One Year of a Blissful Marriage

Goodness, Chu and I have reached our 1 year of marriage! It's so true when people say that the time will fly by. It feels like forever, but I'm so glad we still have a lot of time ahead of us (God willing). Within the past year, everyday, good or bad, it has confirmed to me that I married the right person for me. I thank God that our marriage allowed us to get to know each other more intimately and deeply.

Things I've learned about my husband

1. He is slow to anger - When there's a misunderstanding he is not quick to blame or criticize me. He instead comforts and affirms me. I'm thankful that he seeks to get to the root of how I'm feeling and can even turn my frustration into a laughing moment.

2. He is a great helper - He is so willing to help when I ask him and even when I don't ask. He'll ask a lot of questions, but it just assures me that he wants to get it right and he wants to make sure I'm happy and satisfied.

3. He does everything with his whole heart - I've realized that I'll take the shortcuts or do things quickly to get it done, but he likes to do things with all of his focus. He does it with all of his heart and he still manages to find a way to get it done quickly!

4. He loves to be clean - He likes himself and the space around him to be clean. Although there are moments where I struggle with this quality, I do love this about him though. I'm not the cleanest person and I can live with a little bit (or a lot) of a mess in my room. He loves his bed to be clean too so he never let me put anything unnecessary on it, not even my purse. He's definitely helping me to have a better habit of cleanliness.

5. He is patient - He is patient in every way, but this is a particular situation that I was thankful for. Honestly, before marriage, I made it clear that I was very scared to have sex and our first night (and many nights after that) was definitely not easy. Let's just say that Chu was so patient with me when it came to this aspect of our marriage. It was hard and somewhat discouraging at times, but I thank Chu for his patients, tenderness, and words of affirmation that made sex easier. This is something in our marriage that I loved working on together because we were both so vulnerable and wanted to better understand each other's needs. Sex is an important part of marriage and his patients showed me that he valued me and wanted me to enjoy this act of love.

6. He has funny quirks - I hate to admit it, but learning all about Chu's funny quirks does make marriage enjoyable. Some of these quirks drove me crazy, but at the same time I love how it makes Chu, Chu. I don't want to call him out so I'll just list a couple . . .

     + He liked to place his socks at the left corner of the bed.
     + He'll repeat funny lines and noises when he's watching something.
     + His McDonald order is a McChicken and a McDouble, but he always has to eat the McChicken first.

7. He is the executor - In our marriage, I am the one who comes up with the ideas, but Chu is the one who executes them. He does all of the researching, planning, and driving!

8. He is very disciplined with money - One of my biggest struggles is being disciplined with my money. It took us a long time to figure out our budget and to get a steady income because our lives were so hectic with moving to GA and traveling. Since our income wasn't the steadiest, we had to save and he was definitely my rock when I had urges to go shopping.

Chu and I are alike in many ways, but in many MORE ways we're so different. We're different, but all for the better. Everyone always said that the person you marry will compliment you and it couldn't be more true in our case. Where I have flaws and struggles, he is strong and vise versa. The way we compliment each other helps with our teamwork, communication, expressions of love, and our marriage overall. We truly compliment each other in the areas where we need it.

After one year, not every moment of our marriage was happy or perfect, but every moment allowed us to grow and become more like Christ and that in itself is what made this a blissful marriage so far.

Yesterday was much needed.

Thankful for an honest conversation with a friend.

Thankful for an honest conversation with my husband.

Thankful for the things that God revealed to me.

Thankful that God is changing my heart and building my character.

Thankful.

The Story of Joseph

One of my favorite stories from Genesis is the story of Joseph. His story starts in Chapter 37 and goes all the way until the end of Genesis, Chapter 50. Here are some things that God revealed to me through Joseph's story

1. Jealousy ends in death (physical and spiritual). It is so powerful that family members can even kill or harm each other (Ch. 37: 11and 18-28). This is not the first time in the bible that brothers have plotted to kill one another. The story of Cain and Abel, early on in Genesis, was the first account of murder and the reason was because of jealousy (Ch. 4). 

2. God is forever faithful. The Lord was always with him, blessed him, and made everything he did successful (Ch. 39: 2-6 and Ch. 39: 21-23). Even though Joseph was put in many tough situations, God allowed him to find favor with the people around him. God didn't forget about Joseph at all.

3. Lust always ends with harm. Potiphar's wife lusted after Joseph and tried to sleep with him, but when he refused she accused him of attempted rape. Joseph was thrown into prison as a result of her lust (Ch. 39: 7-19). There will be other accounts from the bible that shows how lust ends up in harm to self or others.

