Chrissy-Rae

2006-09-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

As I'm sitting here sick about to fall into a nyquil-induced slumber, I'm thinking about how great it was to see old friends again. There's just something about it. Last weekend, I saw my 3 best friends (Megan, Sonja, and Priscilla). We've been inseparable since freshman year, so when it came time to graduate, it was such a shock to all of us that we were going our separate ways. People say "oh friends from college don't always remain so close as the years pass by," but I'd like to believe we will. I mean we're still just as close if not closer 6 years after college. 2 of my friends are married and it seems as if our bond and friendship has spread to the two new members of our group. As we were sitting at the lunch table after church last week, I was thinking about how funny we were. I mean here we were laughing and joking with our short attention spans and acting up like we were in college again as if all of the life events we've experienced haven't phased us at all. There we were with soon to be parents, a couple who were starting their own business, a mechanical engineer whose boss is overworking her and then me amongst our group, and we could not for the life of us hold the attention span of even a 3 year old while the waiter was talking to us. It was absolutely wonderful to be in the midst of friends who know you so well that when you're with them, it's as if you can do anything knowing they'll always laugh with you or at you when you mess up and then everything will be ok.

Neighbors

2006-09-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

Today was definitely a day of stress and freaking out for me. Howie, I'm sure you're probably going to laugh now as you read this because my Passat was, of course, giving me trouble again. Yes, I took it to the shop and had it checked out. They wouldn't even touch the problem because they didn't want to get into it. They suggested I take it right to Volkswagen. Red flags skyrocketed in my mind because I was not pouring another 3000 bucks into the car in the 9 months that I have had it. After a night of no sleep, calculations and talking with my neigbors Mike and Crystal, who love cars, Mike and I made a trip to a Honda dealership this morning. Let me just say that my Passat will move on to bigger and better things I'm sure, and I am happy with my new Accord, which I got at a great bargain. I also have to say thanks to any and all neighbors who have helped someone the way that Mike and Crystal helped me these past couple of days. I, personally, have never gone out of my way to be nice and befriend a neighbor in any of my past apartments. But somehow in the Charlotte suburbs where my sister is, it's a little reassuring to know that neighbors standing around chatting outside, while the kids are riding bikes and playing, still exists. So hopefully when I'm living on my own again, I will make an extra effort to be to nice and befriend the people who live next to me.

Chilvary is not lost- thank you

2006-09-01T00:42:00.000-07:00

When I was in Cali, one of my former coworkers teased me relentlessly for 5 years on how I have that walk where I unintentionally veer off slightly to one side when approaching a closed door in order for the person behind me to walk past me and open the door for me. I think I grew used to it living in Georgia and didn't realize it. There were some instances where she would catch me just standing in front of a door continuing my conversation while waiting for the door to be opened. I, with all honesty, had no idea I did this. So after she pointed it out to me, I made a conscious effort to try opening doors for other people instead. I'm not saying that people stopped opening doors for me, but I at least started noticing it and tried to return the favor to people instead. I love that moms and dads used to teach their little boys to be courteous and respectful of women (I'm a girl so go figure) and open doors for them or stand up at a dinner table when a woman leaves, etc. I mean some of it nowadays is a little much, but I think many of those qualities of courtesy are a great thing to have.

Tonight I had to go to class. I parked in the same deck as many other students did and had to walk across the street. Well as I was waiting for the elevator in the parking deck, a few other people were waiting with me. The elevator door opened, one guy went in first to hold the 'door open' button, while the three other guys (after realizing I was the only girl) gestured to me with their hands "after you." How nice! Then the we crossed the street and one of the guys opened the door for me and stood back with the other three just patiently waiting for me to enter first. The whole time I didn't really even talk to them except to say "thank you." Then we had to wait for another elevator to go up to the classrooms and as I had thought, the same behavior happened again. As they moved aside to let me get off of the elevator first, I realized it was probably the nicest walk I had from the parking garage to class, and I thought how gentlemanly and sweet of these guys. Their mamas taught them good manners. So no, I most certainly do not expect this behavior and I do not have a broken arm and can open up a door myself, but I do realize and truly appreciate it when that courtesy is bestowed upon me.

Finding Faith in the Dark

2006-09-01T00:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, first let me start off by saying, don't let my current mood fool you. I'm actually not really depressed at this moment, I just thought I would put that because of the Tropical Depression Ernesto- probably soon to be raised to a tropical storm. Anyway, it's kind of fitting because I'm tired and can't sleep due to Ernesto's loud cracks of thunder and huge flashes of lightening.

