Ode To a Weekend

I must say, sometimes in life when you feel like the bleakest of colds and the loneliest of nights get you down, there comes a ray (or should I say rays) of sunshine and light that drag you right out of it. It says "Hey, it's not so bad." After reflecting these past couple days, I must say: it's pretty great to be loved.

I could give a recap detailing the adventures that we've had, but I've come to realize that often times words can't really explain some of the moments shared. To sum it up shortly, it was really, really fun, and made me feel a little more at home in a state that often times feels remote.

Here are some of the shots that aren't on Facebook. I've been practicing editing photos as well to achieve looks that captured what my emotions I felt through this weekend. For me this felt like good ol' times, and I wanted the editing to hint to that, but not to the point where it's artsy fartsy. Enjoy!

Right before heading out from the airport, cheesed one more time with this fool!

Christmas light show at the zoo!

I have a feeling one doesn't belong... It's probably the house.

City lights

An animal. There's also a giraffe on the sign!

Sharing a Shibling moment?

Uh oh...

xD

Thanks for visiting me Matt and Alicia, this has seriously made me so happy. I can't believe you two came out! And I guess everyone was in on the surprise of Alicia coming except for me. Come by again soon if you fancy, I probably won't be going anywhere any time soon! Summers are a lot more fun; trust.

But man this makes the week and a half that I have to wait to go back home feel that much longer!! :)

CAN IT GET ANY COLDER?!

These past few days have been hands down the coldest days and nights that I have ever experienced in my life. Never will I ever again complain about weather dropping below 50. How I wish we had a even 50 degree high at the moment. I will however never stop complaining about -15 ever in my life.
With the weather being like this and being a Californian, there are many things that I didn't realize practically the rest of the country has to deal with. Every. Single. Year:
-The inability to drive your vehicle if you have a RWD car. This is coming straight from the other coworker of mine who brought his G35 from sunny California out to apparently a blizzard wonderland. Thankfully I got a Mazda which is FWD, which is acceptable, but really the prized jewel and the thing that everyone seems to have out here is AWD or 4WD (which are indeed two different things!)
-The fact that you have to "winterize" your car. This means that you flush out all the fluids in you car and make sure to replace it with something that won't freeze and completely render your car useless.
-Planning trip times in the morning according to weather instead of traffic. The strategy is a little different: you wake up early to scrape the ice and snow off your car instead of to beat traffic, which means that the new SigAlert is peeking outside the window every morning and based on that determining how much time you can allot yourself to a hot shower.
-Yes, thermometers in your car can show negative temperature, which I found to be true in my very own.
-Your car will go ham in telling you to check your tire pressure. It gets so cold, your car thinks your tires are under-inflated. At first when my car beeped and told me to do something, I freaked out! Now, I have officially given up any care I have to it.
-At really cold temperatures, good practice is to leave the heat running and the faucets dripping with the cabinets to the pipes open. This would ensure that the pipes won't freeze which is apparently a big deal out here.
-Your ability (well, maybe desire) to do anything outside decreases extremely drastically.
-Most cars are equipped with some sort of skid control nowadays, which helps your car start moving without it looking like you're trying to do a big burnout in the snow.
-Christmas feels like it should be coming tomorrow every single day.
Overall, it's a grand experience, with things that I've seen and felt that I'll probably never forget. Hopefully once it's not below 0 I'll muster the will to go outside and take some pictures because honestly, it's beautiful. Doesn't mean that I am not excited out of my mind to be back home in a few weeks!! 

This was right before it got REALLY cold, just at some other red rock park off the side of a highway.

A God that Transcends Culture

Coming out to Colorado made me question this idea of culture. I thought I had a grasp on it before, but my perception of it has once again been challenged.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines culture as "the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time." I never really thought too hard about it until now, but an infinite God is probably one that transcends culture. Nobody in this world can say that they can do the same; their idea of transcending culture would be tainted by the notions and concepts from the culture that they were raised in. This only adds to the mystery of God.

I found myself checking out different churches and finding each to have its own culture. Having gone to Newsong for so long, a church that revels itself in a culture of reaching out to other cultures not like its own, I found it a little difficult to feel like I belong in churches here where the culture is a little more... static. Not ever-changing, and not ever-evolving like I felt Newsong was. 

