Boston

We came back from our awesome mini getaway to Boston. Won had an extended weekend, due to Presidents' Day on Monday and his company was moving this past weekend, so they gave Friday off. It was so nice to get away and spend some time relaxing and meeting up with good friends. This is my second time visiting, Boston. The first time was for just a brief moment, so I wasn't able to fully expolore Boston. Boston is such a fun city, a city rich with US history. Although the city is small compared to NYC, it's quite engaging...it's much friendlier to kids, it's cleaner, it's driveable and it's filled with sights to see and places to visit. I bought this book by DK publishing, that lists the "Top 10 things to do in Boston" and top 10 things to do within the top 10 list and we did them all. For some reason, this past weekend, the weather dropped to a mere high of 25 degrees from 65 degrees. It was FREEZING. Thank goodness, we stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston Common. Staying at a fabulous hotel, certainly helped staying in. Big props to Helen, who hooked us up!

Furthermore, I got a chance to hang out with my two really good friends from elementary school, Aggie and Dave. Our friendships are lifelong ones. Aggie and I have been friends since 5th grade and she is just absolutely amazing. She is currently at Harvard Medical School, studying Neurology. (She also graduated from Harvard undergrad) As we were catching up, it's inspiring to see how much passion she has for medicine yet she's so down to earth. She and I are at such different places in our lives yet we are able to relate and see how much experience and emotion can bring people together. I spent the whole day with her on Saturday, shopping and chatting over coffee at Harvard Square while Won was playing in a charity basketball tournament for North Korean orphans on Saturday. Jaden was being babysat by Hannah, a good friend of ours. Thank you, Hannah. Although, the NJ Turnpikers lost, they had heart. Won was definitely MVP, my MVP.

My friend, Dave is another passionate/ambitious one. He and I have known each other for years. After Yale, he went to Harvard Law school and is currently interning in a law firm in Boston. Soon, he will be in DC clerking for a justice in the Supreme Court. He is one out of 36 that get chosen every year. Amazing. He firmly believes God has placed him in Law for this very reason...to be in the judicial system, being able to impact the direction of the country. It's so cool!

EVERY friendship that GOD has placed in my life is precious and to be treasured. I have a myriad of friends that differ in many ways yet mirror each other in many ways. Every person that God places in your life is for a reason and as I am getting older and more and more responsibilities are handed unto my plate, I'm realizing I need friends.
As God has been teaching me about gratefulness, I am thankful for every one of my friends and each of you has a special place in my heart. With each of you to grow with, to learn from, to give and receive from, to experience things with, to challenge me, to inspire and teach me, to be happy for, to love and support me and to run the race with.

So, to every one of my friends, I LOVE YOU and PRAY for you! I am so happy to be part of your lives and that I get a chance to see everything the Lord has done in you. Let's continue to spur each other on towards love and good deeds!

TO CLARIFY... Cicero once said, "Life is nothing without friendships." I completely believe this to be true when I LEARNED to be a better and true friend. Let me explain. Yes, in your life people will come and go, stay for a season whether it's long or short, and some stay forever. This is my clincher, learn to be a true friend. That will look different for every person. We are all human with shortcomings, faults and weaknesses. In Proverbs, it writes, that " a friend sticks closer than a brother." What I think it means is that we have the "choice to choose our friends" but what family we get born into, we don't get to choose. So, true friendship thrives b/c we chosed eachother and we have each other's well-being in priority where there is a genuine love and balance to give and to recieve. In the end, all of our "true" intentions will come out anyway whether it's selfish or not. Let's make life everything b/c of true friendships!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

So, it's been quite a crazy weekend so far. Yesterday, we woke up to an apartment with no running water. What a surprise! There is construction happening on route 18 right near our place and it turns out they broke two water mains in New Brunswick! We had to go to a good friend's wedding yesterday, so I had to run out and go over to my friend's place to take a shower. It was so cold and I had to rush. I hate being rushed in the morning. It really doesn't help me pace the rest of the day. Well, I realize how many things we take for granted in life. This year God has been really tugging at my heart to learn how to be thankful and grateful for every thing, situation, pain and experience. I read this quote by Aristotle in college, and it writes..." Do you know what soon grows old? Gratefulness." This statement rings so true in life. We take things for granted even friends and family at times! Having majored in English, I've read a myriad of literary writings from novels to short stories, to essays to plays. I loved reading and studying these works b/c it taught me so much about life, reality, and pain. Even through my times of growth, I was able to pull out many emotions and at times even put my feelings into writing and understanding. The Bible is God-breathed and I firmly believe that it is the core manual for my life. In addition to reading and studying it, we also need the Holy Spirit to move our hearts. Now thinking back on the past 2 years, I haven't let God move me through the Spirit as much as the teaching. I'm really trusting that God will revive me again and let all the teachings move down to my heart and to let it pour out onto others!

Okay, enough rambling, to be honest, I have a difficult time assessing how much to share on blogs. I'll try to be more open. Anyways, my sister and Eddie came down to babysit Jaden while we are at the wedding. Congrats to Irene and Edgar! They looked radiant! God's Spirit and love filled the room! The reception was so hip at Nova Terra and I ate like a pig since I didn't have any breakfast! The food was so good.

It started to snow around 5 pm on Saturday, and we've been inside since then. Right now, it is absolutely beautiful outside with it being crystal clear and pearly white! We have 20 inches of snow and it's still snowing and windy. The winds are 35 mph and the wind chill is 7 degrees. Church is cancelled today and we are having church televisedily!

Hope the snow will end soon so we can go sledding and have snow ball fights! Btw, we have running water! Praise God!