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| Fourth of July was so great this year! YAY! With the holiday falling in the middle of the week, bookend by two sets of working days, it was pretty impossible to get out of town to celebrate. Unless, of course you are Melanie Phung and Liz Ong. 
It was perfect weather to get out of the house and enjoy Santa Barbara. So the morning started out with Thomas picking me up at 9am. We headed off to Starbucks for Thomas' must-have caffeine fix. We read for awhile there and then headed downtown to the beach for... our brunch picnic! I was super excited because I absolutely love picnics. So Thomas and I sat down at the beach for a meal of homemade deviled eggs, spinach tuna salad, cherries and watermelon. As we were setting up, I said, "don't you love picnics? Aren't they great?" Thomas' response: "ummm, it's ok. I'm allergic to grass and I don't really like baking in the sun and I have to sit cross-legged for a long time." Then there was silence.....
So after the VERY enjoyable picnic  (don't worry Thomas was a good sport) we walked over to the Sea Center at Stearns Wharf. It is a very small, cute aquarium, filled with crabs, sharks and other stuff. We were able to it cover in 45 minutes. It was fun! After wandering around the wharf for a tad bit, we had planned to leave our car down by the beach, not having to hassle with parking, and head up to Arlington theatre by foot. Thank goodness we didn't! Instead we hitched a ride on the Downtown electric shuttle to Paseo for only a quarter! Wow! What a deal! After "Transformers" at the Arlington, (which is pretty good, considering I didn't know anything about the story or the toys) all of us, Thomas, Dennis, Melanie, Liz, Chris, Kat and myself, headed back down to the beach to settle down for the fireworks. We were able to enjoy tri-tip sandwiches, decked out roasted corn and then the final show of the night... the FIREWORKS! It was great... laying down on the sand, with the sound of waves crashing, surrounded by great friends and fireworks in the sky was definitely an enjoyable way to end the night.
So this year's Fourth of July was all in all a great day of seeing some new sights, good company, and good food. But I have to add one more detail to complete this entry. So throughout the whole day, Thomas wanted to try out a new parking plan. He really didn't want to park at Calvary because typically it takes FOREVER to get out of there due to a couple yielding left hand turns. Honestly, the entire day he was plotting to "let's park here, then we'll walk, this is the best way to beat the traffic, no yielding turns, we'll be home before 10, it'll be great," so on and so forth. In the very end.... we got stuck in traffic, walked a farther distance, and got home after the people that parked at Calvary. Though the experiment didn't work... we shall prevail and try again next year! Don't worry, Thomas, the experiment was not in vain! HHAHA
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!
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| Whenever you peoples see a new entry on this site, it's just because Nicole is waaaay bored at work. Seriously though, when I suddenly find myself extremely bored at work, I realize that I haven't updated for a whole month. The people that update every day or even just every week are quite impressive!
Anyway, I've been in the working world for... what 9 1/2 months now?  I've come to realize that it's quite a different world from when one is in school.
When Thomas and I first started dating, he was working and I was still in school. We didn't quite see eye to eye on a couple matters:
- We would get these rare slots of time to be able to talk on the phone each night, but they were real quick. I would typically get home and be ready to start my night at 10pm, but it didn't work so well with him. By 10pm, Thomas was starting to get ready for bed. I would be shocked and thinking to myself, "what a wuss!" hahhaah but now I'm starting to wind down for the night at 9:30!
- Also, when we were on the phone, I would get really frustrated because he would never talk. I would be gabbing away about my day, "this happened and that happened, blah, blah, blah..." After everything about my day, I'd ask how his day was. His reply, "just work, it was fine." Are you serious??!!? That's all you have to say?? I just wouldn't understand, you seriously don't have anything to say about ANYthing?? But now I totally understand. I've come to hate the question, "what have you been up to?" WORKING! What else do I have time to do with my life?
But thank goodness that God has blessed us with jobs. The monotony, the stress, the hard-to-get-along-with co-workers... because, shoot, if it weren't for all that, we'd be on the streets and not be able to be the blessing that God has called us to be in our offices.  Happy Thursday!
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| Well, it's due time for a new entry! 
Spring time is here and it has come so quickly! It's amazing how quickly time passes. The actual 12-month year isn't a reality. It's actually Christmas and New Year's, followed by Easter, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Thanksgiving... then the circle continues. So the year is really only like 5 days. Or at least it feels like that. I know I'm not the only one that feels that way!
With time flying by super quickly, it really makes one think about how they spend their time. Are our days spent for ourselves? For others? Or for our Lord? Are our days spent efficiently? Happily? Full of stress? Or full of thanks?
In Ecclesiastes, the writer talks about how everything is meaningless and how time passes by, but in the end:
13Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
It's so hard to really grasp each day and live it in a fearful manner for the Lord. As we're surrounded by television, computers, movies, cell phones (you name it!)... wasting time is a hobby in and of itself! God's given us 60 minutes in an hour, 7 days in a week, 28-31 days in a month and 364 1/4 days in a year to be a blessing for his kingdom and for His glory.
Have you spent today in a worthy manner?
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| It's been 3 great years!!! 
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| World Traveler for the 2006 Holiday Season!
After tons of food, a couple hotel stays, money spent, LOTS and LOTS of driving, several tanks of gas, and, not to mention, a handful of near car crash incidents.... the 2006 holiday season traveling has ended.
1. Las Vegas- We did TONS of walking and sight seeing. Our group pretty much covered the entire strip in 3 days by dividing the strip into 3 sections to explore. We ate 4 buffets, including a prime rib at each buffet. We made a huge raucous at the Coke factory when we bought a tray full of different Cokes from Around the World to taste test... btw China has tons of different flavored cokes. Cirque de Soile's "Love" was great to watch as people were flying through the air and breakdancers were RIPPING it up  I think those were the main highlights of the trip, but it was definitely a great time of catching up with old friends and breaking TONS of bread together.
2. Los Angeles- Spent the Christmas weekend in LA with family, which consisted of more eating, watching movies, opening presents, shopping, Christmas Eve candle light service at Lake Avenue Church, and .... I think a little more eating. Gift exchange after a pot of cheese fondue, and, also, finishing all 3 Lord of the Rings movies over a course of 2 days were highlights.
3. FINALLY... San Fran- Much fun! There wasn't too much time to explore EVERYthing, but we definitely tried to hit the major sites- Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz (which must be noted is an awesome time capsule), Little Italy, Union Square, cable car rides, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Golden Gate Park (Botanical Gardens, Japanese Tea Garden), Gheradelli Square. To ring in the New Year, we watched fireworks at the Ferry Buidling and it was soo cool! The streets were packed with people, but it was fun walking from Pier 1 back to our hotel at Union Square, yes I know. And those in heels ACTUALLY survived! Yes, please be impressed. On the way back we made a stop in Monterey Bay to do the 17 mile drive, which we missed 1/2 the sights b/c we were trying to cover the 17-mile drive in 17 minutes. hahah. A highlight... being able to stay at the Hilton in Union Square for a great price and having access to the Executive Lounge for the Continental Breakfast and Hor's Devours. Note: this trip was archieved by taking a total of 100 something pictures, thanks to Miss Amanda Doan  (not so much...)
Phew... now its back to the real world: need to save money, exercise, sleep and... work 
BUT... it was great and well worth it all!
Looking forward to 2007!
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