Guilty pleasure...

Okay, so I blame one of the girls in my Life group for this, but recently I have grown into a big Taylor Swift fan. Yes, it's true. This whole last week whenever I have had to work on something in the computer labs on campus I have listened to the Taylor Swift channel on youtube (and yes, I'm even doing it now...)

So say what you will about Tay Swift, but her songs are catchy, they have good stories and her videos are super cute and fun. There. I said it. I like Taylor Swift. Is she the best singer ever? No, but she is pretty good. Would I see her in concert over U2, whom I have already seen 3 times in concert? No way, U2 will always be number 1 and any chance to see them = bliss and top priority. But if I could see U2 PLUS Tay Swift, then I would do it.


do YOU have any guilty pleasures?

**UPDATE: so that same friend of mine who got me hooked on Tay Swift just gave me a mix cd of her songs last night at Life group!! 19 songs!!! I know some of them but most of them are new, which means happiness in my car for days :) Thanks Rebekah!!! :D

Who's in your Top Five?

I don't know if you will remember but one of the phone companies had a "who's in your top 5?" slogan a few years back b/c the idea was that the exclusive top five friends/family of yours that you talk to the most would become your "top 5" and they would be free mobile-to-mobile calling. So then the thought becomes, "well, gee, who is lucky enough to be in my inner circle??" and then rate your friends/family accordingly. Now, I'm making this out to be a bad thing and it's not, I'm just taking some thoughts about it to the extreme :)

But my boss, Neil, had a talk around that time taking the idea of a Top Five and putting it to ministry purposes. He said we should have a top 5 list of people we are praying for, and at the time I thought that was a nice idea but didn't really do anything with that. But starting this past summer I took that idea in earnest and had a group of 5 friends that I have been praying for every day that they would come to know Jesus personally b/c they are all very dear to me and could care less about God. As this school year has started, I have seen many more opportunities to share my testimony with them, the gospel with two of them and just get more time with them and see where they're coming from. I can't see this as a coincidence. For one of them, we got together every now and then last year, but this year she has been initiating more time together and I can only attribute the change to God working in her heart!!*

It has been SO EXCITING to see God working in this area!! I know God is infinitely powerful and also intimately personal, so why does it surprise me when He answers prayer? He is more than capable to handle anything and everything I throw at Him, and then some! (Ephesians 3:20-21) I mean, isn't it so amazing that God CAN handle anything?? and not that He is struggling to juggle my issues with my friend's and also with a guy in Ukraine, no, He doesn't struggle with anything because He can handle it! He is everywhere at once, with everyone, at all times!! It feels so secure knowing that God is helping me out 100% yet not ignoring anyone else, that He is helping each and every one of us at 100% of His power!

So yes, prayer WORKS and it is so exciting to see God working in people's lives!!

*UPDATE: just had lunch with one of my Top 5, well, we didn't just have lunch, but we made it! Pasta with roasted red bell pepper sauce!! and yes, it tasted as good as it sounds, but that's neither here nor there, the *point* is that I was praying for a chance to share with her and God again gave me an opportunity! She was talking about her philosophy class and how she had to write a paper discussing Rene Decartes and his philosophy that God is perfect and how she didn't agree because of people born with birth defects and such. So we talked about that and I was able to share the gospel with her! Not very coherently mind you, I was so excited that I had to tell myself to slow down and get the right points across, and even now I am kicking myself for not saying something, but hopefully that means we can pick up the conversation the next time!! She is still not searching, but it has been exciting and really fun getting to know her better b/c she is an amazing woman! So I am continuing to pray for her b/c as we know, prayer works!!

Any fun stories you have of prayer working??

Welcome Back frenzy!!

So it is the middle of the second week of classes and we have had 3 welcome back events with 2 more on the way!! Whew!! It's been a little tiring but it's also been really great! Been able to meet a ton of new folks which has been a joy :)

Starting off we had a Dessert & Games night the Sunday before classes started. It was directly after a Christian group fair from 12-3 so this party started at 3:30 and went past 7pm!! We had TONS of desserts, everything from cookies and brownies, to red velvet cupcakes and rice krispies and if all that wasn't enough one of our guys brought root beer floats!! And all those desserts I mentioned? Yeah, there were at least 2 if not THREE trays of each of those!! Some store-bought, some homemade, all delicious. I had a couple of them myself and oh man they were good!!

We also got to meet a lot of new freshmen because we had a great location, right by some of the dorms with a huge lawn perfect for the guys playing football, then frisbee and finally wiffle ball!

do you see those yummy desserts?? Oh man, salivating just looking at them (haven't eaten in a few hours, it's getting near my dinner time!)

