Are you Regular?

This morning, I was reminded of a conversation I had with my mother in early elementary school. It went like this:
Mom: Have you poo-pooed today? (Translated from Mandarin)
Roz: No.
Mom: You need to go. It's not good for you if you don't go.
Roz: But I don't need to.
Mom: You should designate a time every day to go #2, then you can get into the habit of staying regular.
Roz: But what if I don't need to go?
Mom: You should still go every day.
< insert span of time here >
Narration: So I go to the encyclopedia that my parents ingeniously bought for our family and look up the digestive system. AHA!! I read that fecal matter can remain inside the large intestine for up to 2 days.
< insert more time here >
Roz: I don't have to go because my food is still in my large intestine and it can stay there for up to 2 days.
Mom: You still need to go because you eat every day.
Roz: (thinking) But what if my food moves more slowly? Then I wouldn't have to go to the bathroom today.

Yeah, my mom loves me because she cares about my regularity. :)

I AM - Nicole Nordeman

Pencil marks on a wall, I wasn’t always this tall
You scattered some monsters from beneath my bed.
You watched my team win, and watched my team lose
Watches when my bicycle went down again.

When I was weak, unable to speak, still I could call you by name
And I said Elbow Healer, Super Hero, come if you can.
You said, I am.

Only sixteen, life is so mean
What kind of curfew’s at 10 pm?
You saw my mistakes and watched my heart break
Hears when I said I’d never love again

When I was weak, unable to speak, still I could call you by name
And I said Heartache Healer, Secret keeper, be my best Friend
You said, I am.

You saw my wear white by pale candle light
I said ‘forever’ to what lies ahead
Two kids and a dream, with kids that can scream
Too much it might seem when it is at 2 am.

When I am weak, unable to speak still I will call you by name
Oh, Shepard, Savior, Pasture Maker, Hold on to my hand.
You say, I am.

The winds of change and circumstance
Blow in and all around us
So we find a foothold that’s familiar.
And bless the moments that we feel you nearer.

When life had begun, I was woven and spun
You let the angels dance around the throne.
Who can say when, but they’ll dance again
When I am free and finally headed home

I will be weak, unable to speak
Still I will call you by name
Creator, Maker, Life Sustainer
Comforter, Healer, My Redeemer
Lord and King, Beginning and End
I am. I am.

This is how I want my life to be characterized.

Reflections from the first week
Sitting in the library going through an orientation. It gives a good chance to go online and do random stuff like update!

This past week has been really busy. Suppose it's a combination between transitioning from semester system to quarter system and being in grad school. On the whole, this pharmacy thing is really enjoyable. My classmates and I have gotten to know each other through socials, info-sessions, parties and class. I'm looking forward to more of them these next few years.

I LOVE MY APARTMENT! If you need an oasis away from the daily grind, my crib is open for studying, relaxing and general hanging out. I love to have people over and have arranged things to be as homey as possible. (and I have a gallon tub of green tea ice cream [thanks Low family!], a futon, wireless internet, music playing in the background [any genre] and a clean bathroom). Also, for anyone in SoCal, if you're female, you can stay the night if you want.

I have a lot of goals and vision for this first year like:
1) read a non-science book a quarter
2) start on my scrapbook
3) find a church/fellowship/community where I can serve
4) make new friends, keep in touch with old ones

huh... none of these relate to pharmacy.
At any rate, after the first week...there's been only time for the #3 and 4. Sorry, Fyodor and Eileen, I won't be able to finish your books by December.

Things have been a little uncomfortable just because there's so much going on and I'm trying to find "home" again. In the past few months, it's been almost completely redefined and it'll be a while until I find it again, hopefully in something worthy (i.e. God).

Classes are really exciting (except for Pchem [STUPID CHANG] and biostat). It's funny both of these classes I took fall of Jr. Year, my hardest semester at Cal. We're actually learning things that we'll carry with us into our careers. So if you have health questions, I might be able to answer them. If not, I'll send you to the right resource.

