In my life....

The Vow,

2012-02-26T13:17:00.004-06:00

I finally went to watch it last night with a friend and I loved it. He was Mr. McDREAMY. I drooled throughout the movie basically. The storyline was so-so. I think I watch too many Korean dramas and Thai Lakorns that this didn't really put me in awe, but I still enjoyed it though. The ending wasn't as bad as people made it to be. I mean, if people are meant to be, they will end up together no matter what- and this just goes to show that it's true. Sometimes it's better this way for us to face reality than to live in a happily ever after movie. Comparing this to He's Just Not That Into You a couple years ago... it's perfect. I like how Leo tried and never gave up until the very end and Paige finally realize, maybe she really can't live without him. Yays. Anyways, I say watch it even though it's a typical love story and an ending not many people are too fond of, but it's good.

The next movie I want to watch is "Think Like A Man" inspired from the book "Think Like A Man, Act Like A Woman" or something like that. The preview looks really funny and interesting-- hopefully I find someone to go watch it with me. I also want to watch Titanic in 3D. I've never seen Titanic before.. can you believe that? Lol.

Anyways, new term is starts tomorrow and 8 weeks left til externship, I'm a bit nervous, but we'll see. :)

Btw--- Goa--- my e-mail is thaox189@umn.edu (add me to your blog).

MNT

Think Positive.

2012-02-23T17:46:00.004-06:00

I know not everyone is a stronger believer... but this touched my heart today. My little cousin sent it to me telling me God is protecting me, so I just wanted to share with everyone. Just ignore if you don't care about it. We don't know who's protecting us, but sometimes, things happen for a reason, for better or for worse, always keep your head high and think positively.

Me: God, can I ask You a question?

God: Sure

Me: Promise You won't get mad
... ... ... ...
God: I promise

Me: Why did You let so much stuff happen to me today?

God: What do u mean?

Me: Well, I woke up late

God: Yes

Me: My car took forever to start

God: Okay

Me: at lunch they made my sandwich wrong & I had to wait

God: Huummm

Me: On the way home, my phone went DEAD, just as I picked up a call

God: All right

Me: And on top of it all off, when I got home ~I just want to soak my feet in my new foot massager & relax. BUT it wouldn't work!!! Nothing went right today! Why did You do that?

God: Let me see, the death angel was at your bed this morning & I had to send one
of My Angels to battle him for your life. I let you sleep through that

Me (humbled): OH

GOD: I didn't let your car start because there was a drunk driver on your route that would have hit you if you were on the road.

Me: (ashamed)

God: The first person who made your sandwich today was sick & I didn't want you to catch what they have, I knew you couldn't afford to miss work.

Me (embarrassed):Okay

God: Your phone went dead bcuz the person that was calling was going to give false witness about what you said on that call, I didn't even let you talk to them so you would be covered.

Me (softly): I see God

God: Oh and that foot massager, it had a shortage that was going to throw out all of the power in your house tonight. I didn't think you wanted to be in the dark.

Me: I'm Sorry God

God: Don't be sorry, just learn to Trust Me.... in All things , the Good & the bad.

Me: I will trust You.

God: And don't doubt that My plan for your day is Always Better than your plan.

Me: I won't God. And let me just tell you God, Thank You for Everything today.

God: You're welcome child. It was just another day being your God and I Love looking after My Children...

MNT.

Lead in LIP PRODUCTS.

2012-02-16T20:29:00.002-06:00

Did you all hear/see/read about the whole lead testing in lipsticks?

Lead in lipsticks. Read on to find out which brands. The FDA found the highest levels in lipsticks made by Procter & Gamble (Cover Girl brand), L'Oreal (L'Oreal, Body Shop and Maybelline brands), and Revlon. The lipsticks containing the most lead (measured in parts per million) are:

1. Maybelline Color Sensational, Pink Petal (7.9 ppm)

2. L'Oreal Colour Riche, Volcanic, (7.0 ppm)

3. NARS Semi-Matte, Red Lizard (4.93 ppm)

4. Cover Girl Queen Collection, Ruby Remix, (4.92 ppm)

5. Nars Semi-Matte, Funny Face (4.89 ppm)

6. L'Oreal Colour Riche, Tickled Pink (4.45 ppm)

7. L'Oreal Intensely Moisturizing Lipcolor, Heroic (4.41 ppm)

8. Cover Girl Continuous Color, Warm Brick (4.28 ppm)

9. Maybelline Color Sensational, Mauve Me (4.23 ppm)

10. Stargazer Lipstick, #103 (4.12 ppm)

Read here for more details.

Check all your lipsticks and make sure they are not on this list... Yikes. I panicked about my collection and checked all my lipstick--- I swear I thought I had the Maybelline Color Sensational one in Mauve Me, but apparently I don't... and I use to be crazy buying all these lipsticks and now they've all disappeared. I have no idea where they all disappeared to from the face of this Earth. I use to have a full drawer of lip products and now it does not even cover the bottom of the drawer. Uh..... I have no idea where it disappeared to. I know for a fact that I did not throw any of them away and I know my sisters hates the feeling of having anything on their lips. I don't know where they all disappeared to, but good thing none of the ones I have are on the list, but I do have quite a few of the Maybelline Sensational Line.. and now that I look back, why did I buy so many? They're not even good, not pigmented, not moisturizing or anything. Definitely not cheap either. *sighs...*

I've been makeup-shopping-less lately. I'm currently still not working and just living off what I have (makeup wise) so I'm super sad seeing everyone trying new things and getting new things to experiment with and here I'm sitting with things I don't want to use nor suits me. So sad. And I kind of know what I like and what I don't now so I don't even touch the palettes and things I don't like or does not look nice on me, and the things I do like are running out because it's basically what I use everyday.

:(

Oh right, Peach and Goa, I really like the lipstick color(s) you two used this past weekend... mind sharing the color and brand? Haha.

MNT

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T16:23:00.006-06:00

Even though many of us may not have a significant others, my instructor taught us that we don't need to celebrate today for LOVE, we can celebrate and remember those who were born without a heart, half a heart, and those who survived and did not make it to be here today with us. From this year onwards, I will look forward to Valentine's Day in honor of those who did not have the chance to be born normally with a full heart.

