quite an eventful week

I haven’t blogged in a while, so this is somewhat of a purge of personal life events. Trust me, there’s an overload of stuff below, so feel free to just scroll through the pictures.

[08/14] THE LONG-AWAITED MEETING

(If you want the entire =detailed= story, I’m sure julian wouldn’t mind repeating it for the billionth time. Otherwise, here’s my take in a nutshell...)

With God’s work, Julian found himself in San Diego for jonjon’s graduation from boot camp so we made plans for him to finally come over to my house and settle some unfinished courting business. After over an hour of getting lost due to my lack of navigational skills, he finally arrived, flustered...but in good spirits (thank God he has a sense of humor).

As I had hoped, he hit it off with my mom and grandma, which is a personal indicator of great things to come. They would later express their appreciation for his respect, comfortable social skills, and genuine character. My mom even openly (as in right in front of him) explained how she liked how he was so comfortable, “as if we’ve known him for a long time now”.

What really touched my heart was the comfortable interaction between julian and my grandma. Considering she’s been rather ill lately, she hasn’t been eating, but tonight she was grubbing nonstop, topping off her unusually large appetite with a slice of that yummy banana creme pie he picked up. She explained that she was able to eat a lot because she was in good company. On top of that, my heart melted as they spoke about their involvement in the church, another kicker to the julian scoreboard. Somewhere during dinner, my little gramma even randomly boasted, “I can sing... acapella”…then she sang “Amazing Grace” for him. What a moving moment to finally hear her sing once again and to see her so happy…and then looking over and there he was…just as happy.

Apparently, Julian’s one-fourth Chinese background also provoked fascination for them. That made for interesting twists and amusing references in our dinner talk. My grandma had urged him to bring her egg-drop soup upon his next visit, made him promise her a date to the best Chinese restaurants in LA, and invited him to a supposed “Chinese party” she was planning…?

Then, the moment of truth. We sat my parents down at the table, which made my mom nervous to wonder what the serious news was. [here's some snipits of the convo]

Julian: I understand the importance of family for your daughter so I wanted to respect that and ask for your blessing before I pursue a relationship with Melody…

Mom: Wow, that’s very nice of you. No one’s ever done this before. You have our blessing.

Dad: You are always welcome here.

They chit-chatted for a little more and then, that was that. Immediately after stepping out the door, we both let out a huge sigh of relief and embraced in triumph. The greatest obstacle (which turned out to not be a major challenge at all) was defeated…thanks to julian’s ability to counter awkward situations and utmost sincerity…and maybe some of the success could be attributed to his Chinese-ness…maybe.

Thank God for placing twists in our lives
and for the unexpected blessings that continue
to reinforce His presence through it all.

As usual, it all worked out. What a relief.
And that was that. And with that, it was official.

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[08/15] 10.5 LAGUNA LOLLERSKATERS

Nick Cheung scooped me and wes up and headed to fountain valley for some good ol’ rollerskating!! After grumbling about the over-priced admission and skate rentals, it was $10 for sure well spent. Although multi-tasking between skating and dancing proved to be a challenge, everyone was clearly enjoying themselves. The intense lighting and constant circling left me dizzy but in good spirits, some decked out in spaerobics costumes, racing and making trains through the rink. A full-on dance-off battle occurred at one point in the center of the rink. We brought the party to the hormonal-high-schooler-filled venue. After a quick stop for some slurpees, we headed back to diana’s to just kick it. My ultimate favorite part [thanks to DJ fraser, best friend] was the collective singing of great hits like “all my life” and “im yours” (a personal fave). I remember taking a breather during our SPkaraoke session and looking around… everyone with huge smiles, embracing and serenading each other, all in the moment consisting of awesome tunes and even more awesome vibes… to me, these moments are so idealistic, almost like a dream where, at that single moment, everything feels so euphorically beautiful.

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[08/16] SPOP 10 TALENT SHOW

I found myself in Pacific Ballroom once again for the SPOP 10 talent show, the last one. Being limited to just an audience member was an initially saddening to be unable to perform on that stage at the last spop… but afterwards, I realized I wouldn’t have it any other way. I felt like a proud mother as I watched my SPohana kids represent the family… and to stand by Isaac while we cheered our hearts out for spop modern. Everyone killed it, finishing off the summer strong. I super SPloved being surrounded by the wonderful goldmembers…in addition to members of the staffer family of past years. It felt surreal to be among such great people.

^ PURPLE. my roots.

^ GOLD.

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[08/17] STAFF CLOSING

I expected to be drenched in tears by the end of closing, perhaps provoked by emotional speeches and the realization that it’s …yknow… over? To my delight, there wasn’t that impending sense of closure. Instead, the room was filled with hyped energy, giggles and a not-so-silent touch game activity. Everyone just at an extreme happiness level. We all said our thank you's and basked in the splove.

During staff closing, i even received a phone call:

julian: so on top of getting a girlfriend this week...i also made Mavyn!
me: what?! are you serious?! CONGRATULATIONS!!

congrats jurr, i really am extremely proud of you and support you thru this (and everything else). i suppose this was an eventful week for you as well.

That night brought everyone back together at the pub for Hannah's going away and shane’s birthday shindig. The vibes in that pub were incredible. Dancing, performing with spop modern and more mingling among great people…

and even a spontaneous MCIA reunion!

