My Birthday Blessing

I am officially in my late 30s.  Wow, where did the time go?  I feel like I am still in my twenties.  I hope I feel like this for a long time.  I woke up early being excited for the day and to spend my most precious morning time thanking God for making me.  Some day, I get discouraged that I have so many things to work on and that I am not good enough as a wife, mother, and even friend.  But recently, God reminded me of how much He loves me and how far I have come.  I am different and better than who I was a year ago.  So I took the time to reflect on my own life and the abundant blessing that God, through Jesus Christ, poured out on me.  I thought back from my childhood till now.  There will be too many blessing to be included in one blog, so I will write a few continuation blog entries.

1. I basically grew up at church, but my parents are not believer.  So how is that possible?  When I was 6 or 7 years old, my parents would drop me off at church every Sunday in Vietnam.  And then when I got the the States, Chinese Bible Church came to pick me up.  Perhaps my mom thought that I will learn to be good at church.

2. I was born at the end of the Vietnam war.  My mom and grandparents worked for the American army at the time.  So when the American pulled out of Vietnam, the Vietcong tried to capture all those that aided the American.  So thankful that God kept my family safe and under the radar.

3. Coming to the US was another huge blessing.  Normally, foreigner can apply to come to US if they have family here.  We do not.  But we heard that the American government will allow us in if we can prove that we worked for them during the Vietnam war.  Thankfully, my family saved the paper work despite the risk that we might be caught by the Vietcong.  Being in the US opened up a world of possibilities for me and my sister that otherwise we wouldn't have.  We are both richly educated, me with a master and she as a lawyer.  And we escape the poverty of the third world.  I am grateful that my parents chose to leave their country and family to come here.

4. It was a blessing that my family came to Oakland.  When immigrating from Vietnam, we could have been sent anywhere in the US.  But since my parents had a few friends in CA, we requested to come to CA.  Oakland has lots of Asian which allowed my family to get jobs even though they didn't know much English.  And if we ended up somewhere with few or no Asian, I am not sure I would end up going to church.

 

Beginning of the School Year...busy busy busy

Our summer was quiet and uneventful  and because of my new job, we didn't go anywhere.  But it was a blessing to be able to bring home a paycheck.  The boys started their school year.  C is in 4th grade and J in 2nd.  And I usually like to take the first day of school picture.  But it's was so hectic with so many things going on that I didn't do that.  This year, I am on the Board of the Parent and Teacher Association at the boys' school as Treasurer.  I was sweet talked into doing it because people thought that I will do a good job.  I do love numbers.  So I took the position and it involves doing a lot more volunteering on campus.  PTA usually host a wide range of activities that people on the board put together.  The first thing we hosted was the back to school parents social.  Looking back at my life, you can say that at a young age, God gave me the gift, talent, and interest to be in my profession.  I was the student body treasurer in high school and treasurer of my fellowship in college.  I just like dealing with money. It took me a long time to realize that God gave me this interest and gift to be in the accounting/tax world.  If He gave me this interest, then I am sure He will use it to bless me and people around me.  I enjoy being involve with the boys' school because I get to know other parents and teachers.  Sometimes I just want to keep to myself, so being involve helps me keep in touch with people.  I also want to be the first to know if there are any changes in curriculum and the changes that the state and district are/will be making to the education system.  But most of all, I pray that some how, people will see Christ in me.  I hope that God will give me the opportunity to make Him known in ways that are loving to those around me. 

My First Run

I can't believe that I did my first run around Lake Merritt.  It's about 3.4 miles in circumference, so it's about 5K.  When my sister started training for her marathon, she kept asking me to run with her, but I wouldn't because I don't like running.  I can't even last a few blocks without stopping.  Yes, I was that bad and my sister and friends who tried to run with me knew it.  So when I started to exercise, I wanted to stay away from running.  I can do anything but run.  So I did Zumba, U-Jam, BodyCombat (like boxing), and weight lifting.  After a few months of weight lifting, I can feel that I am stronger and that I am in better shape.  So I tried to run on the treadmill, I didn't like it so I ran for 5 mins and then walk for 5 mins and so on for a short time.  One day, I decided to just run and see how long I can last.  When I wanted to stop, I kept telling myself a few minutes more.  It turned out that day I ran for 25 mins on the treadmill and covered 2 miles.  So the next goal should be a 5K.  Since the boys are at summer camp and K is at preschool, today was the perfect opportunity to try to reach my goal.

