

I put my head down and went on my way, powerful strokes were given towards my quest at times, and other times I had to slow my pace and look up to see how far I'd come. In my Christian walk, I sometimes feel as if I don't gain any ground and other times I feel that I am farther behind nowadays than I was 7 or 10 years ago!

My goal is the shore and I am ever-toiling towards it. I want to succeed, but it seems impossible. If only I would stop and look up! I would find Jesus in a boat next to me, waiting to lift me in and help guide me to the shore.

Standing on a Corner in Winslow Arizona

I have had this song in my head since I heard it on the radio the other day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEzTdBJUHO8

CPA Review Course

Last night was my first CPA review course class. My first section is Auditing. I was able to read the lecture material beforehand, which I think helped because the instructor just goes over the most important information in class.

Since the last time I took the Becker Review Course, they have made a lot of improvements. Now the instructor uses a more user friendly projector and computer interface where he can underline and highlight specific information, as well as include other notes. The student's job is to copy these notes, etc, as it is being lecture to emphasize the most important information.

I was pleasantly surprised to realize that the instructor wasn't dull as dirt, like I've experienced in the past. The time went by relatively quickly and we were actually able to leave about a half hour early.

The drive home was easy but my brain was mushy from the class.

Today I woke up and worked out, showered and got ready for the day of studying. I didn't realize that the homework did not just include multiple choice and simulation question, but it requires you to listen to the lecture again! So, I spent over 5 hours doing only some of the homework (maybe half). I did take a break when my sister, Erika, called me, as well as when I went to the grocery store for a friend. They were nice (and much needed breaks!).

I am currently trying to read the lecture materials for tomorrow's class tonight, although it is difficult! Writing this is a study break for me! I may not be able to do it, but thankfully I have Thursday and Friday (not to mention the weekend if need be) to make up for the time.

I do not see how people who work full time get all of this done. I am sure it will become easier once I get a rhythm going, but after not working for several months it is something to get used to! :)

The Remembrance

Friday night King's Harbor started a new monthly service called "The Remembrance." I had heard about it from my bible study, who had decided to go as a group, so I decided to check it out after I spent a few hours hanging out with Shelley at the hospital (she had surgery on Wednesday).

The service was geared towards "young" adults, which when I think of it means adults in their late teens/early 20s and that was the majority of people that were there, mixed with my bible study (we are in our 30s) and a few older people here and there.

The service was different from the normal KHC service by the following:

• The worship time was at least twice as long
• Most of the congregation stood in front of the chairs during the worship time
• Kenny the firefighter (sorry, not sure of his name) was preaching
• Communion is done with a loaf of bread and a cup of wine instead of matzo and grape juice
• The worship time at the end was longer as well
• They had food and drinks after the service.

I thought the service was pretty good, but I don't think it's the service for me. I much prefer Saturday night or Sunday morning service, but I am glad I got to see what it was like.

I am glad I did go to the service because I am fighting something off. Saturday morning I met up with Shelley's mom, Connie, and Shelley at the hospital to help get Shelley home. She was discharged pretty quickly and we were back at her apartment by noon (I arrived at the hospital at 11am).

My job was to do the back-breaking work because Connie has a bad back, so I helped Shelley out of the car. It wasn't really "back-breaking" at all! I was just a support for her. We got her to her chair in the living room and then Connie went and got lunch for us all at the Redondo Beach Cafe which is a stone's throw from Shelley's apartment.

Lunch was delicious and it made Shelley tired, so I helped her to bed. Her bed is so high! But Shelley actually managed pretty much on her own. I really didn't do much at all.

I left about 1pm and went directly to the gym. I should have known something was off with me because I could only do 20 minutes on the ellyptical instead of the 45 I usually do. I couldn't ignore my body so I went home and showered. By 3 o'clock I was exhausted. I zonked out for 3 hours and then I was a slug the rest of the night!

Sunday I felt better and decided to go to the 11am service. I met up with my friend, Stephanie and we ended up going to CPK for lunch to catch up. We had such a fun time!

Sorry, I've been slacking with the pictures. :(

Red Robyn at Red Robins

Friday night I met up with friends for dinner and then a movie. We went to see "When in Rome" which was a cute romantic comedy. There was a ton of physical comedy which was really funny!

Saturday night I went to Red Robin to celebrate my friend, Robyn's, birthday (and she happened to be wearing red!). There were a ton of us there and during the dinner we all went around and told of how we met Robyn and what we appreciated about her.


Sunday morning I met up with Dyanelle, Alice and Alice's friend from out of town, Colleen, for church at Reality LA, which is the church that Alice started going to recently. The service was pretty good but I realized I'm not used to getting up that early anymore!

After church we went to Campanile and had a gourmet meal with a lovely atmosphere and a server named Garrison. Garrison was a trip, and he treated us right. :) Everything was delicious! Eventually I'll have a picture so I can post!