NOT a trick question: How old do I look? (and don't make fun of the picture, i just took a wee nap before taking it, and after i post this, i'll be taking another nap!)

No joke, today at church, someone asked if I was a senior...to which i said, "no, i already graduated." then his friend asks me, "what? you're in highschool?" i proceeded to tell them that i graduated highschool, i graduated college, and i have been out working for five years.

so, tell me the truth (and i'm not old enough that i have a complex about my age quite yet, though i can't believe i'll be 27 within two weeks), how old do i look???

looks matter a great deal! you want to socially look young for as long as you can. professionally, you want people to respect you and how you look aids quite a bit... like, can you take accounting recommendations seriously from the face above??? well, i'd smile a little less...but you get the gist. these are things to consider when you get ready for work in the morning or go out on the weekends...

and i want to know how old i look, not criticisms on how i look...my fragile ego will save that discussion for another day. :)

now...nap time!

Posted by Val

GODencounters

Here's a link to the GODencounters going on right now during the Florida Conference SDA Campmeeting here in Orlando. Please keep us in your prayers as we try to reach out to the youth and young adults in this area.

Dogs in my life

Princess - dwarved by my stuff dog

Posted by Val

All Growed Up

I've come to the conclusion that I don't know what I want to do when I grow up.

"Hold...hold...hold on one second," you may be saying. "Aren't you already all growed up?"

i'll give you a yea and nea on that one. yea because, yes, i'm supporting myself on what i do. nea because, well, i don't feel like i've growed up yet.

(and yes, i know i keep using the word "growed"... don't worry your pretty little heads, i assure you, i can talk good... :))

i like what i do, and i can see myself doing this for a while...but does it truly make me happy? i don't think so. currently, i'm working my job then using all my spare time to be involved in making a difference in people's lives through church and the like. someday i wouldn't mind dropping the whole working-just-to-work-and-live part of my life and somehow combine what i find myself doing in life: being responsible/earning a living & helping others.

because it gets tiring sometimes when you have to balance doing one thing because you pretty much have to with the thing you want to do but don't have the time to do due to the thing you have to do...get it?

for example...due to work, i decided to cut back on my church responsibilities...i was going to step back from the leadership, i was going to step back from greeting, serving, singing, playing, and organizing the bulletin.

after i informed the service of my intentions, this is what really happened: i no longer greet, serve, sing, play, or organize the bulletin. however, i have traded that all in to stay on the service planning committee due to the fact that i am now in charge of the music program for our service. *Sigh* not exactly what i had in mind regarding taking a step back, but i was needed, and truth be told, i want to do it. its just that thing that i have to do every day (...what was it called??? oh, yeah, work at my job) gets in the way.

...truthfully, i'm just venting. work is tough right now...well, i'm being tough on myself at work right now considering i have a lot to live up to at work right now. does anyone ever feel as if they're not cut out to do what they think they want to do? bad grades, negative feedback on your performance, not adjusting to your position as well as you thought you would?

anywho...my search for the rich husband continues...(ya know, the Plan B. :))

4:50 AM

Yup...that's what time it is. 4:50 am. why am i still awake? yes, i know its Saturday night, but seriously, i've been home since a little after midnight. i haven't been able to sleep, so i've been catching up on my tivo/dvr'ed shows...such as Desperate Housewives, Girlfriends, Gilmore Girls, Saturday Night Live... yes, all deep shows, but don't anyone give me grief...i like them. and now, i'm laying here in the dark wasting the coolness of this room (its too hot to sleep in here during the daytime, darn Florida!) unable to sleep!

so here's my evening. i've just spent the evening with friends, and we had a fabulous time. we had dinner at ZA-BISTRO and a show at the local improv theater and came home to start my sleepless night (oh, its 5:06 am, been surfing the net a little...).

it was very interesting to look around the table. there was a filino/hispanic couple, two black/white couples, and a white/white-asian couple, amoung the people there. one of the black/white couples is fairly new (congratulations, you two, if you are reading this)...but they have come up against the family disapproval. i have been around interracial dating all my life, so it has never been a real issue for me...but now living in the south, i realize it is not as accepted. and i don't understand it. its sad that racism still exists, but it does.

anyways, i've never been much for the whole soap-box standing bit...but being that its 5:12 am, i'm starting to feel a bit drowsy...g'night!