I have to say, it was quite hard.  I did it at about 9am, but the weather was hot already.  At less than half a mile, I really wanted to just walk.  That would still be a good exercise to just walk around the lake.  But NO, my goal was to run.  So I pressed on.  Then, I got really thirsty.  I didn't bring water because I wanted my hands free.  I was huffing and puffing, but I turned my iphone on louder to allow worship songs to motivate me.  So I pressed on.  Then, I saw that if I run the last part on the street, I would get to my car sooner.  But no, I need to run the inner circumference of the lake to be able to say that I ran the whole lake.  So again I pressed on.  At the end when I knew that I was close to my car, I gave it all that I got to run faster and to finish strong.  When I got there, I felt like I have conquered the world.  My perseverance paid off and I reached my goal.  I did feel alittle light headed and my legs were wobbly, but after drinking water and sitting down, I was fine. 

On the run, I needed strength, so I prayed and thought about God and His plans for my life.  I have personally experienced what Paul, in the Bible, talked about running the race and finishing strong.  I have heard many people, especially runners, say that running is alot like living the Christian life.  And so far, I understood what Paul and everyone said.  But today, I actually experienced it and it became personal.  As I ran, I periodically looked at the spot where I started because that's where I will end.  Thinking about my goal helps me move forward and I know I am closer and closer.  So this is what Paul talks about in Philippians 3:14 "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."  I just had to keep my eyes on the prize and go for the goal.  Then I thought, what's my goal in my Christian life?  Every Christian wants to earn rewards in heaven and hear the Shepherd say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."  I want that more than  anything.  It's a good goal, but that goal seems so far away.  It's like me setting my goal to run a marathon before this run.  It seems so far and hard to reach.  The goal of running the lake is more reachable, so I realized that while I desire to hear my Shepherd's I praise, I need to set short reachable goals for my spiritual life.  That way, I know I am moving forward and that I have accomplished something for the Kingdom.  

Another lesson I learned is that every Christian should judge themselves by their own walk and deeds and not compare ourselves to others.  I have to admit that I often compare myself to others, especially to those who have a strong walk with the Lord.  I would feel discouraged that I am not as patience, kind, compassionate, and gentle as the other person.  And that leads to feeling in adequate when I serve.  But today, I realized that each Christian have a their own race to run and each race is different.  There should be no comparison, it's like comparing apples to oranges.  As I ran, there are a lot of people who are also running.  Most ran faster than me.  Some might have more training or are in better shape than me.  So I didn't want to run fast like they are.  I am just glad that they are running like me.  I just want to run at a pace that I can finish and all I wanted was to finish the lake.  In the same way, everyone has their own Christian race.  Some might have more training coming from Christian home or some have stronger network, but each of us should focus on our own race.  Hebrews 12:1 says, "And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us..."  We should run the race that marked out for us and not the one marked for someone else.  When we run someone else's race, we will surely fail and not reach our goal. 

Our Impromtu Trip to LA

Ferris Wheel at Knotts Berry Farm

The good news is that I got a job offer to work part time at a small CPA firm in Walnut Creek.  The bad news is that we can't take vacation this summer since July - Sept are busy season at my new work place.  So as soon as I accepted the offer, H and I decided to take the kids on a short vacation during Memorial day weekend.  The easiest place to go at a last minute notice was LA, so we took the kids to Knotts Berry Farm and California Science Center.  We pulled the kids out of school on Friday (yeah, so unlike us) and drove down to LA.  We first stopped by Griffith Observatory to let the kids learn about space and see and touch telescopes.  The next day, we spent the whole day at Knott's Berry Farm.  The place wasn't big, but lines were long.  Of course we didn't go on the level 5 scary rides, but even so, we didn't hit everything.  But we did go to the new part of the park and the roller coaster ride called Coast Rider was the boys' favorite. 