Happy Valentine's Day to all my lovely bloggers who are celebrating it. I've already celebrated S.A.D. (Single Awareness Day) with my lovely girlfriends this past Saturday, so therefore I rejected everyone who asked me to hang out today. Even though I don't have anyone significant, my girlfriends made it up and thank you ladies for all you've done. And for those couples who had asked me to hang out, eat out, etc, thank you for the offers, but I had to reject. Didn't want to be a third wheel.. or should I say, the 11th wheel. Lol. Happy loving to you all.

And of course, I had to do a quick makeup look for today even though I'm not going out. Enjoy. <3

Enjoy the rest of this beautiful holiday and share with me what you did. Any proposals? Haha.

This past Saturday with the girlfriends, didn't get a photo with all the girls, but it's okay, there's always next time.

And of course, today's look. Very plain and simple. I wore this look to school today WITHOUT the lashes, contacts, and lipstick/lipgloss. I came home and just quickly threw on the extras. My sisters all gained up and cornered about who I was going on a date with and the first person they came up with was............ the same person everyone thinks I will end up marrying one day. Geez. Of course not! I just wanted to take pictures. Haha. What's wrong with me taking pictures? I take pictures EVERY DAY.. or just about. LOL.

Have a wonderful day, wonderful date, wonderful dinner and come back and share your dates with me. Can't wait to hear from everyone. :)

MNT

DONE!!!! Updated: WINNER.

2012-02-09T11:58:00.006-06:00

Yes! Finally, the day I've been waiting for!

Mock Interview- done successfully! Instead of just the lady I called to set up the interview with interviewing me, she pulled in another person. So I was interviewed by two medical professionals and they both, at the end of my interview session, said I was the best mock interviewee in the last 4 years. I did not shake, shiver, said "um" or fidget at all, answered all my questions in complete sentences and right to the point. Yay!!!!!!

You don't know how happy I'm feeling right now, it will eventually die down, but what needs to be done is DONE. So therefore, I am happy! Oh, yeah, 60 Second Commercial too. Done with that, just waiting to do final assignments for this class and the term will be over in two weeks and one day! Wow.

Although I did very good, of course, there's always something bad or something I didn't do well in-- haha, I didn't ask enough questions. Or... questions specifically from their "website" in which... that was my fault, I looked at it, but I didn't ask anything related to it, instead I asked about other things. But that, I will keep in mind, and also my interviewer told me to always memorize the "mission" of the clinic, in which she said one of their head supervisor ALWAYS ask if the person being interviewed knows their mission statement. Yikes.... next time for sure I will memorize it. So scary. But other than this, I can really breathe.. well I've been breathing since the day I got my mock interview location confirmed. I haven't been worried and stressed as much, but now it's a total load off my shoulders. Feels good.

That consists of my morning. Now I have to run off to see my sister compete in the Coronation event. Have a good day everyone!

Okay, back to update, my baby sister won "Lady" for the Freshman girl in the Snowdaze Coronation. So proud of her, I was literally laughing when she kept looking at everyone else open their envelopes to reveal the winner and she even blew up and her bang flew.. lol and than when I saw that all the other contestants got a white sheet.. obviously she was the winner and I went bizerk! I screamed so loud and forgot I was holding the camcorder. LOL. Oh and my little cousin Mysister won for the sophmore contestants too. So yay!! Extremely happy!!

My sister in White. We searched for 5 HOURS for a dress for her this past Saturday. I was very close to leaving her at the mall, but I couldn't because I had to pay for it, so I complained and complained and complained and then we finally found this one. She said she wanted to be an "angel" on stage... so does she look like an angel? Lol, her and her partner looked more like they were getting married though.

And after everyone opened up their envelopes first, she was still too nervous and blew air up to her bangs, lol, when I upload the video, I'll be sure to share it on here so you all can see her blowing on her bangs. And... then when I saw that all the other girls opened up their envelopes and no one got the "Golden Ticket" I went wild and screamed at the top of my lungs--- and so did the rest of the crowd--- and of course she didn't know she won yet because she didn't look at the other girls nor did she finish opening her envelope. LOL. She will kill me for posting this photo of her, but I'm just so proud of her after a long talk before dropping her off at school. She said she knows she was not going to win because she didn't ask anyone to vote for her and because she was not popular and all that stuff, I just told her to close her eyes and think of the experience, even if she doesn't win, it's the experience and standing on that stage that matters. I reminded her that I would be down there somewhere in the audience cheering for her regardless, and hey what do you know, more people voted for her than she ever thought anyone would. :)

I spy.... black shorts. HAHA.

My little cousin Mysister, myself, and baby sis. My two lovely princess winners! Mysister won for 10th grade, and my sister won for 9th. And please excuse the color and my outfit. I went straight to her event after my interview.

My sister and her part Kurt B. They look extremely cute together, don't you think? She was so happy when he said he'll go all white (even the tie) to match her, should've seen the look on her face! But, I think they did it, they both do look like angels on stage. :)
And of course, back at home, I forced her to take a couple shots outside for memories.

P.S. Maylena, how come you didn't come watch your sister?

MNT

Sweet Surprise.

2012-02-07T21:23:00.002-06:00

I don't know about anyone else, but my parents NEVER tells me that I've done a good/great job or anything at all. I've grown up hearing the words "you can do better" every single time I accomplish anything. I use to believe they did not care about whether I did good or not, but it changed after my dramatic- but real outburst after a few rounds of drinks with friends and family during my grandparents visit a few summers ago. I came out of my shell and exploded everything I was hiding inside and since then, my mom started praising my siblings and I more, even sometimes reminding us that no matter what we do they will support is - of course, if it's not illegal or harmful.

Although my mom is getting better at this, my dad is still tight-mouth. He does not praise anyone at all, even though my mom always tries to assure me that my dad always boasts and brags about me to others- which I don't believe... Most of the time because he is not the type to do so.

So after studying and helping my sister do her Biology homework, I walked upstairs (usually I'm down in my "study area" from 3pm-9/10ish pm before I get ready to shower and all) and happened to come up earlier - 8:30ish pm. Not knowing that I was there, he tells my sister Julie that to succeed in college and to live and own a bright future, finish school and find a good job, yada yada, and then one last thing he added to his little spiel "Study as hard as your sister, you see how hard she works to get straight A's and a 4.0 GPA, I want you to follow her footsteps." I of course, was not sure if that was what I heard, stop, paused, asked him to repeat himself and he refuse to. But I already heard it loud and proud the first time around, just wanted to hear it again, lol.

