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| Saturday, January 13th, 2007 | | 6:49 pm |
a few sentences, 2 quotes Things are going well in the new year, but have definitely been busier than I would like with my company's move to a new warehouse and my longer commute as well as taking care of small tasks that just needed to get done this weekend and little (but important) things such as replacing a flat tire which prevented me from meeting up with a friend in the city last night. Below are two quotes I have seen lately and enjoyed...I think it's important to keep achievements and failures in perspective and remember that it's impossible to get everything accomplished all the time. It's times like this that I have to remind myself that life is made up of making small changes and, as the fictitious psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin suggests in the movie What About Bob?, life is about taking "baby steps" to wherever you want to go and continuing with those steps. This year, I hope to accomplish quite a bit and will be eager to see how it all unfolds! "All of us failed to match our dreams of perfection. So I rate us on the basis of our splendid failure to do the impossible." --William Faulkner "Small change, small wonders - these are the currency of my endurance and ultimately of my life." --Barbara Kingsolver Current Mood:  accomplished | | Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 | | 6:51 pm |
holiday fun and work update Although my Christmas weekend was short, it was definitely enjoyable. This was my first Christmas away from my family (and, therefore, away from California). I celebrated Christmas Eve and enjoying a tasty feast with Mike's family in Watchung, NJ. That day we also ended up going to two church services -- one in Watchung and a midnight mass at the church we attend weekly in Raritan. The midnight service was well-planned and well-worth attending even though we were pretty tired by the time it ended. Highlights included watching the children in front of us marvel at the candles and nativity scene and seeing the elaborate and traditional Italian vestments that priests and other celebrants were wearing. Both of us were so glad we went and tried something new! Christmas Day was spent at Mike's family's house with his parents, brother, and grandparents. We had a great time and enjoyed tasty food and good conversation. It was nice that they made such an effort to include me in their celebration...this included getting called up to sit on Santa's lap and receive a gift at a holiday party for one side of Mike's family a few weeks ago. While I am commenting on the season in general, I'm also glad we got and decorated a small artificial Christmas tree in our apartment. It was so nice to light the tree in the evening and to get a sense of really being at home. Another highlight from weeks past (as I realize I have been a bad updater lately) was the holiday party for my company, which was held at a Hilton Hotel in Central New Jersey. The festivities exceeded my already high expectations and I greatly enjoyed being able to meet spouses / significant others of my employees and coworkers and seeing people I worked alongside in the warehouse all dressed up. To cap off our holiday season, we will be hosting a party at our apartment on New Year's Eve, so I'm looking forward to that. My brief work update is that since our company is in the process of moving its office and warehouse approximately 10 miles south of its current location and are scheduled to complete this move within one week, we are all working strange hours and have additional move-related responsibilities. I am helping to supervise the pulling and tagging team in the warehouse, which is responsible for collecting all of the material in our current warehouse by its location in the new warehouse and consolidating materials going to like locations on wooden carts and skids which will be transported and unloaded at the new warehouse. So far, it has been an interesting process, but my hours for this week and some previous Saturdays have been odd (4 am - 4 pm) and that has definitely been tiring. It has also been challenging, because many of the employees for this task do not usually work in the warehouse (office employees are also assisting this week) and need to be trained and become accustomed to lots of walking, lifting, and ladder climbing. The new warehouse looks GREAT though and I am excited to see how our operation improves with added efficiencies and higher technology in place. Once the move is finally over, all of the effort will definitely be worth it. That's it for now...hope you enjoyed the holidays and I will continue to write further updates! "And so we turn the page over / To think of starting. This is all there is." --John Ashbery Current Mood: accomplishedCurrent Music: O Holy Night / Sleigh Ride | | Wednesday, December 13th, 2006 | | 7:45 am |
