My GOODNESS!

I can't believe it has been three, almost four years. As I read through my past xanga entries I felt like I was reading through an old diary. It is an old diary, but just a cyber one that the world has access to (scarey). Does anyone still read this thing? I feel like I am talking to myself, in a silent kind of way, hahahha. Anywho, updates... if all goes well I will be graduating from Loyola Marymount in May 2009. I CAN NOT BELIEVE it has been three years already. I remember my first day of class. I walked inside the building and thought, "I can't wait for this all to end. One day I will be standing in this same spot with graduation just around the corner." Now, I am close to that one day and sickeningly... I feel despair. This is truly my last time in school. No more school for me. Unless I pursue a different area of study (oooo!!! Kidding).

I wish I could go back in time and be in college again. Those were the days, not a care in the world. Of course, that is until mid-terms or finals came around. Those were such trivial worries though. My mom used to always say that college would be the best years of my life. I always brushed her off thinking she was ludicrous. Who knew I would live to eat those words. Siiiiiigh....

MAN! it has seriously been a long time...since i last updated I have decided to go to school again and have been trying to study and prepare like mad...it's hard to get on the studying band wagon again, but I need to get in shape...., I have been on break from work, they call it off track, and I go back to work in less than two weeks now =(... break was good but I definitely do miss my kids... I couldn't sleep til 3am last night just thinking about them. I even had dreams about them...hahaha i am "special"

well here is what i have been up to during my break:

went to disneyland with my cousins

went on a movie date with my student from my first year in teaching.  His name is Luis: the bigger one, the little one not looking at the camera is his lil bro ERIC...I LOVE HIM 2!!!

I got to hang out with the girls alot too which was DOPE...hahah...it was liberating even though they molested me half the time...recently we went to hollywood bowl together: (we're missing two friends: Nance and Nuns...I truly wish you were there)

We also got to go to palm springs...jules got us a villa that she got through her time share...IT WAS AMAZING!!!siiigh....the view, the rooms, sleeping, being tortured...

I left this one big so you could see the view, this is right outside on our back porch...breathtaking, huh?  for some reason jules thinks she is a porn star:

This was bartender Judy...she made me delicious scooby snacks:

Before my break I also went to Vegas, but that was awhile ago...it was a blast too...while some of the girls went clubbing Nun and I got to see the Celine Dion show and it was amazing...dont make fun of me. I LOVE HER!!! They wouldnt let us take any pics inside so I dont have any of Celine, but I do have some of me and Nun and the girls at the Hardrock pool:

Other than all this I have just been sitting around, relaxing, stressing, and being "special": EW! why is my tongue shaped like that???

well that's all folks....

I'm the luckiest girl alive!

So I KNOW that I might run into some "haters" =) on this xanga entry but I cannot contain this information any longer.  I have developed a new found love/obsession with something

and this is it...siiiiiiiiiiiigh

I know that she may not be human but it is exhilirating watching her grow...hahah yes she is a she and her name is TERRA. I actually got her from church when she was a seedling.  A SEED I TELL YOU! She was so tiny, smaller than a booger (depending on the size of your mucous).  Edmund, our pastor, was doing a sermon on how every choice we make leads to growth or affects another part of our lives.  And as a symbolic representation of that he gave us a tomato seed to plant.  I hope I am doing justice to his sermon (because my memory is very foggy and Jose actually had to remind me of the sermon).  To me, it actually symbolizes hope and a sense of newness.  Watching my tomato plant grow is the best gift when I come home from work.  Hahha... I even talk to her everyday because I heard talking to plants makes them grow faster and healthier. YES I know that there are going to be repurcussions for that statement but I am not ashamed that I LOVE MY TOMATO PLANT! Sometimes I can just sit there for hours just starring at her, like I subconsciously feel that something might change in that span while I am looking at her but it rarely does.... anyways...today my "baby" has graduated.  She was far outgrowing her old home/pot.  So I went to the "Do-it Center," which is like an immitation Home Depot.  Anyways, with the help of John Hong, Jose's brother, I received vital information (that clay pots evaporate water faster so I should stick with plastic. I know my new pot looks like its clay but it is actually a plasticy material.  When I asked the nursery department in the actual store, before I called John, they said clay or plastic didnt matter.  PSHT! shows how much they know) on what type of new home to buy for my new plant and now here she is:

aint she a beauty! It may not look like much but if you knew what she was like when I first got her then you would understand what I am feeling.