So it made me a little emotional that this is the first time I caught him saying something nice about me or my actions. It's probably nothing at all to others, but it feels like a confirmation "stamp" that I've finally done something that he is proud of me. Yay.

But the sweet surprise is, I was talking to my sister Lisa right before she ko'ed and she said my dad had said it several times before to ALL of the siblings... And that just got me bawling like a baby. I'm just super happy and pleased that for once, I've finally done something he is proud of and willing to say it outloud.

That's all. It just means a lot when someone who does not give compliments or make any effort to show that they care or acknowledge anything get caught doing it... It feels great. Oh and it does because when I bring home my transcript and all... He just looks at it and sets it down like I'm showing him a bill that is long overdue. Makes me sad when he does that... But now I know he is secretly happy. :)

It is a great feeling... Especially living all my life never hearing anything positive about myself from him.

MNT

Giants! Giants! Giants!

2012-02-05T21:03:00.001-06:00

I didn't even bother to watch... haha.

I did my homework the entire time while everyone was screaming and shouting at the tv and some people calling me left and right making bets and so on... and guess what... I WON WITHOUT EVEN WATCHING THE GAME. Lol, I just kind of went by everyone's statuses on FaceBook and so on.

But 7 people owes me food for betting Patriots and LOSING. Don't get me wrong, I don't know either team, nor have I ever sat down to watch a football game, they just called and wanted to throw bets and of course I didn't care much, but now that I'm a winner---- yahoo!!!! Free meals for the next 7 days! YEAAAAAH!

I hope everyone enjoyed this year's Super Bowl! :D

MNT

Koj Yog Kuv Txoj Sia (You are my life.)

2012-02-04T23:43:00.004-06:00

I use to hate this song when I was younger because it was so "slow" and I never listened to the meaning of the lyrics... and some 11 years something late, I'm in love with this song because of the lyrics and because of the impact and memories it brings back.

Amazing how we grow up to love the things we hate, and we grow to hate the things we use to love.

[I didn't write nor translate because I'm too lazy to type atm, I got it off google lyrics so it's a little off]

Thaum koj nyob ntawm nov

(When you're here...)

Koj ua kuv lub siab kub li hluas taws

(You make my heart hot like the burning coals)

Thaum koj tuav kuv tes

(When you hold my hand..)

Lub cev cia li nres lub ncauj hais tsis tau

(My body suddenly stops my mouth can't utter a word)

Thaum koj nrog kuv nyob

(When you're with me..)

Koj pom tag txhua yam hauv kuv lub ntsiab muag

(You can see everything in/within my vision)

Tej yam wb yuav ua

(The things we are going to accomplish)

Tej yam wb yuav ntxuas rau yav tom ntej

(The things we are going to create for the future)

Koj yog kuv lub hnub

(You are my sun)

Koj ci nyob saum ntuj

(You shine brightly in the sky)

Koj yog kev zoo siab hauv kuv lub neej

(You are the happiness in my life)

Koj yog kev npau suav

(You are the dream)

Nyob hauv kuv dab ntub

(In my unconsciousness...)

Koj yog kuv txoj sia

(You are my life..)

Koj yog kuv txoj sia

(You are my life)

Thaum koj nyob ntawm nov

(When you're here ...)

Tsis muaj dabtsi yuav ntxov kuv lub siab

(There's nothing that can make my heart uneasy)

Thaum wb nyob ua ke

(When we are together)

Lub sib hawm cia li nres rau wb ob leeg

(The time suddenly stops for the both of us)

Thaum koj nrog kuv nyob

(When you're with me...)

Tsis muaj dabtsi kuv yuav ua tsis tau

(There's nothing that I can't do)

Hlas roob rau hiav txwvs

(Crossing the mountains pass the oceans..)

Los tso yees ntiaj teb

(Letting go of this world)

Los tsuas koj hais hlub kuv

(As long as you say you love me)

Koj yog kuv lub hnub

(You are my sun)

Koj ci nyob saum ntuj

(You shine brightly in the sky)

Koj yog kev zoo siab

(You are the happiness..)

Hauv kuv lub neej

(In my life..)

Koj yog kev npau suav

(You are the dream...)

Nyob hauv kuv dab ntub

(In my unconsciousness)

Koj yog kuv txoj sia

(You are my life)

Koj yog kuv txoj sia

(You are my life)

Hauv kuv lub neej koj ib leeg xwb cawm tau kuv txoj sia

(In my life, you are the only person who can save me..)

Hauv kuv nruab siab muaj koj ib tug...

(In my heart, you're the only one)

With this ring, I promise to you that I will love you forever til death do us part...

Koj yog kuv lub hnub

Koj ci nyob saum ntuj

(You shine brightly in the sky)

Koj yog kev zoo siab

(You are the happiness)

Hauv kuv lub neej

(In my life)

Koj yog kev npau suav nyob hauv kuv dab ntub

(You are the dream in my unconsciousness)

Koj yog kuv txoj sia

(You are my life)

Koj yog kuv txoj sia

(You are my life...)

When translated into English.. the meaning is kind of off if it's word for word, but the song is beautiful. It carries the most beautiful message ever. If I was to get marry one day, I want this song to be played when we dance. I think I will cry while dancing and cherish the moment forever.

MNT

Reunion Photos

2012-01-31T18:22:00.012-06:00

Okay, so I lied. I didn't take pictures, not because I didn't have time, but because my brother took my memory card from my camera-- without letting me know. Should've seen my panic mode.. I freaked out and called everyone and happened to call him last, thank goodness he had it or else I would've blown up the entire house. It's only a memory card-but the ONLY memory card that I have [16 GB] and not having a job to afford another one... yeah you get the story.

Lots of old photos since I've been so busy, no time to take new ones, hopefully some this weekend. I still need to do last minute cleanup of things too. The list of "to do" things seems to get longer and longer and longer..........

Anyways, here's the makeup look of the photo above. Taken on the same day, it was my sister's high school graduation and I had to run out to get some drinks plus it was raining so I changed into something different. ^_^

So to make up for the product photos, here are some photos from the past. Memorable photos. It's been so long since I've been able to, or, should I say, see ALL of my friends together. So these photos got me a little teary eyed.