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[08/18] MCIA WELCOME WEEK SHOWCASE

MCIA reunited again to see the new choreo for the upcoming welcome week set. Everyone’s choreo seriously blew me away, to see the improvement and dedication of my teammates makes me beyond excited for this new set. I’m so proud of this team, my family. After a quick cabinet meeting, I headed to cha with kruh only to encounter a storytelling party. Unfortunately, I just missed julian’s interesting account on the progression of our relationship, but it was nice to hear others'. With the chaos of welcome week practices coming soon, I really just enjoyed being among the lively group once again, just chillin’ on a crisp summer night.

Following the impromptu storytelling session, julian and I headed to Newport to satisfy our carne asada fries craving. Our unexpected destination for our first official date was under the UCI signs on Bison. He said he thought that area looked cool...and it really was. Despite the vicious bite of the ants beneath us, it was nice. And I loved all the gifts too, you're full of surprises.

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[08/19] RAMEN & A CONCERT

I was blessed to find myself at a cute little ramen place for lunch with timmygoboomboom chen. Our lunch was filled with a heavy conversation of reflection, the goods and the not-so-much’s of spop. It was really refreshing to be able to reminisce and vent about the summer over some delicious noodles and gyoza. Not only did we discuss spop matters, but we did some getting-to-know-you through topics of music, movies and a discovery of quirky hobbies.

Later that night, i headed to Anaheim with brentobear and ang for an intimate concert with matt pryor (get up kids) and chris conley (saves the day lead). I've missed being in that familiar setting, a small venue full of adoring fans, singing along with the performers. Although I only knew a handful of songs, I loved being in such a positive environment with chill tunes.

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[08/20] AQUARIUM with SOME FRIENDSIES

I woke up at 6:45 am and realized sleep was overrated… and I was too pumped for the load of festivities planned for the day… so I got up, got ready, and got excited. The five of us headed over to marlo’s place in Lakewood where we were greeted by the hospitable Asis family (now I see where marlo gets it from). To our delight, we were surprised by platefuls of rice, eggs, sausage. What a blessing to be immediately welcomed into someone’s home for a scrumptious meal to start the day. We finally arrived at the aquarium where my “little girl mode” kicked in, eagerly weaving through the galleries. The exhibits were excellent, the colors were brilliant and the fish and other animals (sea lions and otters!) left me in awe… and the company wasn’t too shabby either. And yes, I found nemo… and jurian even surprised me with a new friend, an awesomely spotted sea turtle uniquely named Sea Lion, who participated in the picture-taking fun! Our next stop was Guppy’s to stuff our faces with an array of kimchi/salmon/Hawaiian fried rice dishes, brick toast and of course... shaved ice! Apparently our eyes were bigger than our stomachs as food coma quickly arrived, calling for siesta back at marlo’s. I personally knocked out while the rest of the group alternated between napping and watching “Princess Mononoke”. To our surprise, marlo’s momma had been cooking up a storm in the kitchen once again. Although our stomachs were still packed with all types of goodness, we couldn’t help but return to the dinner table… this time for yummy beefsteak, watermelon.... and more rice. We finished up just in time to head to downtown Disney for some fireworks atop the parking structure, finishing off yet another blessed day.

After retrieving my car, I took the journey to walnut to drop julian off at home. Thank God the drive doesn’t feel that long in the midst of good conversation. We further strengthened our relationship by sharing more fun facts of various aspects of our lives. To continue the momentum of the dialogue, we parked in a nearby park to prolong our conversation. In the middle of our “getting to know you” session, a bright light flashed on our car… a bored cop approached the driver’s side while julian whispered, “oh no, I don’t have my ID”, which didn’t make the situation better since he was the one driving. After nervously fumbling to roll down the window, the officer proceeded to take julian out of the car, frisk him then place him in the backseat of the cop car (which I was pretty jealous about). Several minutes of confusion passed. The officer then asked me to step out of the car and place my hands on the hood while he ran background checks on us. With the light shining directly on me, hands still on hood, all I could think was, “this WOULD happen to us”. I rolled my eyes and tried to fight the smiles and laughter about the whole situation. After a mixup with my registration, the officer returned my license, then returned my registration. “Can I have him back?” He joked, “Nope, I’m gonna have to keep him, he has some warrants out for his arrest”. After flirtatious small talk to avoid additional awkwardness, julian was released and we finally headed to julian’s. During the two-minute drive to his house, we cheered and shared a hearty laugh about what had just happened. “I didn’t know these crazy events were part of the package…I didn’t sign on for this”. But it’s okay, they make for interesting stories... experiencing perfect scenarios just isn’t our style anyway. After more laughs, we decided to end the night on that oddly high note.

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[08/21] SPohana family dinner

At staff closing, the SPohana family made plans to have a little get-together before vegas. Jeff and I already knew that we had the cutest family of sweeties, but little did we know that they would surprise us with a scavenger hunt leading to a lovely dinner and special gifts from the kids! It was the first time ALL ten of us (including angelica!) have been together for a very long time. I was overjoyed to observe the kids during dinner, to acknowledge how much they’ve grown since our first awkward encounter, so comfortable with each other and themselves... I certainly felt the love. It’s the ideal family dynamic I hoped for as a returner. You kids thank us for our hard work, but really YOU motivate me and jeff with your enthusiasm and love of spop. Oh SPohana, so sweet… and edgy... sometimes. I’m so proud of each of you and seriously, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

(they even wore their shirts...how cute are they?!)

and now...off to vegas babyyy.