My Xmas Stocking ( my xmas stocking ) Current Music: Sleigh Ride (especially the sound effects) | | Sunday, November 19th, 2006 | | 3:47 pm |
random songs & quote Things are going well overall. Work has been very busy for me these last few weeks - this last week, I was working on writing some employee evaluations and also beginning a substantial project involving recommendations for improving bin filler productivity. We are also currently filling orders out of two buildings and plan to be fully transitioned to our new warehouse location by sometime in January. Away from work, Mike and I have been enjoying fun weekends including visiting Betsy for her birthday / housewarming in Brooklyn a few weekends ago, enjoying a very tasty dinner at Cucharamama in Hoboken and hosting friends over at our place. Two random / fun songs: quadratic formula song: http://www.atlanticwinds.com/mathmem/YDQF.htm(inspired by Shawn's recent visit and interesting conversations with Mike and Shawn) other fun stuff: on Friday, Mike and I went with some of his high school friends (and, it also turned out, college friends) to see a Ben Folds concert at the Warsaw in Brooklyn. Of course we continue to be quite the fans of Ben, and this makes my 3rd Ben Folds concert. Link to video of one of the songs he played that I like (Jesusland): http://finefinemusic.com/2006/05/27/ben-folds-jesusland-video/MC, as we were driving to run some errands this morning before church: "New Jersey is so cute when there are no cars on the road." Current Music: the luckiest - ben folds | | Sunday, October 29th, 2006 | | 4:48 pm |
this weekend On Friday, Mike and I relaxed at home and watched a movie called Luther, a movie about Martin Luther, which was well done and interesting. Well, I can't fully endorse it as I fell asleep a few times near the middle/end, but I was tired and relaxed. Yesterday, we drove out to Pennsylvania and I went on my first haunted hayride with Mike, Justin, Dawn, Josh, and Jen - check out http://www.thebatesmotel.com/ to see the one we went to! I really was worried about people grabbing my legs or swooping down because I tend to yell a lot at even un-scary things. Fortunately, I was able to grab Mike's hand and I was warmly dressed for the Halloween fun, so it went fine and was more fun than scary. Today, other than running errands and cleaning, it has been pretty calm. Thus far, Sunday has consisted of completing "to dos" and hopefully gearing up for another fun (and potentially scary since there is Halloween) workweek. Overheard Quote father, to his son who must have been about 4 years old, walking from their car into Home Depot...hopefully joking!: "You see, if you knew how to drive, I wouldn't have to...I'll teach you tomorrow." Quote "Life always bursts the boundaries of formulas." - Antoine de St. Exupery, in Flight to Arms Really? Then explain this book, which I saw at the bookstore last weekend and seems funny and potentially accurate: http://www.amazon.com/Geek-Logik-Foolproof-Equations-Everyday/dp/0761140212 A calculator is provided with the book and formulas for life questions, such as "Do I have a snowball's chance in Hell with her?" or "Is it time to see a therapist?" are included. Yes, I know it's not REALLY accurate, but it's a cool concept for a book and it's somewhat reassuring to believe that such things can be quantified. Anyone have interesting life formulas to share or thoughts on this? Current Mood:  good | | Tuesday, October 24th, 2006 | | 9:13 pm |
quote and photo "When you've finished washing and dressing each morning, you must tend your planet." - from The Little Prince by Antoine de St. Exupery Things are good...hopefully soon I will post more about my life working in a warehouse and some fun recent events. Mike and I greatly enjoyed attending Kat and Trieu's wedding in Rohnert Park, CA a couple of weeks ago - here's a photo of us that will allow you to see the beautiful outdoor setting:  Current Mood:  content | | Thursday, October 19th, 2006 | | 9:05 pm |
60 questions stolen from elisaana answers to some random / fun questions courtesy of Betsy and her journal can be found by clicking ( Read more... ) Current Mood:  thoughtful | | Saturday, September 30th, 2006 | | 2:21 pm |
