hello xanga world.  it's been over a month since i last wrote in here.  i wonder if people still read this thing.   I believe this is the longest span in which I have not updated xanga on a daily basis.  I guess I've been so busy I haven't had time to write anything thoughtful or meaningful in here. 

We're about a little more than halfway through the first semester of my senior year, and my last year at Hopkins.  It's already November, and pretty soon Christmas will be here even before we know it.  I absolutely love Christmas, listening to Christmas songs, seeing the pretty Christmas lights all over town.. well I guess in Baltimore we only see this at Towson Mall and Inner Harbor, which reminds me, who wants go go ice skating outdoors with me at inner harbor this year? 

I keep forgetting that it's senior year until people come up to me and ask me "how is senior year going? are you enjoying yourself and relaxing?"  They usually get a blank stare from me as I try to process the phrases "senior year" and "relaxing" both of which have had little to no meaning for me thus far.  I feel like I've never been as busy as I am this year, and I think part of that is me having to make up for the lost years, and realizing this is my final year if I want redemption of any sort.  It's not that I'm stressing out and being all anal about work because had I done better my first two academic years in college, I'm sure I would be less worried now.  I honestly have no idea where I'm supposed to be next year or what I'm supposed to be doing, and sometimes that thought scares me.  I know that I need to trust in God and listen to where He is telling me to go, but sometimes I'm on the run so much, doing this and that, running from activity to activity, from exam to exam, that I haven't had much time to pause and reflect. 

Church has been going well.  I've had my fair share of struggles and challenges, as I'm slowly learning how much harder it is that I had initially thought, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.  It's made me realize and appreciate how much people have done for me in the past and how much love they must've had to be able to put up with me.  And I'm so lucky the kiddos right now are NOTHING like myself.  They're about 1000000x better if not more.  But it's hard because I find myself feeling bad a lot when I don't have enough time to get to know each person better.  I wish I had more time to finish doing everything I wanted to do.  And it's not like I waste my time anymore.  Somedays I get up at 7:45 for class, and then run straight from class to activity to class downtown and another event and before I know it, it's 8 PM and I'm returning to pick up stuff from the apt only to head to the library right after.  I'm constantly playing tag with sleep, and most of the time it's me running after sleep which just doesnt want to be caught by me.  But in the end, it's worth it.  I always forget when I'm hanging out with the sophomores that they're the same age as my sister.  And hanging out with them and taking care of them is so much fun and so rewarding knowing them better and sharing with them.  So all the nights of stress and lack of sleep pay off in the end.  :]   

ok im not sure where I'm going with this, so I'll end here.  I know it's abrupt.  I feel like my logic and everything has begun to fail me.. I'm getting old.

Reminder to self:

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong. 
            - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 -

hello xanga world.  i am well aware that xanga is getting outdated and fewer and fewer people use it now, but because I don't support going along with the crowd, I've decided to keep using xanga to my heart's content.   (and so that those who are bored at work or have some natural compulsion at the library to navigate towards the xanga webpage will have something to look at.. even if its not much. ) 

i can't believe this summer went by so fast!  3 years ago, as a high school graduate, i had envisioned all these wonderful things about college.. about how much smarter i would be after 4 years, how much more knowledgable and 'cool' i would be, how i would know exactly what i was going to do with the rest of my life... and yet here i am, in my last year of college, and I can tell you:  I'm not much smarter than I thought I'd be, if anything, I think I got dumb-er.  I'm definitely not knowledgeable or 'cool' to any extent.  And I'm still not 100% sure what I'm doing with the rest of my life yet or where I'm supposed to be headed.  But as I sat reflecting this last week on each of my college years, I've seen that the road I've been traveling on has definitely had it's little bumps and turns, and only in the last year and a half or so has the road begun to smooth out a bit.  :)  I've learned.  I've grown.  And I'm still constantly learning and growing.  God's shown me who He is and who I am.  I've been broken to pieces, and I've been mended, put back together one piece at a time by Him.  I still have a lot to learn, to be more patient, to love everyone regardless of who they are/what they do, to not judge people, and oh gosh, the list could go on forever.  I have to constantly remind myself not to be of this world and to keep my eyes set on the greater things.  Now in less than two weeks, I'll be heading back to Baltimore for what will be my last year of my undergraduate training.. or so I hope.   I wrote down many things in my journal this past week to serve as a reminder for myself for when things get busy, for when I lose track of my goals, for when I begin to stray off the path again.. I'm excited for this new school year and the surprises, both the good and the bad, that God has in store. 

Ah this is the time I kinda wish that home was an hour's drive away from college and not a 6-hr plane-ride away.  I've enjoyed my time with my family this summer and now I wish I had a little more time, but I'm also anxious to get back to school, to meet up with friends, and to take on the new challenges. 

Anyway, for those who don't like reading, here are a few pics from my family trip to tahoe:


on our way up to tahoe:  the Chiu sisters with our adopted alien brother.  (we told him when he was little that he was an alien that fell from the sky and we almost ran him over with our car.. and then kept him b/c we felt bad)


the actual Chiu siblings.


talking a walk at night. 


mommy and i on the boat around tahoe



i told you. my brother thinks he's so cool with my dad's sunglasses.


pretty view from the boat.


cruisin' around emerald bay.


papa chiu and daughter chiu.


our normal selves. (minus the alien)


in front of some 'castle' that belonged to a rich lady.  this was at the bottom of a STEEP hill. we had to walk one mile down some wooded path to get here.. and i did it in a skirt..


mama chiu with her babies.


<3


pretending to be cool.


right before our super expensive 'classy' dinner where we paid $20 for WATER.


view from our dinner place


breathtaking


buffalo meat. 


my delicious NY steak.


i <3 my mommy and daddy.  yes i still call them mommy and daddy. 


jet skiing is SO much fun.  ok so i freaked out at first b/c I had no idea how to work the jet ski, and I tried to control it like a car.. but we didn't fall in the water or tip over!  the best part was going full speed at 40 mph cruising over the water and feeling the wind against our faces.  hehe.  oh and my sis is a LOT better at driving at jet ski than she is at a car.. haha. 



by some fountain on our last day


we three little bears have to listen to these two big bears



view from the top


view from the top 2


and i leave you with this. this is what i mean when i say:  I love the color of the sky right before the sun sets.  :]