i. love. this.

here are a couple of wedding videographers that i would love to hire… but most likely cannot afford. ::sigh:: they make me feel like having a videographer is toootally necessary though. (which means they are doing their job well, i suppose, haha).  if only i had all the money in the world…

check them out.

this one is made by Monachetti videography. it’s a little lengthy… but you need to watch the entire thing. i wish i were as cool as this bride. and that i could have a wedding as cool as this one.

Justine and Gary 

 

and this guy, joel seratto.  he uses super 8mm film to record the weddings he does.  gives it an amazing vintage look.  love love love it!  

here is his blog.  (be sure to watch the ainjil + chris one).

real quick-style

when did the format for the wordpress website change? it feels weird.

i was just looking through my facebook… and re-read my “favorite quotes” section. and i thought to myself, “wow, i really love all these quotes”… i guess that would be why they are posted where they are . so i decided to post them here as well… because they’re good ones.

Plato on music… “It gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything. It is the essence of order and leads to all that is good, just, and beautiful, of which it is the invisible, but nevertheless dazzling, passionate, and eternal form.”

“I thought the most beautiful thing in the world must be shadow, the million moving shapes and cul-de-sacs of shadow. There was shadow in bureau drawers and closets and suitcases, and shadow under houses and trees and stones, and shadow at the back of people’s eyes and smiles, and shadow, miles and miles and miles of it, on the night side of the earth.”
-Sylvia Plath
The Bell Jar

“Not to a rage: patience and sorrow strove
Who should express her goodliest. You have seen
Sunshine and rain at once: her smiles and tears
Were like a better way: those happy smilets
That played on her ripe lip seemed not to know
What guests were in her eyes, which parted thence
As pearls from diamonds dropped. In brief,
Sorrow would be a rarity most beloved,
If all could so become it.”
-William Shakespeare
King Lear

“So do we pass the ghosts that haunt us later in our lives; they sit undramatically by the roadside like poor beggars, and we see them only from the corners of our eyes, if we see them at all. The idea that they have been waiting there for us rarely if ever crosses our minds. Yet they do wait, and when we have passed, they gather up their bundles of memory and fall in behind, treading in our footsteps and catching up, little by little.”
-Stephen King, Wizard and Glass (Dark Tower IV)

“Wilbur was merely suffering the doubts and fears that often go with finding a new friend. In good time he was to discover that he was mistaken about Charlotte. Underneath her rather bold and cruel exterior, she had a kind heart, and she was to prove loyal and true to the very end.”

E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web

p.s. can someone please help me avoid having to return to work on monday?? boo! oh well… at least teaching does not officially start for another two weeks. time to seriously get my butt in gear. blegh.

my man.

yeah. i love him. a whole lot.  especially when he posts things like this.  
he is so amazingly smart (and handsome to boot).  i cannot wait to marry him .

 

p.s.  sorry i do not ever blog EVER.  7 more days left in the school year… so hopefully i will have more “chill” time to do “me” stuff after that.  however, 7 days after those 7 days i have to return to teach summer school for six weeks.  plus move my classroom to the new upland location, somehow.  plus prepare for next september (using entirely new curriculum for each of my 4 classes).  it’s going to be intense.  so “me” stuff…. prrrobably not really going to happen. boo.

21.. 22…

January 21… I was born… and January 22… Steven was born (praise the Lord!)… only he was technically born 2 years and 1 day after me  :-)  Anywho… I am super excited for this birthday week!  Not so excited to turn 24… I’m almost a quarter of a century old. boo!  How about I just stop here?  24 seems like a good place to stop aging.  

The plan for this week:  Tuesday Jenna and Paul are having us over to their lovely new home… I can’t wait!  Wednesday my parents are making a special birthday dinner of my choice… woot!  Thursday is going to be pretty lame… not because it’s Steven’s bday (of course)… but because it also happens to be WCHS open house until 8pm. and I have to go. boooo!  don’t even get me started on that one. haha.  Friday we’ll take a lovely day of rest for the Sabbath… and Saturday evening we’ll get down and do some serious eating at buca di beppo with all of our lovely family and close friends.  It’s gonna be the bessst  :-)  I think it will be a good week (aside from turning 24 and open house).  