Mui was the only one who wants a picture with Snoopy.

On Sunday, we went to California Science Center, home of the spaceship Endeavour.  We love hands on science museum because C loves science and wants to know how things work.  Even in the bay area, we have annual membership to SJ children museum.  Since we're in LA, of course, we cannot miss the opportunity to see Endeavor and the largest science museum in CA.  The place is humogous with 4 stories of hands on fun.  There are also many discovery centers on every floor for babies and toddlers.  You can learn about plants, space, human body, and anything science related.  The biggest attraction is the spaceship.  When NASA brought the spaceship to this Science Center, the boys saw it flew across their school.  Now they are excited to see it up close.  It was very interesting to learn about space and what the astronaunts did there.  We even saw the space potty and learned how astronaunts use it in zero gravity.  The ship itself is magnificent, it's huge and grand.  I can't believe human is capable of creating such ingenious machine.  If we, mere mortal, can be this smart, then, God, our creator, is capable of so much more.  We weren't allow to go inside the ship, but currently there are plans to build a Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center next to the Science Center to place the spaceship vertically as if it was ready to be launched.  The new building will be many many stories tall so that the spaceship can be viewed from many levels.  It is anticipated to open in 2017, I can't wait to see it.  The Science Center is so big that we can easily spend a whole day there, but the boys really want to see the beach also.  Therefore, we left early and headed for Manhattan beach.  The weather was nice, not too hot or too cold.  The beach is clean with plenty of parking.  There are walking and biking path.  The boys and mui just love playing with water and sand.  Joshie dugged in the sand and found many tiny little sand crabs.  Mui likes to just scoop sand.  They did this for two and a half hour.   I love that the kids had so much fun just being outdoor and getting dirty.  What a blessing to see that they can enjoy the simple things in life and find joy without needing expensive experiences.

See the sand crab in the middle of the shovel?  It was J's mission to find more.

3rd Grade Musical

At Jensen, all the third grade classes put together a musical for parents and the school.  Last year, C saw this play and liked the music.  Since it's his turn to be in the play this year, I asked him if hewants to audition for a part.  He said no.  Every 3rd grader is automatically in the chorus and since he doesn't like to be in the spot light, he doens't want to audition.  And he didn't want to give up lunch recess for rehearsal.  H and I encouraged him to audition because he likes singing and we think he will do a good job.  Being a part of the musical will be more fun than just singing back up.  We also wanted him to be involve in school and be an active participant, not just sit back and watch others.  After some convincing he decided that he will audition.  To audition, he has to sing solo to all the 3rd grade teachers.  C chose three parts that he would like to audition for.  We didn't think he will get a part because he is so quite, but we just want him to try and participate.  Low and behold, everyone who tried out got a part. He got the part of an ant in the Rumpus in the Rainforest.  Even though it took alot of time from recess to be in rehearsel, he told us that really likes being in the musical and it was fun.  Here is a little clip of the musical.  For kids who are out going or not so shy, trying out for something and performing might not be a big deal.  But for someone who is shy and does not like the spot light, this is a big deal that he stepped out of his comfort zone to experience something different.  It takes a lot of courage, boldness, and faith.  We are just so proud of him.  We hope that this will be the first of many courageous steps that he will take as he grows.