Ok so the other night, I kind of had what I call a "God thought." Something where you see a random act and you can relate it to God somehow. As most of you know, I'm staying with my sister and brother in law right now until December when I will move into a condo. Well their daughter, my three year old niece, Sarah, is the sweetest little girl you'll meet. (I'm biased of course) Every night, she has her bedtime routine- stories...pray, give everyone kisses then shut the door and goodnight. Well sometimes she's not tired right away, but at 8:00, she is in bed and even if she's not tired, she has to lay in bed until she falls asleep. Well the other night around 9:00, I had to run upstairs to get onto knittinghelp.com for something (hehe), and I heard this little voice from behind the door say "I love you." It was really cute because she didn't even know who was out there on the stairs but she heard someone outside of her door and said it anyway. How cool is that? I mean to have that child-like faith of just trusting that there really was someone on the other side of that door whom she knew and trusted and loved, and it didn't matter who it was, she didn't miss a chance to tell them that she loved them. It made me think, shouldn't my faith and my love be like that? I mean, I can't physically see God just like Sarah couldn't actually see anyone in the hallway behind a closed door. But, she knew someone was there and I know that God is out there everywhere. So why not take the chance to show the homeless person on the corner, the business exec in the corner office or the next door neighbor whose husband is out of town and needs help with the kids, that kind of love that God calls us to with the confidence of knowing that ultimately, it will be us telling God that we love Him even though we don't physically see Him? I definitely need to learn a lesson from a 3 year old, and hope that I can have that kind of faith.

Joys of the South

2006-07-19T17:46:00.000-07:00

Spending the last weekend traveling to my grandmother's house in Florida reminded me of just how grateful I am to be in the south and closer to my family. My trip to my grandmother's was very reflective in that my grandma, dad and I found some old papers to go through, some of which consisted of my great grandparents' marriage license and war discharge papers from the military as well as their last wills and testaments, my great great grandfather's calligraphy writing to his daughter (my great grandmother) and some other interesting family history tidbits. I guess to sum it all up, it just let me see how much my family history has influenced the current generation. It also brought me closer to the lives of people who did live in a different age and time and who had their real life stories of the depression and the wars. It left me feeling somber/pensive/in awe of my family/etc. It also gave me an even greater sense of peace knowing that God took care of my family, and He'll take care of me and meet me at any path I've chosen at every point in my life.

So, on my drive back up from Florida to Georgia, then from Georgia to North Carolina, I saw some funny and sentimental sights that just gave me joy about being back in the south and being closer to family as well as feeling even closer to God now than I was 5 years ago when I moved to California, which has been the place of some sincere and deep spiritual growth.

Here are some things that gave me a joy and a good laugh....

-gator billboards
-tons and tons of trees and woods
-chick fil a signs (closed sundays)
-waffle houses and cracker barrels
-sunrise over the waterways/ocean
-big fields of cotton and other crops that seemed to have no end to them
-good ole country pit bbq stops
-horse farms
-homemade peach stand signs
-the american flag and state flags at every border and almost everywhere in between
-billboards that say "Free ticket to heaven" (haha- it's those southern baptists I bet!)
-beef jerky and boiled peanuts for sale in all the gas stations
-patches of thick heavy rain showers that lightened up after 10 minutes

There's tons more, but I don't think I'd be able to capture it all here. I also don't think I appreciated these moments as much as I do after being away from it for a while. I know I'll feel the same whenever I go back to any one place I haven't been to in a while.

Cultural differences

2006-06-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

So today I decided to go to Aveda where I had a gift certificate to use, which I used toward an eyebrow waxing. Waxing sounds so harsh doesn't it? So how about I say "brow hair removal." Anyway, as I'm laying there cringing from the pain but at the same time feeling good about the reason why I'm in pain, which was to remove those stubborn hairs and have nice eyebrows, the lady asked me what my nationality was. Of course I get this question all the time, and I know that usually people can tell that I am not fully caucasian because of my eyes and dark hair color and possibly my chinese nose, however, it seemed a little unusual to be asked this question after we had already been engaging in conversation and more than half way through the brow hair and shaping removal process. Also, keep in mind that my eyes were closed and my facial features were a little distorted from cringing. So instead of just saying the typical "I'm half chinese and half white" and ending the conversation, I asked her why she thought to ask that. She said "Oh because I can tell you were asian of some sort but not fully asian because of your brows." Interesting. She continued and said she had been working with brows for so long that she can see the differences in the brow structure and shape in different cultures. It was pretty fascinating. Apparantly, the chinese eyebrows typically curve and hang down the sides. All this to say that I never realized how cool that verse was that says that God knows us down to how many hairs we have on our heads. I mean it's pretty neat that even our eyebrows are generally shaped differently based on our culture and genetic makeup.