Students hanging out at the food table (obviously, where else would you be?) and Elizabeth and Makena were super excited about it :)

So then we had our annual Pizza Party Bash on the first Thursday of classes. It was in a park right by the bookstore so it had maximum visibility which was very helpful! We had around 20 boxes of pizza and they were all gone by the end!! It was awesome meeting tons of people there, and usually after dinner time students tend to not stop by anymore but this year we had a steady stream trickle in and ask us what Christian Challenge was all about! It was great :) Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, but I'm pretty sure one of our seniors did so I'll try to get some from him later! In the meantime:

Oh, and funny fact. I met a freshman guy who is half-Armenian (like me), grew up in Pasadena (like me) and even goes to the church that a lot of my extended family goes to - United Armenian Congregational Church (UACC)!! How weird is that?!! Small world right??

The very next day we had a bonfire at Dockweiler Beach and it was great - another TON of students were there, so much so that a few of our drivers had to pull double-duty and take a car to the beach, drop them off, come back to USC and get another car full! I am so grateful for our students' servant hearts - I heard no complaining or grumbling!


ok, so that bring us up to this week! We have a tailgater this coming Saturday for USC's first game of the season (Beat the Golden Gophers!!) and we're having it after the game. We're calling it a "5th Quarter Party" which I know doesn't make mathematical sense, but it's a fun name though right? (One of our student leaders came up with the title, she's a screenwriting major so she has major creativity!)

I'll let you know how it goes!! Here is the funny for the day:

Recap of the summer

So I have about 2 weeks left until stuff for USC begins to start up again, so I thought I would reflect on this summer so far and give you some highlights:

- starting it off with a week in Lake Arrowhead, totally alone, as a personal retreat of-sorts and it was amazing. Even though the ride up there cost me about 5 years of my life (free tip: don't drive up a mountain late at night with really bad fog - it's absolutely terrifying)

- been raising more support and almost to my goal so please pray that I will reach my goal by Aug. 12th!!

- I've been able to meet up with a few of the girls in my small group from this past year and even found out that one of them turned from being a vegan to an all-out carnivore because, as she says, "being a vegan was just too hard" so now I don't have to look up vegan cookie recipes anymore!!

- I've seen Harry Potter 7.2 (twice and it was great), Midnight in Paris (surprisingly fun and good), X-Men: First Class (twice, really liked it!), Bridesmaids (ehhh, had some really funny parts but the raunchiness factor was a bit too much) and Pirates 4 (ehh, it was entertaining but nothing to write home about)

- went surfing once and it was amazing and fantastic and all sorts of wonderful. I hadn't been in almost a year due to my stupid RA coming back and being all unpredictable and I went with 2 good friends of mine and it was absolutely lovely. I couldn't stop smiling because it felt so great to get back out there and enjoy the waves!! Surfing is seriously becoming my favorite sport. I love Volleyball and all, and it's a heck of a lot easier to include people with a volleyball, and surfing is a somewhat expensive sport for all the equipment that is involved, but holy cow it is crazy fun and exhilarating, like woah. My dad loves the fact that I am getting more and more into it and he even got me a wetsuit! So now all I need is a board, so I'll be searching craigslist for that :)

- went to a beach bonfire for one of our fellow staffers, celebrating her 10 years being in California and with USC Christian Challenge :)

- attended the Hollywood Bowl and the theme was "Michael Feinstein and the singing stars of television" and while the host, Michael Feinstein, was a bit of a tool, the guests (Florence Henderson, aka Momma Brady, Cheyenne Jackson, Wayne Brady and my personal favorite, Dick Van Dyke!!!!) I love the HB, simply love it, I think it is bar none one of the coolest and most fun things to do in LA, to hear music under the stars :)

- Caught up with "Bones" season 5, now I just need to watch some season 6 and find out what happens next!

- had some good crying moments with God over my RA

- worked on assignments for my boss

- slept!!

And now the summer is officially over because tomorrow is USC's move-in day!!! So I'm hoping to get a chance to meet and get to know some new folks and help some of the older ones move in too :)

Psalm 111 en francais

Louez tous l'Eternel!
Je mettrai tout mon cœur à louer l'Eternel
dans l'assemblée, dans le conseil des justes.

2 L'Eternel accomplit des œuvres admirables,
elles sont méditées par tous ceux qui les aiment.


3 Ses actes manifestent sa gloire et sa splendeur.
Pour toute éternité, subsiste sa justice.


4 Il veut qu'on se souvienne de toutes ses merveilles.
Oui, l'Eternel est bon et il fait grâce.


5 Il pourvoit aux besoins de ceux qui le révèrent.
Il se souvient toujours de son alliance.


6 Il a manifesté sa puissance à son peuple en agissant pour lui
quand il lui a donné le pays d'autres peuples.


7 Tout ce qu'il fait témoigne qu'il est fidèle et juste,
tous ses commandements sont dignes de confiance,


8 ils sont bien établis pour toute éternité,
fondés sur la justice et la fidélité.


9 Il envoie le salut pour délivrer son peuple,
il conclut avec lui une alliance éternelle.
C'est un Dieu saint et redoutable.


10 La clé de la sagesse, c'est de révérer l'Eternel.
Ceux qui s'y tiennent ont une saine intelligence.
Qui observe ses lois est vraiment avisé.
Sa louange subsiste jusqu'en l'éternité.