Not feeling like I belong is not the church's fault. The fact that I'm not used to the various patterns and rhythms of different churches doesn't make them bad. In fact, I'm slowly beginning to realize that this is all the better for me and my growth in Him. It challenges me to think "who am I worshiping? Is it the people? The culture?"

Or is it God?

What does it truly mean to come back to the heart of worship? I don't think it's a specific mood, seating arrangement, or song (sorry, Chris Tomlin). It really begins with an encounter with a love that transcends all culture. What does that look like? I'm still trying to figure out for sure myself.

Culture is a good thing. Jesus preached in parables that related to the culture at the time. But the points that were being conveyed weren't bound to the culture at the time. 

I don't entirely know what I'm trying to get at. All I can say is that despite the struggles and the trials, I'm experiencing God in very different scopes of light since I've been out here. I'm hoping it'll become more clear as my time here progresses, but for now, I want to keep the eyes and ears of my hear attentive to the adventures to come. 

Busy in the Un-Busy-Ness:Feeling Grateful

I have time to spare nowadays, and it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. Hanging out with people all the time which I felt like I did back in Irvine definitely had its fruits. And I must admit, it's something that I REALLY miss. Not only was I constantly around good company and having wholesome and meaningful conversations, but it was always a good excuse to go try places to EAT. Lately I've only been frequenting those trusty golden arches, and haven't been all too eager to try new places.

I was going to defend how having spare time was a good thing, and this is why: it's given me time to hone in on some of my hobbies.

I'm so grateful for music in my life. Yes listening, but more importantly, playing. I'm thankful for those times as a kid sitting in front of a piano with tears in my eyes because I didn't want to play anymore, but still being pushed to. I'm thankful for my piano teacher who restored my interest in piano when I was on the verge of quitting. I'm thankful for my brother who taught me how to play my first scales on the saxophone, which eventually opened the realm of blues and jazz to me. I'm thankful for my parents buying me a guitar for Christmas in high school even though they were probably well aware it was because of a girl. I'm thankful for Jason Shimabukuro for inspiring me to pick up a uke too. And Michael Buble for showing me that aspiring to be a crooner in this day and age can still be cool. 

I can't say I'm super good at any one instrument, but the "so much to do, so little time" motto has now become "so much to do, so much time" for me. I spent the first couple weeks of it vegging out and watching TV after work, but after a while it hit me: what am I doing? There's cocktail piano to be learned, there's diatonic chords and major 7th chord variations to be learned! There's chord progressions and finger picking and scales too! 

I haven't even begun practicing drawing again! 

So here's to my lifelong journey with music, shattering my boredom and stimulating my brain ever since I was just a wee little child. I'm grateful for all the people that brought me here, and I want to keep at it no matter where I end up, bringing happiness and joy to those around me. 

Thoughts on Colorado

Just a few days ago was the 2-month mark of my time in Colorado. What a very different two months of my life. I know I've had a lot of pictures so far. I thought it fitting to dump some of my brain's thoughts of my time here today.

Where to begin?

Friends. 
I've befriended a few of my coworkers, and I'm really lucky for that! It makes my time at work a lot more bearable. One of them has become one of my best friends out here, and although we may have many differences in the choices in lifestyle, our love for cartoons, anime, video games, and other really (REALLY) geeky stuff trumps it. He's a little bit on the wilder side sometimes, but it's always an adventure with him. I went to shoot his shotgun with him out in some national park just yesterday (yup all perfectly legal!). Straight up 'neckin, but man it was a trip! a perfect final salute to the weekend :)

Work.
Maybe I should've begun with this one. Work is... work. The grind is a struggle at times, and I've done a fair share of grinding in my life. The job that I'm in (which will change in a few weeks) is collections, and it really is what it sounds like: collecting car payments from people who owe us and haven't been paying. It's often times not the easiest of conversations to have with people, and usually when people aren't able to make car payments, there are many other things in their life which aren't going as planned either. Sometimes as a rep who has to call them we get the shorter end of their tempers.
Even having said that, I wouldn't trade this experience for very many other things. Perspective is a really important thing to have in your life, and I'm getting a good deal of very different perspectives and glimpsing into very different lifestyles and situations when speaking with customers of ours. 