Coffee personalities

2006-06-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

My good friend and fellow barista at a local coffee shop in Mountain View has recently informed me of her blog on personalities through people's coffee/espresso orders. (www.angiehdavis.blogspot.com)

I read it and felt so strongly, that I could not just simply comment on her wonderful insight.

Before I became a barista, I did not know that much about coffee, other than that I needed about 2 cups every morning before I talked to anyone, and I was never truly impressed with the vanilla foamy lattes with half nonfat and half whole milk. However, I was impressed that so many options and varieties were available so that I could customize my drink should I feel the need. As I learned more about coffee and the art of espresso drinks, I realized quickly how to tell the true espresso lovers from the trendy lovers. With coffee lovers, they will sit in the shop and enjoy a true classic cappuccino or espresso or cup of coffee with no alterations- maybe a little milk. Of course, there are wannabes but that's just something you'll have to pick out for yourself.

With trendy coffee lovers, I realized that it's not just about customization but about personalization. The difference is that people customize their drinks with nonfat milk or regular. However, people seem to personalize their drinks by finding the different flavors or unique modifications that cause them to stand out from the crowd. I love getting to know people and love coffee, so the combination has become somewhat mind boggling as my understanding grows in both areas.

Here are some other personalities in addition to Angie's drink personality list....

Blended mocha guy- doesn't understand coffee drinks but is looking for an ice cream fix with a little caffeine.
Traditional cappuccino lady for here- classy
Sugar free caramel nonfat mocha with whip lady- wants to be healthy but can't pass up the chocolate or whip. self fulfilling prophecy somewhere in there?
Soy decaf guy- unless you're allergic to milk, why would anyone get soy decaf?
Triple Red Eye guy- crabby patty
Double Caramel Mocha with whip topped with chocolate syrup lady- daring and fun or dare I say looking for some fun?
Triple americano in a 12 oz with two splendas dissolved into the espresso shots before they are poured into the cup- someone who is too particular about order and is on the straight and narrow with no room at the top to bend the rules a bit.

Maybe I'll think of some more. For me, I would say that I'm somewhere between what Angie calls boring, predictable but loyal, and sometimes I try to be a little classy. However, let's not forget that in the mornings, I am a crabby patty as one of my 5 year old nephews would tell me.

Gift for my dad!

2005-10-12T21:11:00.000-07:00

I was trying to buy my father a birthday present. I know how much he likes movies and decide I'm going to send him a gift card for a night out. When I am about to complete the checkout process, I realize that they want to charge me $8 for shipping. So, like any normal person, I became outraged. I sent them an email right away to let them know that I could easily put a stamp on an envelope and mail a gift card for 37 cents rather than 8 dollars.

I know that my dad would be disappointed if I just ate the cost of the shipping and did not get my money's worth. And, since this present was for him, I just knew that I could not do it.

A classic example of why people abandon their shopping carts online.

Because the movies did not work out, I go to a restaurant's web site to make another attempt at finding my father another gift card that is perfect for him. What did I find? Another site that wanted to charge $8.35 to ship a gift certificate. Yet, another cart abandoned and another email sent.

So where did I find my father a birthday present? basspro.com! For the guy who loves fishing and who is always taking his children and grandchildren out on the boat, I knew I came to the right place. I paid less than $8 for shipping on some fishing apparel that weighed much more than a gift card. Here's to you Daddy! I love you!

General Thoughts

2005-07-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

Food
food touching on the plate...not good. some family members don't understand. it's so important to not be mixing sweet and salty foods or hot and cold foods or wet and dry, and so on.
TIP: when you have limited amount of plates, eat one thing at a time. first the dry stuff then the wet. (oh yeah...special thanks to my mother who always makes me a different sauce when it's spaghetti night since I don't like spaghetti. yes...i'm the youngest and i'm spoiled. love it!)

Kickboxing - everyone should try it...at least once. either you like it or don't. My recommendation- Studio Kicks in Palo Alto with Richard Branden