4. God gifted Joseph with the ability to interpret dreams, but Joseph never took any of the glory. He was humble and knew that his gift and everything else belonged to God (Ch. 40: 8 and Ch. 41:16).

5. Joseph had compassion for his brothers even though they harmed him. He comforted them during their moments of grief, shame, and regret. He also understood that justice was not his to seek. (Ch. 42: 24-25, Ch. 45: 5, and Ch. 50: 19). 

6. God is omniscient. God is all-knowing and does nothing in vain. He always has a purpose far greater than we will ever understand. Joseph was wise because he knew that. He understood that he went through suffering because God had a greater purpose for him. God called him to Egypt first so that he would be able to help during the famine and preserve many lives (Ch. 45: 5, 7-8 and Ch. 50: 20).

7. God restores. When God reunited Israel and Joseph, he physically restored them and spiritually restored their joy. I loved reading about when Israel realized that Joseph was still alive and how they embraced each other when they saw each other again. Israel was so thankful towards God and felt that he could pass away with peace now (Ch. 45: 27, Ch. 46: 29-30, and Ch. 48: 11). There's so much tears for the heartache they went through and for the overwhelming joy of their reunion.

I seriously have so much respect and admiration towards Joseph. I'm also in awe about how everything was orchestrated by our God. Everything had a purpose and only magnified God and His characteristics even more.

Fall Weddings

Savanah and Gabriel

9/13/2019

So happy this day finally came for them. I know they're going love marriage so much.

The sisters and I. Love saying that so much.

T.O.T for life

CO ladies that I love and miss dearly.

It's been so good to have these two around. Missing  Tia, Yeng, and Sara though.

Jasmine and Nathan

9/21/2019

Love these candid shots with the bride and groom.

I know their marriage is going to be filled with lots of laughter.

Mercy! It's been so great having someone to cook, talk, and laugh with.

Our May-May! She's growing up too fast without us.

The sweetest and most mature 7 year old!

Goodness, I totally cried saying bye to these two. I miss them so much and wished they could stay forever. I'll always be praying and thinking of you two.

Anthony and Jue

9/28/2019

The flower girl literally threw the petals in my lap! It was the funniest and cutest thing I've ever seen a flower girl do!

With Chu's first cousin and his bride! I wish I got a picture with her in her wedding dress, but hey, it's all about being comfortable!

CO in GA

For Nate and Gabe's wedding it was so sweet how all of their friends practically stayed for a whole week to celebrate with them. I've always loved and was so thankful for their strong friendship.

Now, on my selfish end of the rope, it was the best thing ever because I loved being able to see my CO family again! We ate together, went swimming, and had late game nights. It just felt like old times and my heart was so full this week.

It hurts my heart to know that everyone is slowly leaving and we're going back to our normal days, but I'm also happy that we have a home here in GA where everyone can come to when they are here. It truly is a good thing to have friends and family in different places so you can rely on them.

Can't wait for the next time that we have such a big group like that here. I'll be waiting and ready to host again!

Much love to my CO family!

Mexican Train is the best domino game!

Dessert Galore!

Hanging out with May-May!

From Within

During my bible studies, something that keeps being brought to my attention is how Jesus talks about the heart and from it comes good or evil.

Matthew 12: 33-37
"Either make the tree good and it's fruit will be good, or make the tree bad and it's fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by it's fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil. I tell you that on the day of judgement people will have to account for every careless word they speak. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

Mark 7: 14-23
"Summoning the crowd again, he told them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand: Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him but the things that come out of a person are what defile him. When he went into the house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, "Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don't you realize that nothing going into a person from the outside can defile him? For it doesn't go into his heart but into the stomach and is eliminated" (thus he declared all foods clean). And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of people's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, evil action, deceit, self-indulgence, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a person."

I can have such sinful and evil thoughts in moments of pride, anger, jealousy, and hurt, but I feel so convicted when Jesus says that all of these things are produced and then overflowed from the heart. When I reflect on my actions and reactions, it's such an eye-opener on how ugly my heart can be. Knowing that there is sin in my heart, I am forever grateful that it is cleaned and renewed through the blood of Jesus Christ, e v e r y d a y. He forgives and gives me grace when I fall short. I also have His word as a constant reminder that I need Him and He is my only way to the Father.