Did I also mention... my small memory card.. SD or whatever card in my phone DISAPPEARED TOO? It just vanished into thin air it seems... so whatever pictures I had taken on my phone... GONE! Nothing left besides what I already saved. Makes me kind of sad, I don't have anything explicit or whatever on there, but whenever I'm driving alone and stuck in traffic, I snap photos of random things, so I'm kind of depressed it's all gone. But here's a photo of me....... I don't know how long ago, but it was taken with my LG Lotus.

And still counting down the days until my mock interview. I went on another search for a blazer.... and failed. I look very... unprofessional in them. I can't take myself seriously when I'm in business attire. I'm just not a business person. It'd be nice if someone else can shop for me and style it, life would be so much easier... only if I was rich enough to pay someone to be my personal stylist. :(

Small is obviously too small. Medium fits the arms and body, but too small for the chest area. Large fits the chest area, a little too long for the arms and definitely too long for the body length wise. XL is too big overall. What to do with this body of mine? I don't know either. But... right before giving up, I found something........ which I don't like, but is better than nothing. Really not my style either. It's a medium, arms and body fits, a little small for th chest area, but I just won't button it up, and will just wear a semi-nice top underneath. Photos will be up tomorrow after school. I don't have much homework [or so I want to think] except studying for my quiz tomorrow and practice for my 60 second commercial.

Btw---- since my school girls found out about my blog [not through me, lol] I just want to take this moment to say Hi! Lol. And I need to go delete all accounts online besides this blog due to showing up on google. The weird thing is, there's this one website, it provides personal information and such - someone with a similar if not, exact name as mine... IS USING ONE OF MY PHOTOS as her. o_O Kind of weird. I was VERY CURIOUS after the classmates told me they found me on google, and of course it was my photo, just not my information. The girl is someone from where I'm from too, but different address and phone number... with my photo. Uhmmms. And the only time when my information [that I allow] does pop up is through this blog because it's set to public, and my youtube channel which I don't have any personal things on either, just random clips of shows and events I attend. Very interesting though, to know that someone out there likes my photo and is using it as "their" default image. Haha. If you haven't yet, you should google up yourself and see what comes up. :P

Let me know how that google search went for ya!

MNT

On Top Of Things

2012-01-28T23:14:00.002-06:00

Excited and nervous at the same time. I can't believe January is coming to an end so quick too! I'm half way through this term and counting down the days until my mock interview arrives and my 60 second commercial interview hurries and passes. February 3rd will be my 60 second commercial, February 9th will be my mock interview date. Both so close, but yet so far. Due dates for finalizing everything is coming up very fast left and right and it's extremely nerve wrecking especially knowing that my instructor is VERY picky on what he wants. I thought my assignments were perfect, yet to be disappointed that he spots every little mistake, or mistakes that I didn't catch or realize until he marks it in bright colors.

Almost done. Almost.

And because I've been productive all day (doing research, finishing homework, and everything) I will dedicate tomorrow to taking photos of things I've been enjoying or finding interesting around the house lately including products that I've been enjoying. It's definitely been too long since my last "quality" blogging. I hope all is well.

To end this quick notice, here's a photo of my siblings and I... one cold day a few weeks ago. Missing one brother.

MNT

Lucky 16?

2012-01-24T21:39:00.002-06:00

After 16 clinics.... And multiple calls... And lots of rejections.... And lots of voice messages being left for people....

I finally get a "yes" for a mock interview.

I just want to say thanks to everyone who helped prayed and said many supportive things. After this weekend, only 4 more weeks left of this term, and after that, one more term left than EXTERNSHIP.

Mnt

Beyond my capabilities.

2012-01-18T19:01:00.002-06:00

I am stressed beyond my capabilities. Is that even possible?

I can handle Medical classes JUST FINE... I can handle exams every weeks, quizzes everyday, workbooks, competencies, lab reports, online assignments, anything and everything that has to do with medical, but what I cannot handle is BUSINESS stuff. Calling for potential interviews, rejections, and so so so so so so so so so much more stuff that relates to that topic or in that certain area. I'm not really good on over the phone kind of things, I'm a people person, so when I get on the phone with people, I get nervous and I usually bomb whatever it is. I tend to forget to ask important questions, write down important things and such until I've already hung up.

I really need this specific course for success........... but I don't know anymore, I just feel like breaking down and saying "Middle Fingers To The Sky" in which I can't do because I need to pass to graduate. REQUIRED.

So I don't know what to do anymore... I really don't. I was told it's not going to be a smooth ride and Karma is right around the corner from my instructor... and I think it's going to be a blazing, burning, stressing journey. I'm so stress I feel like closing my eyes forever and not opening them, but yeah right, not going to happen. *Sighs..............*

Do me a favor, and keep me in your prayers that I will get a mock interview location before the 27th of this month. This is what I am most concerned about than anything in this world atm. If I can get a location and a medical professional, the rest of this term will fly smoothly for me. I'm not nervous when it comes to interviews and such, but what I am nervous about is NOT being able to find one. My first rejection wasn't too bad although the receptionist was a bit rude, but I took it in calmly and X'ed out the location and moved onto my next potential place... which they were closed so it will have to be saved for tomorrow as the first one promises to call me back... which I doubt it. But inside my heart somewhere.... in the very back possible place, I still have hope they will call me back and tell me they'll be my potential mock interviewer. Not likely going to happen, but again, my intestines and internal organs are all twisted up, it's not even funny.

And also, my instructor said we have to change our amount of ringing from our cellphones to two or less before it reaches voicemail... in which--------- impossible. I contacted Sprint and they said it's NOT POSSIBLE because the set time limit is 23 seconds and I even asked if it was all phone companies and she said YES... in which I'm starting to think is true because I googled up a ton of information and this thing called Google Voice or something similar to that is the only thing that can change the amount of rings. :( There goes my points off my Voice Mail Assignment............

So if I make it back alive on the 27th, I'll let you all know how many times I got rejected.... and if I even found a potential interviewer. :(

MNT

I love Thrifting!

2012-01-08T20:00:00.003-06:00

We are required to have a leather portfolio for our Professional Development class and the prices of those are amazingly high. Besides the leather portfolio, we are also required to have professional printing paper and a few other items in which are also very pricey.