I admit I am a word nerd  I just finished reading this book - American Bee - about the history and culture of spelling bees. Very cool! I enjoyed the profiles of various champions over the years and just the general writing style of James Maguire and the way the book was flavored with words and definitions from past bees and their definitions. I recommend this as much as the movie Spellbound...new goal: rent Akeelah and the Bee, which is also related and should cure me of my mild obsession with spelling bee-related information. Random fact learned from the book (which makes sense): spelling bees have gotten increasingly difficult to win since the birth of the national spelling bee in 1925. For example, the winning word for the 1940 bee was therapy. For the 1999 bee, logorrhea, which means compulsive talkativeness, was the final word spelled. Okay, I will try to remain calm and keep myself from sharing other details about the book...but the world of competitive spelling is oh, so cool! Current Mood:  optimistic | | Thursday, September 28th, 2006 | | 10:25 pm |
books to check out - no pun intended! ha ha I just saw that Time Magazine critics have released their list of the 100 best English language novels from 1923 to present. It's at http://www.time.com/time/2005/100books/the_complete_list.html I haven't read most of their 100, but here are 2 quick lists it inspired me to make: My Top 5 of the Time 1001984 - George Orwell To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume Books on this List I Want to ReadThe Bridge of San Luis Rey - Thornton Wilder Death Comes for the Archbishop - Willa Cather* Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison Rabbit, Run - John Updike The Spy Who Came in from the Cold - John LeCarre* Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut White Noise - Don DeLillo * = I know nothing about it, but it sounds interesting Okay, that's it for now...going to bed! "When I stop becoming, that's when I worry." -- Stephen Dunn Current Mood: good | | Monday, September 4th, 2006 | | 10:34 am |
yay for userpics Ooh! Now I have finally uploaded userpics - I am very excited about this...perhaps I will use them too. "It isn't the big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones." -- Jean Webster Current Mood: goodCurrent Music: WQXR classical on radio | | Friday, September 1st, 2006 | | 8:35 pm |
a moment to answer some questions (stolen from several friends, so I think I'll jump on the bandwagon): let me hide this under a link so you can click it if you're interested ( Read more... )"It isn't a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream." --Benjamin Mays Current Mood:  exhausted | | Sunday, August 27th, 2006 | | 9:12 pm |
8 non-work-related things about my summer 1) Lately, we've been going hiking or exploring state or county parks in NC/NJ: most difficult = Stone Mountain State Park in NC in May (we were hiking pretty much straight up the face of a mountain in rainy weather)...most fun new discovery = county park in Central NJ with mini golf, paddleboating, and more! 2) I've also gotten the chance to go to several very special events for people who are important my life -- in addition to attending Mike's graduation at Wake Forest and learning that he graduated with academic distinction (top 10% of his MBA class), we went to Betsy's graduation ceremony at Yale, went to Brian and Jessica's wedding in New York State, went to Jaime and Eric's wedding in Chapel Hill, and went to Ije and Ife's wedding in Long Island. 3) For both of us, buying furniture ended up being more exciting than we had previously imagined -- we enjoyed finding some good deals and purchasing many items that we really enjoy. The most rewarding part has been having groups of friends over several times since moving in. Our housewarming party was fun, because it included friends of both of ours at the same time, most of whom had not met each other before. It's neat to see how people from different social groups can come together and have a great time...I look forward to finding a fitting occasion for our next gathering. 4) Speaking of hosting people, Kami became our first official overnight guest, spending some time here with us and enjoying various local activities during her time here. In addition to just catching up with her, one of the highlights was sitting on the grass with Kami and Mike listening to an outdoor community live guitar concert ontside the Thomas Sweet's Ice Creamery in Princeton. 5) It's been so nice to already see more people from NC and far away than we anticipated we would by this time -- we were fortunately able to catch Shawn twice this summer before she starts her MBA program and Trevor and Julie as they spent a little time in NJ while taking hypnotherapy classes. 6) I've gotten to know Mike's grandparents better and we've had the chance to chat with them more since we are living about 15 miles away from them now (much closer than when Mike lived in Northern NJ). Last weekend, we went to a Somerset Patriots minor league baseball game with them...my favorite part: their mascot was called General Admission (and dressed like a general). My second favorite part: observing the social dynamics of the kids sitting a couple of rows in front of us and overhearing some intriguing dialogue. 