These are some pictures from birthday time last year.  Just thought I’d put ‘em up… remembering when I had just turned 23… ah.. seems like only yesterday.  haha.  And check out the sweeet cake I had made.  It was intense.  I miss it  :-)  

just thinking…

1 . This is because I’ve been longing for lovely Oregon this past week… 

 

2 . So we have this little weekly tradition at WCHS… that, in all honesty, I dread.  I speak of morning staff/faculty devotions.  Not that I don’t enjoy having this time in the morning (although lately… tardiness has become a problem for me)… I just dread the part that involves the rotation of teachers to lead the devotions.  I’ve already gone once.  And I was so deathly nervous that I think I must have blacked out because I seriously don’t remember any of it.  My next date with devotion leadership is Jan. 30th… and, seriously, I have been counting down to this day (and not the good kind of countdown) since early December, I think.  My assigned passage is Proverbs 10:16-32.  I’ve been reading it over an over again… trying to mentally prepare myself (inevitably a fruitless effort).  I talked about it with Steven tonight.  Can I just say that… this guy… I love him.  He always makes everything seem so much simpler… no one can say things that put me at ease like he can.  We focused on this part of the passage in particular:
 

19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking,  But he who restrains his lips is wise. 20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; The heart of the wicked is worth little.

There are so many ways to strive and hope for righteousness.  Faith.. works… thoughts…  words…. Sometimes we worry so much about saying the right things (example #1: me freaking out about speaking at devotions)… “what can I possibly say that will truly make a difference?”….  But what about what we choose not to say?   Steven mentioned something that I’ve been thinking about… what if we were physically only given an allowance of .. say… 20 words a day?  It would probably make the words we did choose (out of everything we could say)  more valuable to us… they would likely shine more brightly, be more worthwhile and pleasing to God.  Maybe we wouldn’t waste our precious words… and maybe even, eventually, our thoughts… on meaningless things. 

3 . Randomly came across some ancient and not-so-ancient eastern proverbs that I’d written down a while back (I think I first encountered them in one of my college classes).  Forgot how much I loved this one:

“Like treasure hidden in the ground,
taste in the fruit,
gold in the rock,
oil in the seed, 
the Absolute hidden away in the heart,
No one can know
the ways of our Lord,
white as jasmine.”

And I shall end on that note  :-)  
Shalom.

’tis (or ’twas) the season

I feel like I’d been looking forward to Christmas since September… all this build up and anticipation… and then… it’s over.  boo.  But that’s how it always is with Christmas, I suppose. blast!  Well… as usual, it has been for-flippin-ever since I last blogged.  I really am not very good at this.  So it’s 3-something-or-other (aaah!) in the morning and I am waiting for my hair to dry (I miss short, short hair terribly)… so why not get my blog on?  

First up… I am an engaged woman. wwwhat the??  So nutsss!  Still hasn’t hit me… still doesn’t feel real… probably won’t until the day of our wedding. haha.  But yes… on Sunday, December 7th, Steven Nelson asked me to be his wife.  We walked down the street from my house to have breakfast at the place he took me to (for breakfast) on one of our first dates (3+ years ago).  That day had involved breakfast, driving around Glendora and gawking at all of the beautiful houses, me meeting his parents, and both of us beginning to come to the realization that we were falling head-over-heels for each other Sooo yesss… we ate a yummy breakfast… walked back to my house where he had prepared a clever, lovely , simply “me” proposal.  And there you have it.  For some crazy reason.. I am lucky enough to be able to spend the rest of my days with a man that is… amazingly and wonderfully…  my exact counterpart.  He is my “perfect”… that’s it.  I cannot imagine life without him… and I cannot stop thinking about how lovely life with him… as his wife… will be.   I  adore him… and I thank God for deeming me worthy to receive such a gift.    

This is my lovely ring.  Antique setting.  Champagne (brown) diamonds on the sides. Steven knows me better than I know myself.  Seriously.

Yay for Christmas!  It came and went… and it was splendid.  I missed being at home a bit… but it was exciting to be in my own place for the holiday.  Betsy and I were quite proud of our tree.  Here are some pictures of it… I don’t know if you can see… but it’s decorated with spools of thread.  Amanda (Steven’s sister) made them using ribbon and buttons.  The cutest things I’ve ever seen… she is amazing!  And of course… I had to include a picture with the lights off… because there is nothing better than sitting in a cozy warm room with the Christmas tree all aglow  :-)  
 
  

 

Steven and I also got the Jewish Edition of one of our favorite games.  I didn’t even know this existed!  Amazing!  Thank you Grandma! woot!  
  