So today, after studying and writing notes and such for 6+ hours since 9am this morning, I needed a break and headed out to the thrift store with my brother (he loveeees thrifting and is always my thrifting buddy, everyone in the family is too "good" to step inside those stores). We spent about a little over an hour inside and this time, I actually had something in mind that I wanted: a lab jacket. We need a lab jacket for, obviously our medical lab course and it was going to be splashed with urine, blood, and other body fluids so I did not want to get a brand new $24+ lab jacket and went on my search for a decent one which SCORE! I don't like the color much (royal blue), but it still looks new and definitely nice for $3.99. So yay! Mission accomplished, the brother was not quite done yet, so while he continues to look around, I attempted to look for other clothes (piecing clothes together to see if I can make up an interview outfit) but failed because it was so busy with so many people running around that it was hard to actually look through every piece, so I headed over to the 4-5 aisles of random things that ranged from cups to shelves to candles and everything you can possibly imagine. I just kind of quickly scan through them and imagine in my head what I might possibly be able to use them as.... and my eye suddenly focused on one thing...

It was a black case PERFECT for my stethoscope because it's semi hard case! Glanced at the price, $1.91 and yay!!!!! I've had mine in a pencil box (those plastic ones) and it does not look nice nor space friendly when I have to carry it to school. I wanted to scream in excitement, but held back and smiled idiotically to myself. Hahaha.

And then after this amazing find, I continued down the aisles, and my eyes slowly looked over almost everything, picked up a few things, didn't really need them at the moment, so set it down, continued looking even more and................... last aisle... my eye GLUED onto this one this........... and thank the LORD for letting me see this, and for a VERY GOOD DEAL $3.93!!!! This time, I REALLY wanted to scream in excitement! These things retails for $19.99 at Walmart which is the fake leather, and the real leather ones are $199.99!! I believe the one I got is fake leather but it does not matter what so ever because I am too happy that I found a nice decent one for a VERY good deal. So yay!!! The color is the same exact one as that purplish maroon on in the photo, not that much of a fan, would rather have a black or tan one, but won't be complaining because I like it a lot! SO yay, a scrub jacket, a stethoscope case, and a leather portfolio! Yay!!!

Then my brother and I headed to Walmart after he was done looking around, and I spent a gazillion dollars over there ($45.07) on school stuff and 3 things (facewash, baby shampoo for my brushes and undergarments). I wanted so many things since I haven't shop in forever-ness! I walked around the Cosmetic department like 5x and manage to not pick up anything at all (thank goodness or else my total would've been skyrocket high). My brother looked at me like I was crazy shopping for school all over again, but heyyyyy I need my notecards, my paperclips, and those expensive professional paper and all the other very needed school supplies. Sighs...

And then our last stop was at Walgreens, and since I've stopped working at Walgreens, I haven't stepped inside one since and have no idea what the sales are anymore, so we stopped by, checked out a few things, and picked up another EOS Lipbalm in Mint since mine is as flat as can be, two Arizona for the brother and I, and another tube of IcyHot. I swear by that IcyHot, I'm always getting attacked in the arm by my veins and stuff, doesn't make any sense, but my arm always hurts for no reason at all, so massaging the cream onto it and letting it heat up and then cool down... oh good lord, it's a miracle. I went through two tubes already. I usually just buy the 1.0 oz or whatever so I can easily carry it around with me because I can get attack at anytime (it's horrible, it hurts to the point where I cannot hold a pencil/pen in my hand and write) so therefore it saves more money to get the bigger amount one, but it's a hassle to carry it around. So pricey too, $4.99 for the 1.0 oz, and I'm not sure how many oz the bigger one is, but it's $8.99.

So there you go... I need to start couponing like people because I probably would've saved A LOT during my trip, but instead, I just bought everything at full price. Oh well, next time for sure.

Oh btw, does anyone know how to make a laptop... stop making noise? I have a fan and everything, and always attempt to clean that venty thing, but it still makes noises and it's too embarrassing to carry my laptop places. Help?

MNT

Hello 2012!

2012-01-01T01:39:00.010-06:00

Hiiiii and Happy New Year!

We made it into the New Year. Yay!!

No partying, no going out or any special celebrating for me. I kind of somehow hurt my lower back/waist area and I cannot really move or lay down for long. If I'm standing, it doesn't hurt as bad, but if I lay down or even sit down, it hurts like crazy, so therefore, I'm not about to go out and have a "good" time and end up injuring myself even more. I have no idea what happened or how it started, but it just started hurting out of no where and yesterday night I could not sleep the entire night and I literally cried to myself silently because it was so painful, I couldn't even touch my back without feeling the burning sensation. So with that, I was dead tired this morning, forced my sister to put some IcyHot cream on my lower back and it helped a little and I could finally lay on my back without feeling so much pain and knocked out 8am til 2pm.

So just like good old years when I was younger, I stayed home with my siblings, my parents came home from church early due to the snow and icy roads so we all watched movies and count down together with the folks in Times Square and Las Vegas. It was a boring yet relaxing family time together although one of my brother did decide to go hang out with his buddies instead.

And because we've been snowless for December, Mother Nature finally gave us a gift before 2012 and I love it! My back was hurting really bad so we didn't stay long in the snow and it wasn't that cold either. :(

o

a

I started off with a clean face and came home with this... I had on liquid liner... ahaha and by the time I got to the bathroom, black streaks were running down my cheeks and the snow melted and was dripping down my head as if I was in the shower. It was well worth the pain that I suffered from running outside with a bad back.

My hair was SOAKING wet by the time we got inside. The snow was beautiful, I ran around screaming like a kid. Beautiful!! I absolutely love it, and I'm just glad it snowed.

Anyhow, tonight is crazzzzzy in my little neighborhood/area. Police sirens have been going off and on for the last 2 hours and it is now 2am. It's going to be a rough night for people. Hopefully everyone had a blast and spent it with people they love.

Let's have a blast this year shall we all? :)

MNT

Before and After

2011-12-28T21:28:00.007-06:00

Fair warning............. this is going to be SCARY, or at least to me, it's quite scary. My face use to be nice and clear during high school and I never put on makeup, any sort of makeup on at all, not even lip balm. And senior year was when I started with all my makeup hauling and love.