7) The Bridgewater Public Library has been an exciting resource for me, with its free DVDs and wide array of interesting books. It's always good to be well-stocked for reading parties! I'm starting a new book, which seems very intriguing called Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard Psychologist (it's fascinating so far). 8) Lately, thanks to the DVDs Justin and Dawn lent us early on in the summer, we have stayed entertained without the aid of cable TV (not paying for it at this time) and become addicted to the TV show House - good thing it's not this year that I'm taking the Addictions Counseling course, because I definitely would have had to choose this as my addiction to give up. Work is going well....but that's for another post. Now, we're going to watch House (the finale for Season 1 - we're catching up...no spoilers, please!). "Each moment is a place you've never been." --Mark Strand Current Mood:  creative | | Sunday, August 13th, 2006 | | 11:23 am |
five quotes of the summer here are several quotes from this summer that I found amusing... Betsy, at IKEA: "I feel like some sort of an astronaut." - Betsy, I wish I could remember when this was...was this when you were pushing the as-is items to the checkout with your cart? Mike, reading the instruction book for our Walmart Entertainment Center which ended up being a project MUCH longer than the 3 hour and 15 minute assembly time that the box suggested: "It doesn't say, 'Bend metal with your bare hands a la Superman.'" One person at my new job who was training us trying to tell us about the extreme detail orientation of employees at the company: "McMaster employees have 10 fingers, 10 toes, and an incredible propensity to be anal." Mike, unfortunately speaking the truth a few weeks ago: "Cars are breaking left and right!" - this refers to a period of time in which Mike's old car had several problems causing it to have repair attention, Mike then borrowed his parents' old car which also stopped working well, and it was suggested that my car get repair at the same time...fortunately, within the last 7 days all of this has been taken care of and Mike has a nice new-to-him car and sold the old one SB, telling me about her life including bugs and other random unexpected ailments from her recent travels: "Those are my bodily adventures of the past two weeks." That's it for now...I will try to update more frequently now that we are settling in. We're heading off to church now. final quote: "It's time to start living the life we've imagined." -- Henry James Current Mood: good | | Friday, June 30th, 2006 | | 12:19 pm |
summer reading idea I just finished reading a fascinating book called Unhooked Generation by Jillian Straus, which is really interesting to me and is appealing to many because it explains the modern difficulties of dating and entering committed relationships (and why so many people in their 20s and 30s are "unhooked", or single / not in committed relationships) by interweaving recent research on the topic with personal anecdotes from 100 people that Jillian interviewed from across the country. Here's a link to a brief article on the book which includes tips for dating success: http://asap.ap.org/stories/366102.sIn my limited marriage & family counseling experience and friend/life experience, I would definitely agree with all of the tips in the article, especially numbers 1 and 2. Thoughts, anyone? Current Mood: intrigued | | Monday, June 12th, 2006 | | 5:10 pm |
so it's been about 2 months... ...and a lot of busy / good things have happened. :) Hmm...this is by no means an exhaustive summary, but here are three highlights/headlines: - Mike proposed to me on a trip to New Bern, NC in May (and of course I said yes because that is very exciting!) - graduated with my Master of Arts in Counseling at Wake Forest in mid-May and was very glad I had selected that program - have done lots of job searching and transitioning lately: entertaining family here before graduation, staying in NJ with Mike's family for three weeks, going to Betsy's graduation at Yale, furniture shopping, lots of job hunting and interviewing, and coming back down to NC for one week before heading back to move in to our apartment, seem to be closing in on a promising job option (but I won't stay more here until it's finalized). There's my attempt at summarizing important events. Current Mood:  excited | | Sunday, April 16th, 2006 | | 10:48 am |
