Changes Are Good


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This is the piece of paper notifying my dad that we were granted permission to emigrate from Vietnam to the United States almost 23 years ago. This piece of paper helped changed the courses of four lives. I'm sure my parents were afraid and apprehensive of the new direction we were going but I did not know its significance.

Fever Ray




I like this song. The end.

Colorful keys


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So I heard a lot about people putting nail polish on their keys to differentiate between the different keys for a while now. I always said to myself to do it but never got around to it even though it was easy. I finally did it!

Look!

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I put on 3 coats of polish on each keys and tapped them to the table to dry. That was it. So easy, why didn't I do it earlier?


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I enjoyed it so much that I even did it to Helen's keys, too. Now, I have a super duper colorful key set. I would post them for you but people can cut keys with just photos of the keys. Call me paranoid but I'd rather be paranoid than have my kidneys stolen.


Valentine


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For Valentine's Day this year, we decided to stay home and make another epic pizza because that was way more fun than dressing up and going out.

All the delicious ingredients are here! We even got the fancy pepperonis and sausages from the butcher. For the dough, he called a local pizzeria up and ordered some premade delicious dough.


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In addition to the sausages and pepperonis, we also made spicy candied bacon for the pizza.


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Yay! Everything is cut up and ready to go!


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Dough is rolled and ready for some sauce action.


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Can't be a true dough master until flour is all over face!


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We poured a whole jar of sauce on the dough because I really love sauce. We had some fun laying out the goat cheese. Don't worry, we filled in the holes after this pretty picture.


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Basils and onions.


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Sausages, bacon, and pepperonis. Oh yeaaah.


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Cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, sliced jalapeno peppers, and more basils.


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Topping off with shredded mozzarella.


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Baked pizza! Whoohoo!


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So beautiful and so delicious! Best night ever!

The 30th Year


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In the first month of the year, I turned 30.


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It was quite wonderful. It happened on a Friday so my friends came to have a lovely dinner with me. All planned by lovely Helen and Priyanka.


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We ate cakes and stuff.


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Everyone looked all posh and dressy for me.


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They're totally trying to guess how old I really am.


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If you guess wrong, no cake for you!


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If you guess right, champagne for you!


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Err...can we get both?


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I came home and my sister got me this super delicious red velvet cake. It was the best red velvet cake I've ever eaten in my life!


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Besides the presents of good company and love, I also get physical presents. My dad got me these nude shoes. I'm now a grown up with nude shoes!


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My mom got me warm fuzzy socks! My parents really care about how my feet look and feel.


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In addition to the cake, my sister also got me this awesome PDF maker. I'm going to make everything a PDF! Rawr!


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One more special present from someone super special. I was told that this box contained flowers ordered all the way from Russia.


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Then why were they in a Japanese box?


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The "Russian flowers" were really sharp....I tested this knife. It is the most awesome knife ever. If I had this knife as a kid, I would never hate the chore of being a prep cook.


The first 30 years of my life was really eventful and I'll even say that it was successful. I've done things that I wanted to do. I've reached goals that I set out for myself. Generally, I spent more time being happy than experiencing other emotions. There are still a bunch of things that I have yet to accomplished. How about I accomplish them in the next 30 years?

Self Evaluations


2012 was a very eventful year. I have done a lot and accomplished a lot. Earlier in the year, I made a list of things I want to do to improve myself in general.

Self-Improvement List for 2012
- Get motorcycle license -- got it!
- Take one fencing class -- done!
- Lower resting heart rate from 72 to below 65 -- resting heart rate is now around 60 bpm
- Lift/squat/press more than my bodyweight of 105 lbs -- see below
- Do 5 pull-ups -- can only do up to 3
- Read 12 books, at least 2 non-fictions -- read 16 books, 6 of them are non-fictions

Looking back, the list was kind of stupid but it was a list nonetheless. I have accomplished the majority of the list.

Earlier this year, I was a pile of flabby fatty mass. Through the help of Helen and Dave, I learned to weight lift and I love it. I can dead lift 165-170 pounds, squat 145-155 pounds, and bench press at a maximum of 70 pounds. Yes, I realized that I failed at bench pressing my own weight. However, everything was a great improvement since I started out dead lifting 60 pounds, squatting 60 pounds, and bench pressing 30 pounds.


List of other things I did in 2012

1. I went out of my comfort zone and took 3 pole dancing classes. They kicked my ass and it felt great. I will continue to do things outside of my comfort zone.

2. I crocheted a Hobbes and a Batman.

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3. Went on a bunch of mini adventures with people I love.

4. I met a lot of dogs.

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5. Commissioned my very first piece of art from Sara Lyons.
6. Had way too many culinary adventures to count.
7. Suppy came to live with me.
8. Bought my very first Macbook. I still don't know how to use it well.
9. Learned that I'm in love.
10. Started to crochet a granny square blanket. I'm 15% done.
11. Started Invisalign.
12. Learned to crochet the broomstick stitch.
13. Took a bunch of classes while working and got really good grades.


With this new year, I intend on learning new skills, improve my health and self-image, be outside of my comfort zone, and be happier.

Christmas With Cats


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We used to set up a Christmas tree every year. The first year that we got our first kitten, Suppy, she destroyed the tree in one night. From then on, we stopped with the tree.

Since March of last year, Suppy came to live in my apartment with me. My family took that as a sign that they would finally get to put up a tree again. And they did.

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I guess our other cats are not tree killers because that thing was still standing when I came back home.

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Not only that they didn't destroy the tree, they even joined in the festivities. This is Calvin sitting next to the card my sister made for me. My sister always makes the best cards.

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We opened our presents and found a Calvin!

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Another kitty cat present!

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Calvin helped to open presents.

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Hobbes just watched. What a lazy Hobbes!

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Just kidding, Hobbes "helped," too.

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What? Hobbes doesn't help!

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I do, too!

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I help by looking pretty!

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In that case, I'm helping, too!

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Too much helping, we're tired.

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Stop helping, just cuddle.