Wedding Anniversary and Mother's Day

Today H and I celebrated our 12th anniversary.  Believe it or not we got married back in the days when digital photo was not very common.  Those camera was still quite expensive.  So ALL our pictures are in 35mm film.  On top of that, we got a really really bad photographer.  H and I paid for our own wedding and I only started working for a few months.  So our budget was limited.  Correction, extremely limited.  The photographer had a good portfolio, but when he did our pix, they were terrible.  Pictures were dark and when he did use flash, it caused shadows.  So not sure how his portfolio was so nice, perhaps not his work.   The picture above is so many time better that my wedding pix.  That is my biggest regret for the wedding.  I have always wished that we had better wedding photos.  Ours is so terrible that I am ashame to show them.  And since they were not digital, there is no way to fix them.  Oh how I wish we can retake those pictures.

Perhaps now we can.  I can fit back into my wedding gown and all my wedding day dresses again.  I really do love my wedding dress.  My mother made it for me from my own design.  She puts all the design and sequence on by hand.  I love the details, the fit, and the length.  It's hard to see all the details from the above pictures.  She made the three flowers on the back, cut the lace in the design that I wanted and sew it on by hand, and she wrapped each button on the back with the same fabric as my dress.  I was born with a wide shoulder, so I never liked wearing strapless or spagetti strap dresses.  So I designed this dress to hide my flaws.  My mom also made all the bridesmaid's dresses and flower girls' and ring bearers' outfit.  On the back of my bridesmaid dresses are flowers just like mine and loops to hold their shaws. I liked my bridesmaid dresses so much that I asked my mom to make me one too.  Not sure if I told her, but I loved all the dresses she made for my wedding.  I had 4 dresses that day.  I wish I had some place to wear those gorgeous dresses to.

So on this Mother's Day, I want to tell my Mom that I appreciate all that she do/did for me.  Thank you for making me clothes, cooking for us when I am busy, taking care of my kids so I can have a break, and being a great example of patience and kindness.

80s Pastime

C have been asking to try rollerskates.  I really didn't know where to take him since there are no more skating rink.  And I didn't want to buy him rollerskates that he will grow out of in a few months.  Praise the Lord that CSUEB has a rollerskating club that puts together family rollerskating event to promote the sport (I think it's a sport).  Who knew that there such a club?  This was the first time they did it so there weren't that many people.  But it was great for us.  H and I already have our own rollerblade from our college days.  And the club has kid skates that the boys can borrow.  They even had a pink Barrie one for Mui. 

I love rollerskating.  I remember going to the rink often with my friends in JR high school.  Even back in the days, roller rink were closing left and right and they were usually located in the bad neighborhood.  So my parents doesn't want me to go so much.  But I loved skating to rock music and dancing. 

J didn't have a hard time with his skates because it's easier to balance on rollerskates than on rollerblade.  C had the blade and it took him awhile to balance.  But after about an hour he can go pretty fast by himself.  As for H and I, skating is like biking, once you learned it, you won't forget it.  But H was more rusty that I was.  Although I can't jump and spin, I can do pretty well. 

My Love of Baking

Hawaiian bread.

I have always loved to cook and feed people.  I believe it's one of the gift God has given me.  Food brings people together and I love the opportunities to chat and talk about God.  I don't mind cooking and cleaning up after large crowd.   That's why I always wanted a house with small bedrooms, but large living room, dining room, and kitchen so I can open up my house for God's purpose.  Although our house is not super huge, but large enough for all our needs so far.  No matter how big or small the house, I believe that if a person is willing to offer her resources to God, He will make good use of it.  I have hosted a 25+ people party in our first house, which is only 1100 square feet and the living room is smaller than my current bedroom.

I believe my love for cooking started in college.  When I was living at home, I didn't have any desire to cook and didn't have to cook.  My parents are great cooks, so I never had to make anything.  Not even rice.  In my second year in college, I moved out of the dorm and shared an apartment with some roommates.  I started to have to cook for myself.  And I was also active in the fellowship group.  I noticed that college students can't cook, but love to eat.  And every time my fellowship had an outreach, there are bigger turn out if there is food.  There are a few older college guys who can cook for the masses when I was a freshman.  I loved going to their places to eat.   When those guys graduated, I took it upon myself to cook for the masses.  So in my third year, I didn't have Friday classes, I spent the day prepping and cooking Friday dinner for the entire fellowship group (about 30 people).  I still have people telling me that they remember my dinners.  Back then, I didn't have recipes or cookbooks.  My cooking are mostly Chinese and done by trial by error.  But people loved it and that gave me major confidence to try cooking different ethnic food and also baking. 