My face has cleared a lot from the photo that I posted a while ago, and it's all thanks to the Aqua Mineral foundation from Revlon, it's not heavy and full coverage like the liquid/cream stuff. My face isn't really sensitive to anything particular, but I do prefer something more water-based whether it's foundation, moisturizer or anything. I've just been lazy to do the whole foundation routine, so my face is kinda blaaaah looking, but definitely not breaking out as much as before. As for my eyes, still one smaller than the other, therefore I still have to make one eye have thicker liner than the other... which, sometimes people find it funny when I close my eyes and they can see the difference, but when they don't see it closed, I guess it looks better than thin lining. I have to admit, I'd much rather have thin eyeliner than have thick lining, but because of uneven eyes, my eyes would look absolutely weird with thin eyeliner... might as well not line at all right? :P

Here's the "before" photo with a clear face, makeup free face.

And cheers to the "after" with makeup, lashes, contacts. I'd much prefer this one, but because i am VERY LAZY, I'm usually out the door with the face above. :(

And yesssss...... I attempted to do my hair too. This was earlier today (6 p.m.) I already cooked and cleaned the entire house with the siblings so there was absolutely NOTHING to do... and what better time is there to do makeup and take pictures for my blog right? Yeah, totally. So I sat in front of my mirror and plugged in my curlers, laid out my makeup and got busy... I used the Revlon Colorstay Liquid Foundation in Natural Beige, Milani Eyebrow Kit in Medium, Revlon Lashes, ELF Gel Liner, my sister's blue contacts which I don't know the brand of, my 88 matte eyeshadow palette, and Revlon Nude Matte Lipstick, L'Oreal Color Riche Lipgloss in Soft Coral 400, Jane Blush in Pretty Pink, and the bronzer side of the ELF duo Blush/Bronzer set.

Oh, and I absolutely LOVEEE and adore my Avon 24K Lipstick..... so so so so adore. My sister used up like 3/4 of the entire lipstick and finally returned it to me... she usually dislikes shimmer/glitter, but couldn't pass on my 24k lipstick either. Absolutely love!

And after putting on makeup and snapping a few shots for blog, my cousin called and said she had a couple things for me at her house, so I pulled my hair back, flipped my short curled bangs back and one last photo of my face before heading out to meet up with her. In this photo, I wiped off my lipstick and this is just the remainder of the lip balm that I applied on before all the lipstick, lipgloss.

And I know, soooooo bad quality on my webcam, but I have to say I absolutely ADORE my eyebrows!! They look so perfect *to me* here and I wish they can look like this every single day. Sadly, my eyebrows look different everyday no matter how much I attempt to make them look alike. And yes, the lipstick is still my lovely 24k from Avon.

Hopefully this didn't scare anyone too much.

MNT

11 Question Tag

2011-12-26T23:48:00.002-06:00

Rules Must Be Posted

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- Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog.

- Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.

- You have to choose 11 people to tag and link them on the post.

- Go to their page and tell them you have linked him or her.

- No tag backs.

- No stuff in the tagging section about "you are tagged if you are reading this."

- You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

(Okay, I know the rules says we have to tag 11 people... but I'm not going to because when I tag people, they either 1.) Don't care to do it, 2.) Don't even check their account anymore, or 3.) Have too many comments and they don't even see my comment. :( so therefore, whoever wants to do it can do it and I will just read it. Very sad on my part, but I guess it's okay.)

I was tagged by the lovely Paula Yang .
I absolutely love and adore her, so do check her out when you get a chance too.

11 Questions from Paula :D

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1. Have you ever peed in your pants, or pooped in your pants as a kid & how did you? If you have never done any of these, what was your most embarrassing moment?
I have definitely pooped and peed in my pants, but those were younger years, I don't remember much about them, although I have to say, I do remember the teenage years. LOL, but since this is a kid moment, I'll leave it at that. And because I don't remember about that during my childhood, I'll say something else. I believe the most embarrassing thing I did or happened to me when I was a child was when my aunt who lived across the street told me it was my dad's car that drove pass and parked waaaaay down the block from where I live, I believed her and ran my small butt all the way to the car and even opened the door to find out, it was just a stranger who had the same exact car. I swear, I wanted to die when that stranger looked up at me! I slammed the door shut and ran all the way back to my aunt's house and felt so embarrassed; I told my mom I wanted to go take a nap, and my aunt *laughing* said I should just go nap inside her house, but I refused and walked across the street by myself and went to bed. LOL, most embarrassing thing ever, even til this day I remember it like yesterday. *sighs....* lol.

2. What is the saddest thing you have seen or heard about?
This might not be a big deal to anyone, but I was really hurt and still feel sad about it til this day. A few years ago (I was like 15 at the time), my family and I was in the car together and my dad made a smarta$$ comment about me and I got upset (don't remember what it was though) and I said a couple things (also don't remember what I said) and after going at it for a while, he said I had a heart as small as the "vagina hole" of a squirrel *this part I remember clearly* in Hmong. I started crying and I know my heart is not that small, not literally, but the meaning of what it was suppose to mean made me tear up and bawled like a little girl. I will never ever forget that line in my whole entire life. So it's not something that is sad if I tell others, but personally, it hurts so much and so bad that there's nothing I can do to forget about it. *sighs...*

3. What is your nickname and why were you given that nickname?
I actually have a few nicknames... Mai Nhia(real name) Nhiamay Leena, Orange, Melon, Ahmay Thao (real last name). Nhiamay- I have a first cousin who has the same exact name except spelled a little differently *Mainhia Thao* and mines is Mai Nhia Thao, and YES THERE IS A DIFFERENCE, AND it annoys me when people can't tell and write the difference, anyways Nhiamay because she was the older one and she was NhiaLoj which labeled her as the older one, and me Nhiamay because I was younger and til this day everyone still calls us that besides me and her because we're too old for this and it leads onto my next name, Leena- from my cousin and she just chose that name because she wanted us to not both refer each other to as MAINHIATHAO so her nickname was Kristy and mines was Leena, Orange- my uncle (mom's brother) called us all (siblings) by a fruit (lol, don't know why, but mines was Orange), Melon- my friends from High School (our little Phood Group) was named by a fruit with the first letter of our real name and I also think it's because I have huge breasts (lol), Ahmay- my use to be best cousin called me that because Ah=baby, May=small so he said I am helpless like a little baby and I am his young cousin who is considered very small so he only called me Ahmay (and I always needed him to do everything for me too, writing about this makes me sad a little because he's married now and I no longer talk to him due to that...), so there you go... haha, those are all my nicknames.