There is just something so beautiful about reading and speaking God's Word in French! I know I am biased because I love French, but still, the Bible is beautiful anyways, and then you go and put it in a beautiful language and the beautifulness gets squared. (Maybe that's not entirely scientifically accurate, but you get the idea :)

I ordered a French Bible my senior year of college and I love reading it and going to my favorite verses in English and then seeing how they're different in French, much like different translations will hit you differently, the different language is simply that, another translation, and some of the verses in French hit me harder in French than in English. Plus, the French is just so delightful :) Vive la France!


Ahhhh, La Tour Eiffel :)


and of course, this character is everyone's perception of french people, esp the french language! I can't tell you how many times whenever I tell people I speak french they automatically go "French? like 'hhhhee hhhhee hhhhon hhhhon!' " imitating this french chef and I have to say, "no, not quite like that..." every time, like in the tv show "Friends" when Phoebe tries to teach Joey how to speak French and he crashes and burns horribly :)

Harry Potter, I love you

Ok, so the last time I posted it was a mere three days before the end of Potter, and now I have already seen it twice (in one weekend no less, yes I am that much of a nerd) and I loved it. Some of my friends didn't like it because it deviated from the book but I liked it. I think the deviations keep it fresh in our minds as we won't know completely what to expect when we watch the final product on screen.

Why did I watch it twice in one weekend you ask? Well, the 17th was my mom's birthday so we took most of the family and some family friends to see it together. The only problem is that we went to a high-class theater in Pasadena, one that, let's just say the younger crowd doesn't frequent because the tickets are too expensive. So the crowds there are generally older and don't get as excited during movies. So I watched it with my friend Lindsay on opening night (fellow Potter enthusiast and also fellow staffer with me at USC Christian Challenge :) and we saw it at LA Live in downtown and the crowds there were a ton more fun, as I expected. There were clappings, hootin' and hollerin' and some sniffles in the theater that night. It was awesome. Yours truly cried a couple times, and at the same parts of the film both times I saw it. It was epic and action-packed but still packed an emotional wallop too. It was sad to say goodbye to some of my favorite characters over the years but it had to end at some time right? And whatta way to end it!!

Below is a link to pictures of the main Harry Potter stars with every premiere of each film, going back to 2011 all the way until this movie came out. They all look so cute in the beginning!! Such a great casting job...

http://www.empireonline.com/features/harry-potter-premieres

Now there is nothing to look forward to - no book, no movie, they're all done. So now all that's left is to re-read and re-watch the books and movies, which isn't a huge deal because they're just so darn readable :)

Thank you Harry Potter for being a great and engaging story. It was great growing with you for the last 10+ years!

IT'S COMING!!!

It is finally coming. The end. The final goodbye. The last hurrah if you will. I'm talking, of course, about Harry Potter. As it is the 12th of July we only have THREE more days until we finally get to see in movie form what we already know from the books (if you've read them) or what we've always hoped would happen if we've only seen the movies.

I have seen all the movies and read all the books and I tend to re-read them at random times and out of order. For instance, during July 4th weekend I was in Lake Arrowhead at my parent's cabin and they had Potter books 2 & 3 there so I re-read book 3 and I remember why it's one of my favorites. All the action, intrigue, revelations, etc. Actually, I love books 3 and 6 the best, the movies too for that matter. I mean, really, how amazing a feat is it to create an entire world with a different vocabulary and have it be so enticing to such a huge population??

I was writing some thank you notes the other day and I flipped my computer to youtube to put on some background music and I see a line at the top of the screen - "click here to see the Harry Potter world premiere live in London" ummm, WHAT?? So I click it and get to see Trafalgar Square transformed into a red carpet premiere with thousands upon thousands of fans waiting for even a hint of a glimpse of someone related to the movies to walk by. Some of the London-ers had been camping out for 3 days. That, my friends, is Star Wars mega-fan territory. I wouldn't personally do it, but hey, all the more power to them for doing so! But it was fun to watch for a while as I was writing notes and see the stars in their "normal" attire (normal is relative of course, b/c while they weren't in wizarding robes, they were also all gussied up for the event, so, yeah).

But just THREE DAYS people!! I just got my movie tickets, yes, I know I am late, but I still got tickets and thankfully the theater I'm going to doesn't have assigned seating, so as long as me and my equally-obsessed-with-all-things-Potter-friend Lindsay get there early, we should be fine. Plus, there are only 2 of us, we don't need to worry or coordinate with 10 people (which would be darn fun though, but alas a lot of our Potter friends are out of state right now).

So without further ado, I present you with the trailer for HP7.2, which, judging from the advance reviews, is gonna be a doozy:

http://youtu.be/I_kDb-pRCds

oh, did I mention that I'm seeing it twice opening weekend? Once on opening night of course, couldn't miss that, and again with family on Sunday for my mom's birthday :)