our wonderful (but short) summer break

Eugene went back to school today and our sweet, sweet summer has come to an end.

It has been a wonderful summer break.

Eugene was super busy working full time hours and i've been tied up trying to balance two jobs but we were able to squeeze in a lot of good times and good food and much-needed rest. God is good and life is pretty beautiful. Though starting school again is bittersweet - we're excited for Eugene to start his THIRD (and hardest!!) year of pharmacy school and we're praying earnestly and feeling quite dependent on God's grace to get through it together. 

Our summer was a great time for us to "catch up" and to really spend quality time together. As many of you know - Eugene and I really don't see each other all that much while he's in school. Due to both our commutes (his to LA and mine to OC) and our opposite schedules - there were weeks and months in the last few years where we would only really see each other awake for a few hours a week. As you can imagine - this can definitely create a platform for a lot of miscommunication and/or lack of communication. We really have to fight every day and every week to find creative ways to spend time together and to express our love for one another. (Is this getting too gushy? too bad!) The summer was a perfect time for us to look back and see how good and faithful God has been to us in our marriage. Despite the many hard days - we could honestly say that God really strengthened our marriage and deepened our love for one another. We were able to really bask in the fruit of that nurtured, matured and tested love during this summer and simply enjoy each other during this short, but sweet time off.

Needless to say - a lot of good eats were involved. 

We also went on a lot of spontaneous dates and had a lot of dessert. and boba. and ice cream. 

We even got to sneak away on a short cruise trip together. We literally ate and slept the entire trip. We docked on Catalina the first day and got ice cream. That's about the most exciting thing we did the entire trip. 

Despite the crazy kiddie dance parties (which I participated in) and the massive number of people on board - we enjoyed free room service, unlimited pizza and ordering 2-3 appetizers and 2-3 entrees for every dinner. It was amazing. More than anything I was so grateful to have spent free, phone-less (we had no reception!) time with my husband. 

Other highlights of summer: 

• Meeting up during lunch breaks at random places (Rubios, Marketplace Grill) and almost getting indigestion because we had to eat so fast.
• I AM GROOT!!! (I love that we watched this twice because I slept through the entire movie the first time.)
• Going to porto's for breakfast and coffee any free morning we had
• Sleeping in! (What a blessing that I will never, ever, ever take for granted!)
• Going to the gym and then going to Starbucks to read together. Trenta Green Tea, unsweetened + a free refill, please :) 
• Going to Vegas for 1 night to eat at Bacchanal Buffet (yes, we literally only went for this reason!) and how our room got double booked and we walked into our room and there were people inside (yipes!) so we told the conceirge and they gave us a free room upgrade + $50 food credit so we used it on the buffet...woot woot!
• Camping with friends - and riding on a boat and feeling super important. (Never forget Mel Wong's legit girl scout skillz.)
• The day we ordered so much sushi and the guy who worked their doubted just how much sushi you could eat - and we got all puffed up with pride and we got super OWNED. and vowed to never eat AYCE sushi for date nights ever again. God really humbled us that day : ( 
• Stand-up paddle boarding, game night and yummy taco dinner with the Oquindo's
• Parks and Rec. and my favorite RON SWANSON! (ps. Can I buy this mask?)

• Driving to church together, finally! (We usually drive seperately because I have a lot of meetings at church and Eugene likes to go home early to study.) This was a huge blessing!
• Going to Pho 2000 after a hard day of work (for me) almost every week because it was my major comfort food. 
• Our nightly family worship - reading through the gospel of John and praying together (praying we can keep this up during the school year!) 
• Family hang outs with both of our families - and eating AYCE and totally overwhelming the staff with our orders. 
• Dancing to our newly choreographed "Awesome MIX vol. 1" from GoG. Eugene is seriously the cutest dancer - I'm so lucky that I'm the only one allowed to see him dance! He goes all out, guys! You would never believe it.

It was a great summer. p3 aint got nothin' on us!
It's gonna be an amazing year....you'll see! : ) 

xoxo

our first anniversary!

Time seriously flies!
Yesterday was our first wedding anniversary and it's amazing how fast our first year has come and gone. Eugene was at school all day yesterday and I was at work so we celebrated with some Brazilian BBQ last weekend.  We ate a lot of meat (and even more from the salad bar) and shared about the many things we learned from our first year of marriage.

A lot has happened this past year: I became a sandwich-making machine. I learned how to schedule my day around my laundry time (our dryer takes FOREVER). I cut my hair short-short for the first time since I was a child (still regretting it!). I got a Costco card. I inherited a chinese last name. I learned how to make a strawberry trifle! I became a firm believer of the slow cooker and I subscribed to the Rachel Ray Magazine (which is now to be one of many magazine subscriptions, hooray!)

This has truly been a very sweet, humbling and sanctifying year. God has really shown us much of our own sins, our selfishness and our self-seeking tendencies. We're still learning what it means to die to ourselves and to really love, serve and sacrifice for each other the way Christ loved, served and sacrificed for us. We still have a long, long way to go-- but we know that he who began a good work in us will bring it completion at the day of Christ (philippians 1:6) so we're still working hard! We've learned what it means to show grace to each other, to confess our sins to each other and to ask for forgiveness. We've learned the great comfort found in coming before the Lord in prayer and what great joy is found in trusting in Him in all circumstances. :) God is so faithful and so good.

We shared a few things we both learned this past year,  so here they are.