Church.
It's still a hunt! It's a lot more difficult to get plugged in that I thought. I've been going to a church down the street from where I live, and although it's pretty nice, I find myself getting lost in the crowd more often than not. It's a 10,000+ attendance, so there's no surprise there. I also tried checking out a small group, but it just didn't seem like my thing. I may see if there's a better fit around, but during this season in life I find that it's necessary to start with the source and then move out to being really concerned with "the right church." A church community is important and something that I really want, but God needs to happen first!

Personal.
On weekdays when I'm not hanging out with my coworkers often times I'm just at home relaxing, watching TV, or playing music. Facebook has become less of a necessity out here, and the pace of life seems just a bit slower. With no need to hit the books, sometimes I feel like my brain is rotting, so maybe soon I'll try to pick up something brain-stimulating. There's much room for me to improve as a person out here. Paying bills, having adult obligations and all that junk is pretty weird too!!

Adventures.
Half of the reason I can't believe I've only been here for 2 months is because of how many different things I've done since I've been here! From concerts, hiking, exploring cities, going to different towns, eating different foods and befriending the owners, it's been a wild and enjoyable ride. I found an awesome Greek place with two awesome owners, but that's a story for a different time. 

Let me know if you want any Colorado stuff!! Keychain? Flag (I think their flag is pretty dope!)? Magnets? Seriously I'd be more than happy to help you out :) Definitely miss my friends back at home!

My Adventures Thus Far: Part 2!!

I know it's been a while, but here's another big picture update on life through my eyes out here in Colorado, told once again in pictures!!!

AYCE Indian lunch buffet

This is from Waffle House, apparently a staple chain outside of CA.
They're like the late night munchies restaurant of the rest of the country

Bear Creek with Darren

A team lunch at work! 

This is called Organ Trail, it's like Oregon trail except zombies :)

Finally my stuff came in!!

A company-wide event with lunch and an opportunity to pie our supervisors!

Garden of the Gods

This was at Bear Creek also

This is Palmer Park

Happy Hour bowling

Downtown Colorado Springs on a Friday night

Elitch Gardens! That stadium in the back is the Broncos stadium!

A rainbow after a HUGE rainstorm

Lily....

Apparently a Colorado exclusive flavor for this brand! 

Bloom Church in Denver. Yes Michael Gungor lead!

Matt came to visit me!!

Made me some dumplings for that nostalgia trip :)

The view while driving back from work

Casa Bonita, yes it's a real place, you South Park fans

Another rainbow!

I was also able to catch Amy while she was here!

Yes these are pictures! I know I've shared a lot of pictures of what I've done, but haven't really shared too many of my thoughts about what it's like out here. Don't worry, I definitely have lots and lots to say! In time, in time :) but for now, enjoy!!

My Adventures Thus Far!!

Hello!

Sorry it's been a while! I've been doing lots since I've been here, and I finally just got internet at my place! Here's just a quick recap with what's been going on with me since the last time I blogged, from when I began my road trip to Colorado Springs till the first week of work! Since so much has happened, I'm going to leave the pictures and the captions to do the talking. 

I just finished my second week of work, so I'll post some highlights to come!! Until then, enjoy!

Visiting some of the paintings in the Mormon museum church in Salt Lake City

Mormon Chapel

My first meal inside my new place

This is the view I get every morning!

First day after work having dinner with the coworkers!

Her name is Lily! A coworker's dog

His name is Ari, like Ari from Entourage. Lots of my coworkers have dogs!

I got a flash flood alert! Didn't even know that happens...

FaceTime with the brother

Watching Pacific Rim with some coworkers

Nerd store with a friend who's also into geeky stuff!

The Great Salt Lake

Straight from Looney Tunes

Visited Arches National Park!

Some people fishing down a river

Dad and Alicia going home from the road trip to Colorado Springs

The view from the entrance of my place

First floor, phew!

Kinda looks like Norte like this...

Hot Wheels galore!

Seriously, it's been an amazing ride so far. I can't believe I'm actually a grown-up now, paying bills, taking care of adult stuff! It's exciting and strange and a bunch of other emotions, but let's just say I'm still getting a hang of it!