 

So yes… December of 2008 was (and still is… it’s not over quite yet!) an excellent month.  One week until I go back to work ::sigh::… I am sooo lazzzy. I don’t want to do anything haha.  Jenna and Paul are getting married on Friday! Glorious day!  It is going to be at one of the most beeeeauuutiful places I have ever seen… and Jenna is going to look beautiful… beautiful beautiful beautiful……. beautiful!!  :-)  haha let’s just hope I don’t spoil things and fall flat on my bridesmaid face when I walk down the aisle.  haha… I’m starting to give myself pep talks now… so I should be totally ready come Friday (no worries, Jenna… I can do it! yesss! and so can you!!).  Shoot… I am going to diiie at my own wedding hahah.  

Okay… it’s officially way too late and I am way too tired to be writing anymore.  That’s all folks

longest, most expensive week of my life…

How’s a girl supposed to even attempt to pack up the last 23 years of her life into some boxes when she doesn’t even get home from work/running around on moving-related errands until 8 or 9 o’clock at night?  That is my question.  I am exhausted.  And nothing in my room looks “packed and ready.”  Even though it sort of is.  Well, some of it.  I wish I could have just one whole solid day to pack… but I won’t have that ::sigh::  We picked up our [fuh-REE] couch tonight… so cute… so excited.  I can’t wait until Christmas.  I’m already thinking about where we can put our tree and what kind of lights we should put up.  Too bad I’m getting way too far ahead of myself.  One step at a time, Brittany… let’s move in first. That’s mountain-number-one to be scaled.  sheesh.  

p.s. “Twilight” in theatres Friday… yay!  Too bad I most likely won’t have any time to see it until mid-next week sometime. Boo

p.p.s.  Thanksgiving soon! yum!  Time to bake, bake, and bake some more!  :-)  

G’night folks.

a new home

Sooo… as of November 22nd… Betsy and I will be living in this lovely little home in Glendora!  We were approved Wednesday, and we paid part of the deposit today.  It doesn’t feel real yet… maybe once I start packing. Oh man… how am I even going to begin packing up all of my stuff? That’s seriously intimidating. haha.  I’m going to need to downsize my junk big time.  This is going to be a lot of work… packing… moving… living on my own for the first time everrrr. whew. I’m excited  

oops…

I knew this would happen.  I am a complete slacker when it comes to blogging.  I wish I were better at it.  So… a not-so-brief update on my life lately:

1. It’s official… I am teacher.  My days are filled with 7 hours of teaching, Monday through Friday.  That’s the fun part of the job.  I teach four levels of ESL to some amazing students from China, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Indonesia.  They are so kind and respectful to me… we get along so very well…  I am so blessed to have the opportunity to teach them.  I know all of their names forwards and backwards (surprisingly, I had that down within the first week or so)… I know each of their unique and wonderful personalities.  I also teach 2 periods of Resource (for students.. international or not… who need some extra help with their classes).  The less-fun part of the job is the lesson planning and grading of endless stacks of papers (seriously… endless… because as I grade them, more are coming in).  This is what takes up all my time when I am not at work.  I hardly watch TV anymore… but the saddest part is that I have not picked up a book for leisure since summer time (it’s difficult when you have 4 classes reading 4 different novels that you have to keep up with haha) ::sigh::  But it’s what I am paid to do… so it has to get done.  I think (I hope… I pray) it will be better next year.  The first year is always the hardest in teaching… because you’re developing everything for the first time.  It will be nice to just add to what I already have next year.  So.. to sum it up… my job both stresses me out and fills me with joy on a daily basis.  Oh … and I’m also the  sophomore class advisor… which is super fun because it gives me more of a chance to connect with non-international students as we get to plan some really cool things… buuut it’s also one other thing to do. haha. oh man… pray for me, please.  

This is one of my resource classes.  I had to take a picture of them because I was elated to see students (international and non-international) coming together to help each other.  Brought a tear to my eye. hehe. You can also kinda see my classroom.  I’ll have to post some better pictures of the room soon.  

