Vic and Briana Ishida's wedding

I'm gonna use a lot of Christian "jargon" to describe this wedding, so beware. But it is all truth, no matter what the language sounds like...

Our good friends and fellow Twenties group leaders Vic and Briana got married today! They have a very similar story to me and Francis in that Vic was not a believer in Jesus Christ when they first started dating. Briana had been raised at CPC, but had fallen away from her walk with God during college. After they broke up for various reasons, Vic began seeking God and studying the book of John with Briana's dad. Her father has a heart for young men from rough backgrounds, so Vic and him bonded easily. I remember when Vic first started attending Twenties with us. He looked suspicious of everyone, much like I did. He thought everyone was perfect except for him, but that certainly is not true. God was calling him though. Soon he and Briana reconciled and decided to base their relationship on Him. Now Vic is one of the most joyful and God-centered men I know, a true leader and husband. He is just one of the reasons I believe in a God who changes people beyond what they could change on their own.

So, naturally, their wedding was a celebration of their enduring love and God's faithfulness to Briana's prayers. It basically turned into a CPC dance party. I was dancing with Francis when I happened to glance over and see our senior pastor Mark, two of our church elders, and Justin, together with their wives, getting down to 70's music. It was so much fun! And of course, the flowers were to die for. ;)

The bride was delivered in a horse and carriage!

The hotties of Twenties!

Small business according to Dilbert

On Tuesday, a local commercial real estate firm with five branches in the Bay Area finally paid their six month overdue invoice. Francis and I made many personal visits to the office over the course of six months, hassled the poor receptionist, sent past due notices, and eventually, I directly e-mailed the president of the company. Apparently, they have felt the effects of the economic downturn and did not think paying for their 72", fully decorated holiday wreath in June sounded very appealing. I can't blame them. After assuring me the check was finally in the mail, the president of the company told me, "It is hard to believe, but we are a small business too." That may technically be true according to the definition of small business, but I am certainly more dependent on their $800 payment than they are in keeping it! In any case, we settled the matter on good terms and will most likely continue to do business with them in the future, only with advanced payment required. Francis found this appropriate Dilbert cartoon that summed up the whole experience.

Lakers get all the way to the finals...and then lose.

We went to Brance and Fides's house to watch Game 5 on their flatscreen TV. They fed me the most amazing banana-split-with-warm-brownie-sundae while I vegged out in front of the TV. I wish I had a photo of that sundae...

The Celtics deserve all the praise for Game 5 of the NBA Finals 2008. Though I am a Laker fan by marriage, the Celtics played amazing basketball. And if you appreciate the sport, you have to appreciate their crushing blow to the Lakers, which also set a new record for largest margin of victory in the finals series. See you next year, Kobe. We still love you.

My SURPRISE 28th Birthday!

Gift from the Jaw family

Our old fabric couch was a gift from the previous tenant of our apartment. Over the past two years, it grew a fur coat and looked as though it was about to run out the door to chase birds. Its corners were shaggy and demolished thanks to our big bundle of fur-making joy, Dolce. Francis was an allergenic mess every time he sat on or even near it. We decided we had to get a leather couch.

Enter the family of Francis's best friend Philip. They gave us a complete black leather couch set for FREE! Now we can actually have a place for guests to sit when they visit and Francis can watch movies without sitting on the ground.


The old faithful couch...

Twenties Retreat 2008!

Yet another successful retreat with the Twenties group. I didn't think it could top last year, but it did. I had a life-changing weekend of repentance and faith, and I came out feeling more excited to learn about Jesus. Our God is an awesome God!

Besides in depth study and preaching, we also had time to chill out with our friends and relax. We went for a hike in the trails above Westminster Woods Camp on Saturday.

Everyone heading out for the hike.
Perilous dry creek crossings...
Fellow Mountain View residents, the Robertson sisters. Those two are dangerous on the dancefloor.
The guys at our hike's final destination.
And the ladies...
Francis, of course, chose to spend his free time playing basketball. If there is a basketball game to be had, he is sure to be there.
These are the true basketball fiends of the Twenties group: James, Daniel, Leon, and Francis. After three hours of play, all the others had already left for the pool.
But not these guys!
The lovely ladies of cabin #8, looking so fresh and so clean after three days in the woods. Especially me. Ugh!

Trip to Bakersfield for Christine's graduation

Francis, Grace, and I drove down to Bakersfield in the middle of the night to celebrate Christine's graduation from grad school. Apparently, she has mastered education now. Christine is hands down the most driven and determined woman I have ever met, and I am extremely blessed to count her as a friend. The medal she has around her neck in the first photo represents a huge accomplishment; she was the only student in all the Cal State extensions to be recognized by the dean as an outstanding student of high integrity. The dean even asked her to teach his daughter piano. She's one smart cookie. The candid photos are compliments of her talented fiance Patrick. Way better than anything my stupid point-and-shoot could come up with.

Habakkuk has a bone to pick with God

Our senior pastor Mark Mitchell is going to preach a short series on the book of Habakkuk. When he first told us to turn to it, I was like, "What the heck?" It's one of the final books in the Old Testament. You should seriously get an award if you already knew that. Habakkuk was an prophet back in the day. And man, does he have a bone to pick with God. I don't want to get in the middle of it, but basically, Habakkuk is mad that God is allowing a "ruthless and impetuous" group of conquerers to have their way with his people. What I find interesting is when Habakkuk complains about the utter lack of choice or control that humans have over their lives. We are at the mercy of cruel people. We may create an illusion of control, but any one of us could easily be crushed or ruined at any given moment. As a card-carrying control freak, I find this maddening. Here's how Habakkuk puts it:

"Why have You made men like the fish of the sea, like creeping things without a ruler over them?"