4. Who is your role model and why are they your role model?
To be honest, I use to have role models, but as I get older, I realize the people I look up to are not perfect and the way I imagined them to be, although I do understand that not everyone is perfect. So to make it simple, I don't have a particular role model and I refuse to use my mom as one either because sometimes, I swear I cannot stand the way she does things, and the stuff she believes in. *shivers* So, no role models. I just live by how I believe life should be.

5. What are your favorite song, candy, and store where you shop for clothes? (If no favorite store, what brand?)
I only listen to songs that I can relate to, so my favorite changes every single time my feeling changes. My favorite kind of candy, if it was 5 years ago, I would say GUMMY BEARS, but after my cousin who calls me Ahmay bought me a 5lb bag, since then, I've stopped the cravings, but I will say ANYTHING THAT IS SOUR is right up my alley. I don't have a favorite store nor a favorite brand. I usually just wear sweaters and jeans, but nowadays, I don't even get a chance to dress up so I'm usually in sweats/sweaters/t-shirts or school clothes (scrubs). I buy whatever I think that will keep me warm...haha, sounds stupid, but I have no fashion styles what so ever.

6. If you had $1000, what would you do with the money?
Help my mom pay off her $6000 loan.

7. When did you have your first kiss?
OMG, this question kills me every time. LOL. 13, in my living room with my so call boyfriend who was 21. I know, right, gross.

8. What is something that you would love to receive as a gift?
Believe it or not, I don't believe true love exists, but true love is my answer.

9. Name your favorite animal and explain why.
I use to like turtles and then grew out of that phase, now... I'm just not obsessed with anything anymore.

10. Describe your worst nightmare.
As in dreams nightmare wise? Or reality nightmare? Well, I'll do both, dreams nightmare--- there's so much, but anything and everything that has to do with blood, monsters/ghost, and death. Reality---- nothing yet *knocks on wood*

11. Name three of your talents and describe what you do
I don't really think I have any talents because I'm only good at what I do when I'm in the mood. People would say I'm good at photography- but to be honest, I'm not, it's just a matter of fact that I just hold the camera and snap away. People would say that I'm a dancer because I dance and teach dance, but I would say it's only because I like the thrill of seeing others I know on stage, and those would be the only two things that people would actually say I'm good at. Otherwise, I have no talents.

Okay, so that's the entire tag. :DDD

Now to my questions...

1.) How did you find/land on my blog?
2.) If you can live/exist in any movie/drama/book/etc that isn't real, but can become real with the same exact characters which one would you choose to appear in and why?
3.) If you were to die tomorrow, who would be the first person you call to say goodbye to and why?
4.) Out of all the people you know, who comes to mind first when you think of the word "friend" and why?
5.) Would you ever see a fortune teller? Or if you have already, share the experience, and if you refuse to, explain why.
6.) Do you believe in the supernatural world? Explain.
7.) If you can meet anyone at all from the "web/internet" world, who would you choose to meet and why?
8.) Have you ever secretly followed anyone's blog without them knowing for years? Well, following and stalking are two different things, and by this, I mean following. Not stalking and knowing exactly where they live, every second of their life etc. Explain why and what was interesting about that person.
9.) If you could change your life, would you?
10.) Do you have a favorite lip product you cannot live without?
11.) What type of people annoys you the most and why?

11 Things about me.
1.) This blog is public because I feel that if I set it to private, all I will ever write about is the anger and bad things that I'm holding inside and I'm glad I chose this route.
2.) I LOVE glittery, shimmering, shiny, sequencing, eye/light catching items/things/everything/anything related.
3.) It's possible to fail in college because you hate the school, it's true because I did.
4.) When I feel like I'm falsely in love, that person is the only person I want to see regardless if it's the right or wrong time in any situation.
5.) At age 20, I learned how to let go of things and people.
6.) I forgive too easily, but I secretly never forget.
7.) I'm very overprotective of people I care about.
8.) I looked more mature when I was younger, now that I'm an adult, I look more like a kid because I don't dress (supposedly...) my age.
9.) I no longer get jealous when I see couples.
10.) At age 19, I learned the hard way that all men are the same, no matter what anyone says, that's how I see it and will continue to believe it. No one's proved me wrong yet.
11.) Blogspot is where I can escape reality (when reading others life/blogs/etc) besides when I'm sleeping, sometimes sleeping is reality and it scares me, so blogspot is officially my vacation and to go when I'm down. (Much thanks to EVERY ONE of you bloggers!)

And again, thank you so much for reading and Paula for tagging me! Love you sweetie!

Love,
MNT

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T14:54:00.003-06:00

It's a blessing to be alive and be around loved ones.

Woke up and got ready for church with a very natural face with just a small amount of eye liner and hint of lipgloss. Church was interesting, ran longer than usual due to open performance in honor of the birth of our savior. Church was packed by the time we arrived (9:15 am) and usually people don't arrive until 10:15am (open service).

I recorded a lot of clips, but my mom won't let me upload them and I don't even want to start on that topic either. I'm kind of sick and tire of people telling me to record, but I can't upload it... why am I recording in the first place and what for, if it's only going to be stored away somewhere in the midst of my external drive? Why?

And I'll save all the bad things for another day because today is the special day and suppose to be jolly, so everyone have a great day and hopefully you get to spend it with loved ones and indulge in good food.

Have a great day and happy holidays to everyone. Oh yeah, we this year, we really have BROWN CHRISTMAS..... :\ I'm not too sure about how I feel about that, but it's super warm, like Spring, so that I'm okay with, at least it evens out. :)

Love,

MNT

Rain

2011-12-22T20:51:00.002-06:00

I just finished his "Ninja Assassin" Movie... and to be honest, I cringed a multiple times, and wanted to stop the movie multiple times, but managed to watch the whole entire thing just because I'm in love with him.

I know a lot of people does not like him and all, but I do. And don't ask me why because I do not know either, but I do know that I'm just simply obsessed with him.

And I have to say I absolutely love the young version of him (actor in the movie) and the love between him and the girl.. *sighs........* so dreamy, I practically screamed when she said they can't take away her heart... and kissed him. *SCREAMS* You'll know if you watch it from the beginning to the end. Kinda sad, I really wanted her to continue to be a part of his life... but I guess if she was then the movie wouldn't have ended the way it did. Still, I'm in loveeee!