I was a chaperone at Homecoming! hahah.  I got to bring Steven… and his parents were there too, of course (Laura’s my boss )

 

2. Amidst the craziness that my life can sometimes be… I have also decided to move out.  Luckily my dear friend Betsy is also looking to move out of her current living situation.  I’ve been living at home… so this will be a big change for me… an expensive change… but it’s a change I feel that I truly need… and need now.  My previous plan had been to just wait to move out until I get married (hopefully spring of 2010) and save money until then.  But that just is not working.  I think my relationship with my family is suffering because I live at home.  We take each other for granted because we are just “there.”   I’m hardly at home because I just don’t want to be there.  Which is terrible and I hate feeling that way.  I think me moving out will be good… because I will go “home” with the sole intention of visiting my family… not to simply live there and do my own thing.  I want to be a better daughter and a better sister… and I think a certain degree of separation is needed for me to accomplish that.  So blah blah bah… that is my situation.. long and wordy as it may be.  So I officially made this decision about a week or so ago… and Betsy and I (after driving around for an afternoon and sneaking into many a gated community haha) may have already possibly found a place. Hopefully.  It’s a house (a rental of course).. which would be amazing if it worked out.  It’s located about a block north of the old Glendora village (super cute/good area).  It was built in 1922… but is in great condition.  I loooove old houses… so I’m excited.  However.. I’m trying my best not to let myself get too excited.. in case it doesn’t work out.  But I really hope it does. haha.  We should know by Wednesday, I think.  I would post a picture of it… but I think I’ll wait to see if it actually works out  So if you are actually taking the time to read through this whole thing (haha), please pray that we end up where ever God feels is best for us right now (whether it be that house or not).     

Okay so I am going to stop for various reasons: 1-my laundry is almost done, 2-my bedtime is approaching quickly, 3-I’ve written quite enough and I’m cutting myself off   I hope everyone has a lovely week ahead of them!  Thanks for tuning in

oh man…

So I’m discovering that I am definitely not the most dedicated blogger… good grief.  I haven’t necessarily “forgotten” to write… it just seems like none of my thoughts or experiences are ever truly blog-worthy.  But enough is enough… I’d better write about SOMEthing or I might as well just cancel this thing!  Sooo… let’s discuss what has been my obsession for the past week.  This Stephenie Meyer Twilight saga.  My little sister has been reading and re-reading these books over the past two years… and I’d always been a little curious as to what the deal was with these books.  I discovered that there is a movie coming out in December for the first of these books… so I figured it was time to see what this craze was all about… it was time to read them.  Oh myyyy worrrrd… and read them I did… I basically could not pry myself away from them unless I had something vitally important to do (which was not often haha).  She isn’t the best, most profound writer I’ve ever encountered… but maaan… does she know how to keep you hooked!  And, for that alone, I give her enormous credit… she knows what her readers want.. and that is a gift.  So anyway- I was determined to fly through these books (which didn’t end up being too difficult seeing as how I couldn’t put them down) because my first year of teaching is less than 3 weeks away… and I still have sooo much to do (I was able to finish, for the most part, decorating my classroom… but the lesson planning is the difficult part that still awaits me).  So becoming addicted to these books wasn’t exactly the most healthy thing for me to do… but I figured if I just read them as quickly as I could and got them out of my system.. I would be good to go.  So I finished the last book late last night (or rather, early this morning)… and as lame as this sounds… I now feel like my day is missing something. hahah.  The day is just not the same without some Edward-and-Bella love story ::sigh::  I’m sad to be done.. which I didn’t really expect.  However, I am also relieved because now, hopefully, I can get myself on track and back to work.  I can definitely see how people (specifically people of the female gender hahah) can read those 4 books over and over again.  I’m refraining from doing so.. or I will never get any work done at all!  I think I’ll probably read them again after the movie comes out.  Speaking of movie… I’m so ridiculously excited about it.  So far, I think they’ve casted the two main characters perfectly… but then again, all I have seen are a couple trailers… so who knows.  All I can say is that I feel for the people that created the movie (cast and crew)… because they have a whole lot to live up to and a whole lot of people that could easily be let down.  Lots of pressure.  It looks like they’re making an honest attempt though (staying true to the book for the most part) and I respect them for it… I think I’ll enjoy it, regardless.  
So there is my rant… boring as it might have been… I needed to get that out of my system.  Immortal love, vampires, werewolves, magic, etc… goodbye for now.  Time to go back to real life