Baking is so wonderful and yet different than cooking.  I don't use recipe when I cook because I use a little of this and a little of that and it some how works.  But baking is more of a science.  Certain things react together and if not enough yeast or baking powder things may not rise.  Making things like french bread, croissant, souffles, and Japanese cheesecake are hard to do.  I love the challenge though.  I love baking because I feel like a magician when I bake.  Taking tasteless simple things like flour, sugar, butter, and eggs and turn them into bread or sweet decadent desserts gives me great pride and joy.  Perhaps baking runs in my genes.  My parents used to own a donut shop so my dad is a baker.  My mom and my sister also love to bake.  So it's both a nature and nurture thing that I love to bake.  Although, I didn't learn to bake from my dad because I don't like donuts.

I have been making this sweet swirl bread that H and the kids love.  It started out to be the Cinnamon Swirl bread recipe using cinnamon, sugar, and raisins to make the swirl in the middle of the bread.  I have made it so many times that I have since modified the recipe.  So now I make custard, dried pork (yok shung), and Vietnamese kaya swirl bread.  The bread is super soft (even stays soft for a few days) with some sweetness.  My favorite is the Kaya filing.  I think it's better than the famous Chinese Sheng Kee bakery's custard bread.  Let me know if you would like to try my bread, I would love to make you some.  Or give it a try and make it yourself, I know you will love it.  I think warm, homemade bread is one of life's finest enjoyment.

Recently, I also want to learn to make more traditional Chinese things like bao, cheung fun, dim sum, daikon cake, and Chinese tamales (糭子 chongzi).  My parents can make both Chinese and Vietnamese food and I don't want my family's tradition in food to end with them.  So now I am determined to learn to make food that my parents and Chinese and Vietnamese people can make.

Spring Break 2013

It's great to have a break from school and homework.  We all slept in everyday.  Yes, slept all the way to 8 am, it's not really "sleeping in" like college student sleeping in, but it was a treat, at least for me.  We didn't go out of town, but we managed to have lots of fun visiting museums for FREE without having to pay for admission.  H took two days off work to do family things.

On Tuesday, we went to Lindsay Wildlife museum in the morning and Oakland Zoo in the afternoon. Lindsay Wildlife museum is actually a hospital for wild animals.  We saw owls, hawks, bald eagles, snakes,  foxes, ravens, and badgers that the hospital saved.  We even got to see behind the scene of how vets take care and feed the wild animals.  It was fascinating.  I am glad that the boys aren't too old for it.  They still loved it.  I know pretty soon C will not be interested.  Mui, of course, loved every bit of it.  Especially when she was allowed to touch the snake.  Then, we drove past Chick-fil-a, what?  I did a double take and said that we HAVE to go.  We must support this Christian business that honors Sunday as the Lord's day and actually closed from operation.  Chick-fil-A has a special place in my heart not only because the owner is a believer, but it was my very first place of employment, aside from the family business.  In college, I needed to earn extra money, so I got a job at Chick-fil-a.  I only did one thing there and that's to bread the chicken breast and fry it to make the delicious chicken sandwich.  Although I loved the food and liked the people, I quit after one quarter.  Back then, I didn't know how to cook and I was really really fearful of the fryer.  It was a huge and HOT pressure fryer.  I was suppose to put the chicken into the basket, lower it into the oil and disconnect the removable handle to close the lid to start the pressure frying.  I was suppose to insert the handle after the chicken is done and while it's still in the oil.  I had to act quick because otherwise it will be burnt.  I was never sure whether I put the handle on right and I was afraid that the basket will drop down cause a huge splash and burn me.  But I toughed it out for a quarter because I wanted to keep trying and they usually do more hiring at the beginning of the quarter.