My prayer is that the Lord would continue to work at my heart where it is the root of all things. I pray that God would make my heart beautiful by producing good fruits and becoming a reflection of God's characteristics. For every moment that He is making my heart more like His, I pray that He would give me strength to persevere through the difficult moments. For the moments that I don't understand, may He give me hope that nothing is done in vain.

The road to making my heart more like Jesus has been far from easy or painless, but I believe that the reward (furthering His Kingdom and spending an eternity with Him) will be so worth it.

Summer Skincare/Favorites

Skincare

+ Laneige Hydrating Trial Kit

+ Sunprise Sunscreen Must Daily from Etude House: It was recommended by Xee and I loved it! I was actually supposed get the Mild Airy Fresh one, but I'll try that one next time. It'll probably be better for the fall and summer and anyways.

+ The Silk Canvas Primer from Tatcha: Sara used this on me an I fell in love! I've been eyeing this beauty since May so I got it as a birthday gift to myself in July!

+ Gold Snail Hydrogel Eye Patch: The first time I tried this was at Cynthia's wedding. She kindly gifted me one for my birthday. It makes your under eyes feel so soft afterwards.

+ White Nail Polish: This is a makeup item, but just wanted to through it in there because this summer I've been kind of obsessed about doing my nails.

*NOTE* What I love about these products is the fact that their packaging is so cute, but they also have so much product to use.

Young Living Essential Oils

+ Grapefruit Chapstick: Love this chapstick sooo much. I've been using it ever since I got it and it hasn't disappointed me yet.

+ Peppermint

+ Lime

+ Lemon

+ Citrus Fresh

Fashion

+ Jumpsuits: I had been racking up all the jumpsuits! They were a huge staple in my summer wardrobe.

+ Shorts specifically from Old Navy. They're long (enough to be modest, but short enough to not feel too old lol) and comfortable. Now that I'm living in warmer weather, I definitely went back and bought some more.

+ Michael Kors Handbag: I got a smaller MK handbag from my mom as a birthday gift and I've been wearing it everywhere. It's so cute and matches everything!

Dramas

+ Hotel Del Luna: Loved the cast, OST, and the script. It made me sad to see the deep resentment and hatred that people can have. Just saying, but the last two episodes will pull your heartstrings. Sometimes it felt kind of slow, but there were definitely tears. In the end, it wasn't just about love, but friendship that grew overtime.

+ Jane the Virgin: I seriously have no words for this TV series because so much happened. I loved how it was an American Telenovela. It was full of emotions and it was a series where you grew to love each of the characters. No spoilers, but I cried, A LOT. 

Our Summer Adventures!

It's September now, so before Fall officially starts, I want to share my summer adventures and photos! Getting so behind!

Youth and Young Adults Field Day

Love Cat. Her and Josh worked so hard on this field day!

 Mother-Daughter Tea Party.

When the little sis does your make up, take a selfie or two. Plus, that bathroom lighting was perfect!

One of my favorite Nam Tsev events. Windie is such an inspiration!

Chu and I loved going to Boulder. We decided to stroll around Pearl Street and get these adorable popsicles. 

Aimee's graduation Party! We're so proud of her!

Brunch date with Esther, Rancy, and their significant others!

So thankful that Shoua and Chuyee set aside time to eat with us before their mini family vacation and before we moved. I'm so thankful for Shoua's friendship and for what their family has done for me.

Went to Estes because my mom wanted to take this picture. We were pretty low-key hyped for it too.

Last Dinner with these lovely folks before Chu and I moved. Esmay, adorable as always. I cannot handle the bottom picture. My heart!!!

Cannot thank these kiddos so much for their help loading the truck. Wish we could bring all of them with us to GA!

For my birthday, Chu surprised me with my own Young Living Essential Oils Kit. It was really overwhelming at first, but I'm so thankful for Lucy who took the time to explain a lot of it to me. I'm so ready to start making rollers and other DIY things! I just need to start working first!

Love seeing Kxf and Nxf Tswv David at church again.

Celebrated Chu's birthday at the GA aquarium and it was such a beautiful place. The dolphins stole my heart!

Went to Cali for a weekend trip for my grandma's funeral. Broke our hearts, but we're also filled with hope for the next time that we meet her again.

When you go to a funeral for 4 days in a row, there is no point to wearing make up.

OMG!!!! This was my first time meeting little Noelle in person. She is such a pretty little girl. I love her eyes and smile.

Had an Essential Oils hangout with the New Hope ladies. They're so sweet, I look forward to hanging out with them again!

Lunch date with my Nyack sisters.

Two cuties!