spring quotes This is a 100% quote-y entry, because I have just been able to catch up...more later. Will be going to an Easter service soon. Class Quotes( Read more... )Quotes from Outside of School: ( Read more... )"Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it." --Confucius Current Mood: grateful | | Sunday, April 2nd, 2006 | | 10:44 pm |
March Madness (in a good way) Things have been busy and mostly very good since the last time I have really updated a month ago...but it has been so good I will have to limit myself to 10 highlights in addition to spring break (in no particular order, except maybe chronological). - Mike and I enjoyed celebrating Mozart's birthday with Meg and Andrew at a Secrest Series concert by I Musici of Rome and later in the month attended a Winston-Salem symphony performance, which included a great trumpet piece and Beethoven's 7th symphony. - We enjoyed fondue in Greensboro with Helen & Joe at The Melting Pot and some fun conversation about criminology and interrogation (Joe is a police officer). Mmmm...it was all so good! - We drove to Charlotte to see the Mint Museum of Art and BK, who was on a business trip here and dined with him at Uno's after apparently taking some unauthorized photos (I guess taking photos in a downtown with tall buildings could now be considered a terrorist threat - oops!). - I took my Resident Advisers to paint pottery and to coffee and we had a great time...I am so fortunate to have gotten such an amazing staff - they mesh so well together and we've had a really smooth year - We had a nice dinner with Trevor & Julie which included some fun laughs at dinner and after as we watched the movie The Pink Panther - We enjoyed the Babcock (MBA School) Annual Charity Auction, where we enjoyed fun and food and (fortunately) not winning anything large or expensive...we also had a great time at a surprise party for Mike's friend Dan - I was offered two final round interviews with non-profits in Newark, NJ and scheduled them both for April 10 (be thinking happy thoughts for me, please), so it'll be fun to take a day trip up there and potentially get offered a job as well! - On Wednesday, Mike and I got to join some Counseling folks for a Japanese dinner and meet Karen's boyfriend Scott before enjoying a Ben Folds concert on campus (yes, it was everything we had hoped and more!) and also got to show off my new haircut (courtesy of Karen's fashion advising) to a focus group, which approved. - I had a great dinner with Julie and her friend Melissa and was also able to get lots of work done for class that night, which was helpful since there are lots of tasks left to do before the semester ends and graduation time rolls around and I can see that they are really getting accomplished - Mike and I saw Kiss Me Kate on campus (yes, I know what you're thinking...not just because of the name) last night and it was fabulous and today were able to walk on campus to Reynolda Gardens since the weather has finally gotten warmer There has been a lot going on, both exciting and routine. This means a lot of crossing off of my to do lists and definitely some stress about getting everything figured out and accomplished on time and looking forward to life after graduation, but I think I'm in a really good place right now and content with where things are. I'm going into a new week and couldn't ask for anything more! :) "This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it." -Ralph Waldo Emerson Current Mood: hopefulCurrent Music: assorted Kiss Me Kate songs | | Sunday, March 12th, 2006 | | 10:01 am |
back from a wonderful trip! This is a quick update to say that our Madrid trip was really great...maybe later on I will add details, but feel free to add a comment to the journal or e-mail me if you would like to see some photos (if any of you are planning a trip to Spain, let me know and I may have some suggestions because we found a lot of fun things to do and see). More later, probably :) "The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but significance - and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning." -Oprah Winfrey Current Mood: good | | Monday, February 27th, 2006 | | 10:56 am |
| | 12:26 am |
February: Fun, not Freakish...and almost Finished! Highlights of February: ( Read more... )Class Quotes (from the last few weeks) : ( Read more... )I’m getting REALLY excited about the fact that Mike and I are going to Madrid for a week on Friday (during spring break) – if anyone has any ideas for things to make sure to do or see, especially if they are offbeat, please e-mail me or call me to let me know. Thanks and I will try to take some fun pictures! - “Life is for living. What else could one do with it?” – Noel Coward - “A life is not important except for the impact it has on other lives.” - Jackie Robinson Current Mood: good |
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