In addition to classes, there're a LOT of opportunities to get involved in the community and help with screenings and consultations. I'm really looking forward to getting plugged in because it's something that I've had a vision for since last year with regards to health fairs.

All in all, it's been a good week.

Hong Kong. 2 pictures into one panorama. Thanks Jay.

In memoriam

My sister and I were walking around North End and visited the old church where lanterns were lit for Paul Revere. There was this freedomg courtyard in the back and we stumbled upon a memorial for all the soldiers lost in Iraq and Afghanistan. I remembered hearing about Brian's death from some friends and it didn't hit home until I saw his cross.

North End, Boston.

These are one of the people whom I went to elementary school, junior high and high school with. I had classes with him and he chased my friends and I around at raging waters with a hose. I didn't know what to do except pay my respects for him and his colleagues and pray for his family and close friends.

It's funny how things turn out.

So my incoming class is 80% female. In 122 people, that's about 100/122 people who are female. Guys, if you're not in pharmacy, you're missing out.

Characteristics of the women:
Driven
Leaders
Outgoing
Approachable

If you're looking for these qualities in a future spouse maybe the girl of your dreams is one of my classmates.

In other news: check out the new IS.

Starting

It hit me today. All my dreams since junior high have come into fruition.

1) I couldn't be anymore excited
2) I couldn't be anymore intimidated

At the same time, I couldn't be more thankful for this awesome opportunity that the Lord has given me.

I can't believe I'm actually here.

New Place

So I've moved. Picture this: 2 carloads of stuff, my dad maxing out at 90 on i-5 north with a daybed, mattress bike and other random boxes jammed into a minivan. Cut to San Francisco today: pretty much settled in and excited to have everything cleaned up. I'm excited to see friends from Berkeley, especially at the thingything on Sunday.

Moment of transparency: In the next week, my dreams will have come into fruition. You'd think I'd be excited, right? When my mom told me I got in, THAT was the exciting part. At that moment, EVERYTHING seemed to align. God was good. God is STILL good and will always and forever be good.

To be honest, I'm scared. I'm scared of not finding a community here, i'm scared of being lazy and just retracting into this little hole I've dug for myself and not reaching out. I'm scared that, like junior year, I'll start crying and getting sick all the time.

But then again, I had a lot of fears going to college. And it just so turns out, if I got another chance to do everything over, I wouldn't change anything. Why? 'Cause God did some amazing things and I wouldn't want to pass those up.

So who knows, just need to take it a day at a time and trust that amazing things will happen.

In the meanwhile, here are some views of my room. This is mostly for you, jeh, since you can't be here.

This is my room.

This is the other side of my room.

Something to think about.

YinYu Tang, House dissassembled in the Anhui province of China, assembled at the Peabody Essex museum in Boston.

NOT a glamorous representation of my beloved avian species.

The person I came to visit. We felt like we were in a J.crew catalogue.

More J.crew catalogue action.

Sunset on the east coast.

YSC - Get Real August 14-19, 2005

We spent the week being challenged to get Real with ourselves, our faith and with God. Pastor Jerry Wong from SunsetSF spoke on selected psalms. After being a camper and counseling for the first time, this experience has been one of the sweetest challenges. Coming off a 6 week trip to Asia, I was tired. But somehow I woke up every day... early (as you can tell by the pictures) and somehow refreshed. Every day I asked God for His provision, strength and energy and every day I got it. I could see a bit of myself in high school in each of my girls. Some are going to college this next year, some are continuing high school. I pray that God will shape them into women after God's own heart and I feel so blessed to have been a part of that.

Shoutout to my girls - Tiff, Esther, Emily, Chloe and Katrina. :)

this is what the sunrise in Pine Valley looks like at circa. 5:45am

This is us. before sunrise, circa 5:30am.

I had forgotten what it's like to be in high school. It's only been four years, but being at YSC, it brought back so many memories. Some things are still the same, but some things are different. I guess each year, the dynamic changes due to the people and the culture that affects them. But yeah, it caused me to remember lessons learned and the friends that I made. YSC has been totally awesome as a camper (4 years back) and a counselor.