anyways other than her my life is ordinary but good.  Who said mundane has to be a bad thing.  Even mundane things can be great if you just tackle them well.  =).  can you tell I am in a good mood. I am not always like this.  I promise; although I should be (note to self)....

it has truly been long...and so much has passed... so my story begins here...

yes my bday passed...it was on May 8th for those that were asking...and it was fun...I spent time with the girls...jules made me chocolate covered strawberries that spelled out "Happy Birday Jinny" (and that is not a typo). It was DEEELICIOUS! and it made me plump...THANKS JULES! =) then afterwards jose and I went to pepperdine...just to sit on some random field and look at the beach...it was quite peaceful since I was feeling stressed, but I was FREEZING (as you may be able to tell from the pic)

o yea...it was also mother's day on my bday...and this year since i am working I bought my mom a pretty extravagent gift...even I was shocked by it, but she definitely deserves it...when she saw it she started screaming and dancing, literally...it is her first louis...hahaha...I hid it in the dryer and told her that I thought our dryer was broken and to go look at it...she was so upset with me saying that if I broke it she is going to eat me alive (well not exactly those words, but close) and then she saw a huge bag inside and when she opened it that's when the celebrations began...hahah i love my mom!

o yea! the day before my bday jose and I went walking around my neighborhood and we found this random aquatics something or other... I dont know what it is either...no one was there...it was a bit creepy but nice at the same time so we took some pics...it actually looks like a place that has rodoes but with a lot of grass surrounding it. I know you cant really tell what it looks like from the pics...because these dont show the place off but these are just some fun ones that we took from that day...mostly the ones from jose (he is good at embarassing himself and not feeling ashamed. WESTSIDE!) the one where he is looking through the trash is my favorite...hahahah...its special!

hahahha...

hmmm...this weekend I went to NEW YOKE (as 50 cent would say)...and it was fun...we didnt get to do much because it was so short but we did do ALOT OF shopping, eating, OH and we went to dennis' graduation... i went with judy (my bestest buddy). We arrived on Saturday morning at 6am NYC time with zero to one hour of sleep so when we got to dennis' apartment we crashed...until 2pm... I know gross huh? But we were SOOO TIRED. after we went shopping at the mall and then in the evening judy and I checked into our hotel. (I wish I had some pics of it...it was clean, but small) it was called herald square hotel located in the korea town of manhattan.

here is the outside of dennis' apartment

here is the happily not yet married couple (judy and dennis) in the apartment

and more pics of the apartment:

this is the futon I took a 8 hour nap on (can you consider that a nap?):

this is hofstra university arena where dennis graduated.  CONGRATS! the ceremony was kinda boring (lo siento dennis) but we were proud of our little one...ahahha.. it was raining outside and dennis lost his keys afterwards (but thankfully found it) so I couldnt take any pictures afterwards because he was running around like frantically searching and it was raining

after the graduation we celebrated at a korean resturant...we ate like pigs...SERIOUSLY we ordered $112 worth of food and ATE IT ALL...we are sick... I KNOW!

so before everyone starts freaking out that I was drinking let me explain... judy told me to pose like the korean girls that do for soju advertisments...SO I DID... I just thought it would be fun....and if you dont believe me then poo on you! really I cant drink...I am a wuss but I really, really, really cant handle the taste of it....barfaroo...but if you can...more power to you (kinda) just please dont have half a liver left the next time i see you...BE HEALTHY!

anyways...that concludes my update...and I saved the best for last...or kinda... so today i went back to work and one of my parents approached me about our field trip to the Long Beach aquarium on Thursday... anyways...she asked me if it was still ok that she went and I told her that I wasnt sure because there was not alot of space on the bus...and then drama...she was VERY UPSET and started waving her finger at me and getting buck wild and crazy on the verge of yelling...anyways... we ironed it out but it is still weighing heavily on my shoulders...it was mostly my fault but SHEESH! it is sooo unnecessary to be mean...siiigh...why am I such a wuss... I REALLY REALLy need a tougher skin...got any suggestions (here is the mom below with her son, Jesus, who is in my  class)

so I had a wonderful weekend thanks to judy, but I am a bit sad today because of what happened at work....siiigh

I need to get over it...! life is too short to be sad for long, right?

still learning to smile, -the jins