3 things Eugene learned:
1) "We live very differently." He likes using his towel multiple times,  while I only use it once or twice before throwing it in the laundry. He puts things away immediately after using it, while I like cleaning it up all at once after I'm done (i.e. whilst cooking, getting ready, etc) He hangs clothes that he wants to re-wear on top of his drawer, and I'm still having trouble getting used to this.
2) "You're not as girly as I thought." He was surprised that I don't PMS. (YAY haha!)
3) "Life is easier with a wife." It was not good for man to be alone ;)

3 things I learned:
1) Eugene top three comfort foods are 1) any kind of curry 2) sushi 3) ramen 4) the "big gulp" drinks at 711, if this counts as a "food". We've gone to eat sushi or ramen almost every weekend since he's started school :)
2) Eugene is excellent at saving money and is really cautious when it comes to finances. I attribute it to him being Chinese! This is a huge blessing because I can be pretty nonchalant about it. Having a joint account really serves as a good source of accountability too since he can see everything I spend my money on!
3) Eugene has absolutely no ability at reading my "girly signs." If I'm upset or hurt about something and I want him to know, my immediate "girly tendency" is to want to withdraw myself, to give him a cold shoulder, to silence myself, to not send smileys or exclamation marks in my text messages and to make it extremely obvious that I'm unhappy and I need attention. I think God was sovereign in making Eugene the way he is because Eugene never falls for these signs. If I want him to know something is wrong I have to tell him and verbalize why, what initially caused it and what I want him to do. This has been humbling for me, because I usually wish he would just know how I feel and know how to fix it but he doesn't. It's hard to practically live this out day-to-day but it definitely helps us communicate better, so in that sense its a huge blessing :) haha

P.S. For our first anniversary, Eugene bought me a sewing machine! I've been wanting one for years but didn't really feel confident enough to buy one..but I'm soooo happy and so excited to use it and start on the many projects I've planned for myself!

Hopefully I can learn how to make a few things before we have kids. I'll also try to learn how to hem/alter clothes so I can do it for my friends in the future! :)

Have a great day, everyone!

XOXO,
sharon

give thanks- pandora, sweet patients, readings in the morning, a weekend full of fellowship, a 6 hour AR to spend this morning resting/cleaning/recuperating, sleeping in, a weekend with Eugene, salompas for my poor wrist, a year to testify of God's grace and faithfulness to us in our first year of marriage :)

Eugene turns 24!

Last week we celebrated Eugene's 24th birthday and toasted to a new year with some close friends, steak kabobs, windy weather and a strawberry trifle. It was a sweet time of celebrating Eugene's life and God's faithfulness to him in this busy, busy year of changes! During Eugene's 23rd year, Eugene became a husband, finished his 2-year pharmacy tech career at CVS and became a pharmacy student. God is so good!

I really don't need any occasion to celebrate Eugene or feel incredibly thankful for him, but birthdays always give me an opportunity to brag about him and embarrass him, so I'll take any opportunity I can get! So to celebrate his {belated} birthday, here are 20 things I love {slash-- learned to love} about Eugene.

1. I love the horrendous amount of sweat you produce when you run, and how you chase me around the apartment forcing me to touch your shirt to see how wet it is.

2. I also love how you hang said sweaty clothes on chairs to dry before throwing them in the laundry hamper.

3. I love how much you love Chicken Katsu and Curry and the big hugs I get every time I prepare it for dinner (and the extra hugs I get when I let you have second, third, fourth servings..) 

4. I love how much you love green things.

5. I love our target runs and how I always end up losing you somehow, only to find you hanging around the electronic section.

6.  I love your white shirt and jeans. and how I mentioned to you one time that your white shirt and jeans outfit was my favorite and you bought like 20 new white shirts the next day. {haha!}

7. I love coming home to you after a long night at work; even if you are still delirious in your sleep and don't give me any attention. :) 

8. I love your obsession with Mcdonalds iced coffees and how you always want to go study/read there instead of Starbucks.

9. but I also love how sacrificially you decide to take me to Starbucks instead since I don't like reading at fast food places.

10. I love how you do a silly dance when you're excited about something and how nobody else believes me that you do this.

11. I love how it only takes you 2 minutes to fall asleep at night and the immediate snoring party that follows shortly after. God was so sovereign in making me a heavy sleeper! 

12. I love that you still love me even when I'm sweaty and flushed and ugly at the gym.

13. I love how you always let me listen to my favorite song "Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber on the radio, only to ruin my favorite falsetto part every time!!!!!

14. I love how excited you are to show me that you did the dishes while I was at work because you know how loved I feel when you are thoughtful that way!

15. I love that you love discounts as much as I do! and how you always ask me before you buy something no matter how cheap it is!

16. I love praying with you and for you and being prayed for by you! It's one of my favorite things.

17. I love how we can talk about medical things during our lunch dates and still make it romantic. I love how we spent almost an hour talking about ACE Inhibitors during our breakfast date a few weeks ago and how giddy and excited we were talking about it.

18. I love how much fun we can having doing absolutely nothing and how we are both the hugest home bodies ever!

19. I love your love for the Lord and how I'm able to witness daily how you strive to live a life faithful before Him. I love how it spurs me on and challenges me to do the same. 

20. I love you just because. Sometimes I don't even know how to explain it and sometimes I don't even really need a reason why. I love you because your my husband. I love you because we made a promise to love each other through sickness and in health, til death do us part. In every season, no matter what the reason, I love you today, tomorrow and forever!

Happy birthday, Eugene! You are the love of my life and I am the luckiest girl ever.
Cheers to another victorious year!