After lunch we headed out to the Oakland Zoo. We are no longer have membership, but when we were members, it came with a free family pass. We went without a stroller for the first time.  Mui ran around and rushing to everything, keeping her by our side was a difficult task.  She especially loved to pet the goats and sheep.  The boys really wanted to ride the train, but we didn't know that the park closes at 4pm.  We told the boys that we were sorry that they can't ride the train.  They were disappointed, but J kept saying that we should to find the train to see if they are really closed.  We said that it is so we might as well stay in the park a little longer.  At 4pm no one asked us to leave, so we walked around some more.  We made our way to the giraffes and and heard that the train was still running.  So we rushed out of the park to try to catch the train.  When we got there, the train conductor said that this is the last ride.  By this time it was 5 pm. We praise God that He granted the desire of our kids. 

On Wednesday, we took the kids to Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito.  This place is a popular place for family with small children, I would say 1st grade and under.  So at the first exhibit hall, both boys felt weird that they are so much bigger than everybody else.  I can see that as C grows older, pretty soon he will not enjoy these kinds of museum and family function.  I pray that that day won't be anytime soon.  They still had a good time because there are lots of things to experiment with, touch, and lots of outdoor areas to explore. The boys really like to be outdoors, they like to explore nature, find bugs, climb trees, and touch dirt and rocks.  There is an outdoor part to this museum that's just perfect.  Mui liked to play with the water wave exhibit.  She liked putting fake crabs and star fish on the rock in anticipation for the unpredictable wave to come.  And when it did come, she got hysterical. 

Today, we stayed home to relax.  I did something crazy with the kids.  Since I thought it was going to rain, I told them that we are going to have an indoor picnic.  They weren't so excited since we had a picnic yesterday.  I said, "But did you ever went on a picnic to eat without using any utensil?  Not ever your hands?"  So we had an indoor picnic in our family room and ate without using our hands.  Mui didn't know what we were doing and she looked confused.  She kept asking me if she can eat.  After taking a bite by licking her plate, she smiled and found it fun.  I just hope that she doesn't think it's the norm now.  The boys of course liked it and had fun but still preferred to be civilized and use utensils.  We also were busy in the kitchen.  Inspired by a friend's middle school daughters who cooked dinner, I thought that I should teach C how to cook.  So today I taught him how to make jello.  He was proud that he can do it, but find it hard to remove the jello from the mold.  I told him cooking is experimenting.  Next time, we'll have to experiment a different way.  Even jello making can be an art.

How did we visit the museums for FREE?  Alameda county libraries give free museum passes to Alameda County residents over 18 with a library card.  Not all the museums are free, but I think the list of free museums can be different from month to month.  Here is the link to the site.  And most museums have a free day from time to time.  So it's good to check their website.  Bay Area Discovery Museum is free every first Wednesday of the month.  We saved about $160 of admission this week. 

Grand Prix Again

 After both boys winning first prize at the Awana Grand Prix last year, the boys wanted to race again this year.  Grand Prix is like Pinewood Derby in Boyscout it is essentially wooden car race.  The car must be made of a certain kind of wood and be under a certain weight and length.  And everyone must use the same wheels.  On race day, each car races 4 times and the results are the averaged.  The fastest car wins.  Since there are many contestants and wide age range, the boys are in two different divisions.  H helped them shape and design their cars.  

Getting ready to race.

This was J's race.  Look at it go!  We are the beige car on the left.

J won first place in his division and C won third.  This year, C is older so he races with older kids.  The competition in that division is fierce.  Last year, our car was the fastest at 195-197 mph.  This year, most cars are well over 200 mph.  The second place in J's division is only 0.8 of a second slower.  So he barely made it to first.  Watching the race in C's division, we were really nervous that C won't be in the top three.  So we were thrilled that at least he came in third.  I wonder how else to get a wooden car to travel at such high speed. 

Both boys' car is the same color.  This is C's race and he is on the far right.