yo tengo una guitarra nueva. me gusta lo mucho y esta practicando mas or menos cinco dias por la semana. prayer meetings on tuesday nights, rearranged bedroom now with a full length mirror ( i <3 ikea), beginning to enter school mode (no choice), now able to wear contacts again thanks to preservative free solution and eye drops, and attempting to maintain a regular exercise regimen. by regular, that potentially translates to regularly not exercising T_T

shall attempt a coherent post next time. aloha!

neglected.

considering how much time that i spent on my laptop, it's sad to realize that i haven't updated with so much of God's blessings in my life. must record! i shall have to take time to tell about how God's been moving in my life and reflect on my first year of teaching. oh and since my last post on playing the guitar, i took an unintended break and lost all my calluses. have recently acquired a kapo, compliments of my friend who taught me how to play a couple of more songs. i felt inspired to go to a music store and buy some music and a easy chord reference book as well. currently sporting blisters on my left hand but as i mentioned before... it hurts a lot but the music is so beautiful! well... in progress anyhow.

deceitful dandelions

praise God for allowing me to make it to spring break. PRAISE GOD. the past few days have been filled with extra hours of sleep and lots of leisure reading. love it. returned some books to the local library, went eye shopping, and enjoyed the cool spring weather.

it's been raining quite a bit here lately and i can tell that the front lawn is asking to get a trim. but lo and behold, there are some dandelions and weeds growing along with the new grass! two hours and a bucket of weeds later, the yard's still needs love and care but it's a start. my halmuni always spent hours pulling weeds at our old house, keeping our grass impeccable and beautiful; i think of her and remember how much time and energy devoted to growing her garden. my halmuni had the most amazing green thumb, she could make anything grow. 

i like pulling weeds. i think of halmuni and i think of Jesus when i pull weeds. you see, to successfully pull a weed, aim for the root and pull the entire weed out of the ground because if you just chop off what you see, it'll grow back even stronger and harder to get rid of. sort of like sin. different types of weeds require different types of pulling. some have shallow roots and are easily taken out when they're smaller, others have deep roots that require a tool because it's stubborn. i struggled with one that grew a little too big for my taste but had a root hard as a... uhhh radish? what i mean to say is that it gave me a hard time and didn't want to leave my yard.

there was another one which i did not like... it has a delicate growth that spreads out easily with little white flowers... a pain because it's hard to locate the root and it easily breaks with the slightest pull when it grows right next to the grass. easier to pull when it's isolated by itself. like sin. easy to find, easy to diagnose, easy to remove. but when it's next to the grass that belong to the yard, now that's tricky. dandelions weren't so difficult to pull because they're sturdy but i still needed to use a tool to make sure i got the root. but they're quite pretty to look at; one might be tempted to let them grow and not pull them. beware, they'll take over and push out the good grass and plants intended for the yard. 

big idea? easier to pull weeds when they're small and after a rain because the ground is soft and will cooperate with you. another big idea? get started early and be diligent because the wind carries the seeds from all over which very well may land where you don't want it to land. can't control that but i can control what i allow to stay in my yard. my yard is my heart and my life. time to roll up my sleeves and prepare to do some work!

when i need a resurrection from my current condition, i turn to God who has the power to breathe in me and bring me to life. to walk with you day by day, step by step, and trust you with my tomorrows - i have not been successful but your amazing grace quiets my soul.

i'm beginning to glimpse that this year is not in vain, that there is still hope in this direction as a teacher.

nerdy math comics

the math nerd in me is coming out. making a comic strip for my students... debating between the titles "mission solvable" and "the secret life of numbers." i'm leaning more to the former... will post the first strip soon =) this day off is definitely giving me the extended weekend i need!

want to hear something crazy? some of us teachers were talking about having our first snow day last week but i kept on hoping that it'll be after the exam review so that my students will have the time to study for their exam. students had their exam review and first final last week and today school is cancelled. isn't it funny how God answers prayers and small heart requests? it's how i got this teaching placement in the first place!

instrumental play

yours truly is learning how to play a bit of guitar with the new year. the song is i'm yours by jason mraz and all i can say is that my deep found respect for guitarists has deepened. getting the calluses certainly hurt but i'm sure that this small sacrifice will be worth it =)