Here's an interesting website. This is a photographer who has taken some of his subjects and enabled you to mix and match the top and bottom of their pictures with others. he's probably already photoshopped everything since they all lined up. Interesting...

Home Sweet...Home?

well, i'm back in Florida. it is sooo good to be home. and i'm posting pictures again...yay! happy sabbath everyone. I love the Sabbath...its purse genius. that's all.

awww...smiling, happy Kevin & Eli

Posted by Val

...

Posted by Val

Eli vs. another little one...look at their energy! By the way, isn't that the coolest thing? Having half a wall for your 1/2 of the video game? i sooo want one.

Posted by Val

My little cousin vs. my big boyfriend in DDR. Guess who won!!!! Hint: His height is closer to four feet...

Posted by Val

Me, Ying-Tsin and Grenadette taking a pictures with a Texas native

Posted by Val

Sissy-Boss

I want my mommy...

I traveled all the way out here to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, to get sick and have to be confined to my hotel room all afternoon yesterday. It sucked.

my bones still ache, my appetite is gone, my stomach is contantly queasy, but other than that, i'm good now. i had just enough energy to call my mom who was hanging out with my sister at her house and have my two favorite nurse/nurse practitioners advise me on the best way to not stay sick.

now, i wouldn't normally mind being sick, but to leave the very first job i'm in charge of for my department (could you tell i'm proud to be in charge of something at work now???) on the very first day of fieldwork to be sick...that's not exactly the way i envisioned things going.

suck. don't want to be known as the sissy-boss.

PICTURE POSTED!!!

I'm so happy! i finally was able to post a picture (AGAIN) to my blog! blogging is worthwhile again!

of course, i don't have any of te pictures i wanted to post in the past couple weeks with me, but hey, whateve's,...I'M SO HAPPY!

oh, and this is a HECKA old picture of the Patricio cousins, or at least, some of them...one of the pictures i have on my hard drive.

Posted by Val

Called out by Jim

DARN YOU, JIM!!!!! calling me out from Boston...sucks.....

Anyways, dumb program is NOT letting me upload my pictures to my blog. i want to write more when i have pictures to show you! with no pictures, it doesn't feel as interesting.

hmmm...as for what i would write about if i didn't have fun weekend pictures to post, well, it would all be about work.

work...

work...

work...

i work a heck of a lot, you know that? i remember my first job at PUC, after my boss gave me my first assignment and closed his office door, another guy who worked there (Andrew Herald, for those of you who want to take a walk down memory lane) looked up and said,

"so, what are you going to do? how you handle this first assignment will dictate how your life will be while you work here."

"what?" (my response as i'm still trying to remember where the copy machine sat)

"i mean, if you do an okay-good enough job, they'll keep you on, give you the 'easier' jobs, and you'll live your life out as a mediocre assistant. life will be relaxed for you, but they won't necessarily think the greatest of you. "

"...okay..." (val remembering where the copy machine was and starting to wonder if she knew where the supply closet was)

"on the other hand, if you do an absolutely FABULOUS job, they'll think you can handle things and start giving you a lot of projects that might not necessarily be a cakewalk...you'll be running around and stressed, but they'll love you."

"hmmm..."

"So...what's it going to be?"

i keep thinking of that conversation at different times in my life. and in the end, i usually chose the stressed-out choice. this year, i'm responsible for so many things going on at work...heck, i walked into a meeting thinking this was one area they wouldn't put me down for much responsibility (a nice little breather from everything else), and *b-a-m* (i need bigger astericks), i'm the contact person between the two teams.

sucks.

on one hand, its cool to feel you're important and in charge. on the other hand, i'd rather be laying out on a hammock in Belize.

though...its nice to feel like all the years i've spent here in this office wasn't for nothing.

~ v ~

Bummer

I WANT TO POST PICTURES! hehe...i have some great pics of this weekend that have to get posted, unfortunately, my luck with computers this Monday isn't the greatest. my computer has the case of the Mon-days...

hopefully my computer will agree with me later.

Kids Now-a-days

I'm writing this entry from my 11-year old cousin's brand new computer in her room. Okay, get this...i'm sitting at her desk, that houses her brand new computer. on top is a really nice stereo, lying on top of the desk is her digital camera. to the left is a lan-line phone PLUS a cordless phone. outside, all my cousins and their friends are playing Dance Dance Revolution on the X-Box on the family projector screen thingy. seriously, the screen is projected on the far wall, and each of their "half screens" are 1/2 a wall. there's some sort of weird camera looking gadget on the desk, though i'm not sure it is a camera, and there's headphones as well...the kind that you use to talk through the computer.

i'm jealous. but i'm definitely amazed at what kids feel is normal life in this day and age. they are so used to technology that i'm sure they were going crazy when there was no power here in their house when the hurricanes struck last year.

when i was a kid...:)

yes, i'm getting to that age when i can say such things now. :) shoo...i'm turning 27 in about a month. 27. geez...i remember at PUC when i found out a friend of mine was 22...i remember actually thinking..."whoa! i have a friend in their 20's!" now, i'm close to 30. i'm absolutely amazed that time has flown by so quickly.

okay, gotta run...i'm visiting family, but i thought i'd get away from the flying feet for a couple minutes.

I so tired...

I am exhausted. But not as exhausted as my boyfriend. who, by the way, is my property manager. i own rental property now. in this day and age of rising home values, the going theory of keeping the house, having someone practially pay your mortgage while watching your investment grow...well, that thought was pretty darn attractive.

notice, i said, "was."

did i mention i was exhausted? mainly mentally exhausted. you see, i do not have an entreneural spirit in this body of mine. i do not possess a tendancy for risk in business. it's something i'm definitely working on, but it does not come naturally to me. nope, naturally, it does not come.

so, when i say I'm exhausted, i'm talkin' stressed. (on a side note, when I say my boyfriend is exhausted, i'm meaning physically...the poor guy sure knows how to fix up a house...but i digress)

i have come to realize that i take a lot upon myself. i'm the mommy, the responsible one, the one that plans for the future, likes to help, is willing to help or be in charge in order to get things done. i'm the frickin' "go-to" girl. when i was a kid, my brother, sister, and i all played instruments. for all my asian peeps out there, you KNOW you were treated like a little trophy your parents wanted to parade and put up on their fireplace shelf. they wanted you to be the smartest, the most musically talented, sportiest...well, you get my drift. i remember i got sick of my parents offering or volunteering my "talents" all the time. i got so tired...overwhelmed...

i just wanted to go to church and sit down with my friends and not have to mark the church bulletin up like it was a game plan ("okay, play interlude between the announcements and the pastor coming out, play the hymn three times instead of four, get ready the song while everyone is still praying...").

I feel like i've always been responsible for something. but being raised with my mom saying, "God gave you talents, you need to use them!" i feel like i'm being selfish if i am not DOING something for others.

anyways, with this whole rental thing, i'm happy that things are working out, but i don't know if i'm cut out to be a landlord. i'm just not built that way...and frankly, i'm not sure i WANT to be built that way. i'd rather spend my time and energy on other things...plus, what little 'intimidating' skills i do have, i use up doing the whole auditing bit at work. *sigh*

but on a lighter note regarding this whole renting my house business...i am now homeless. hehe... yes, that's right. i'm renting my house, but i am now homeless. fortunately, i have friends that are willing to take me off the streets until my house is done being built. i am now living in Eliasib's room (don't worry, mom, Eli's living living in the guest/office while i reside in the house). i now live with a small dog instead of my precious cat. (Thank you, Kevin, for housing my cat in the mean time...i sooo owe you!)

pray for my sanity, people. work is all of a sudden BUSY, and with the whole moving deal and having to be a tough landlady (please, nobody picture me in a mumu, smoking a cigarette with a hairnet and the rolled down stockings), i'm needing your prayers!



hasta!