He's amazing, and I'm not that much of an action person, but if someone I love is in the movie, I'll sit my butt down and watch the entire thing just because.. just because, like that movie "A Man Named God" ohhhhhhhh lord, I drooled every second the main guy was on. LOL. Not much of a super drama lovey movie, but because I like him so much I watched the entire thing... real love right there. Haha..

Anyways, here's screen shots from my laptop that I took while watching the movie, there's more, but these two are my favorites! Talk about obsessed eh... this is my desktop background on my laptop!

MNT

Winter Break with Brown Ground

2011-12-18T22:52:00.005-06:00

All the snow melted!! I'm kind of nervous that we're having a brown Christmas.... maybe I jinxed it with my previous blog about snow. But many many people here are sort of happy that there's no snow. We actually got rained on for a couple of days... in December, weird, but better than snow according to many people.

Finals are all done, and I did absolutely well on them although I am quite nervous about one of my class. Let's hope I can stay on the Dean's List again this term. Dean's List is for the US right? Or is it just a Minnesota thing?

Anyhow, since I'm on "Winter Break" with no job to occupy my time, I will be updating like crazy on everything that I've been avoiding: face routine/update, favorite items, etc.

And to start off tonight with, the friends+classmates and I went out yesterday night (Saturday, Dec 17th, 2011 *also my brother's 20th Birthday*) to celebrate our end of term/semester. So here are photos. There was 15 of us ladies out that night, but we couldn't get a single photo with all of us at all.... kind of disappointed, but I guess there's always next time.

And sadly... my heels that I so much adore and wore for the first time ever BROKE on me. :(

And really, I didn't dance that much or move around too much, and it happens to break off when I was sitting down.... all of a sudden I felt my left heel all soft and looked down *OHHHHHH NOOOOOOO* thank goodness it was during the last 10 minutes before we started heading back home. *sighs......* so much for being the highest heels I have and actually doesn't hurt my feet, now it's useless. One of my friend told me about this one shop somewhere near our local mall that they fix/repair heels/shoes etc, but cost just as much or more than the shoe itself.... *sighs.....* and I got these during my trip in CA over the summer. SO sad. :(

And that will be it for now until tomorrow. Have a good night.

MNT

Goals due in July

2011-12-10T14:44:00.008-06:00

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the lack of updates! It's finals this week and I'm sort of busy preparing...

I hope everyone is well and staying warm in this weather (it's COLD here..)

Finally took the time to throw on some proper makeup and lashes... it's been forever that I've actually taken time to do my makeup, usually it's a quick 5 minute session every morning for school and my face looks like crap, but oh well. Also realized how much I've been ignoring all my makeup too... so today's look is specially dedicated to mineral eyeshadow. :DDD

I noticed a few days ago that I'm starting to get wrinkles *scared face* and you bet I started digging through my face stuff for antiwrinkle products! Oh gosh, I am too scared to get old and look wrinkly!!! Too scared! I smear on some antiwrinkle stuff (for eyes) every morning I wake up and every night when I head to bed. I never really care to use those products... until now I realize I'm getting old!!! I need to smile less (therefore, no creases in my face LOL) and need to really tone up before I become a wrinkle mess. No husband, no kids yet either, if I get all wrinkly old before I even get marry, this will be SAD! And geez, I'm only 21 too. Very nerve wrecking and scary. Anyone else on the same boat? Ekkks.

There's been so much going on, it's crazzzy, but I will have to say, I feel a little more healthy now then before and was thinking about my goals for 2012, I don't want to say New Year's resolution because I will fail. I don't ever finish any resolutions so instead of naming it that, it's just going to be my goal.

I've been gaining, losing, and gaining weight again, and staying where I am since.. who knows how long. At the moment I'm currently 173.2 lbs with jeans, a belt, undergarments, and a sweater on. I'd be happy if I could drop to 135 lbs by my birthday--- July which seems pretty impossible to lose 38 lbs in 7 months or so it seems to me. So if I calculate it by month, if I can lose 5-6 lbs a month and be able to keep it off I'll do just fine. And my problem is, I can lose the weight, I just can't seem to keep it off. I can lose 7 lbs in one week, but gain it all back in one day and it takes me another whole 7 days to lose it, and boom the next day I gain it back. It's crazy, and it's only from a day of eating. It's not excess eating either. I don't know what is going on with my body, but I do know that losing isn't that hard, it's just trying to keep those lbs off is what I seem to not be able to do.

So to cut it down, about 1 lb each week that I have to maintain and to keep it off. Sounds easy, but hard to do. But since it's a little impossible for me already and I know it, my goal is to lose 20 lbs in the next 7 months and if it's possible, I will continue to aim for goal number 2 which is another 18 lbs, if not, I won't be too butt hurt. So... bring it on! :DDD

I've been feeling motivated, not from anything in particular, but would love to have my body back in the old days back. That'd be great. And I want my belly pierced (although some people thinks it's gross), but I feel that if I can slim down, have a flat tummy, then I deserve to get a belly pierce. So if I can be 135 again sometime in the future, my goal accomplished, I'll treat my stomach to a beautiful accessory. I'm looking forward to that day too. Let's just hope 7 months is enough for 20 lbs.

Oh right, and winter break starts for me after this Friday... EXCITEDDD MUCH.
:DDDD

MNT

Thanksgiving + Hmong New Year

2011-11-30T22:44:00.009-06:00

Thanksgiving was alright, spent time with the fambam and ate a lot.

Black Friday, slept for about an hour, woke up, took the aunt, sisters, and cousins to the mall and I didn't even last an hour, I had to call my mom to pick me up because I was seriously blacking in and out while walking and waiting for everyone. I was dead tired. Mom came and picked me up and when I got home, I knocked out til noon (got home around 6am).

Woke up, got all ready for the Hmong New Year here in the Twin Cities and a few rough conversations and agressive words got traded back and forth and I was upset, so I ended up staying home and letting everyone go. I wasn't going to go on the 2nd nor 3rd day, but woke up and got lectured and yada yada and got forced to go. So ended up going 2nd and 3rd day and had a blast.

Went out on Saturday night with the lovely 5 girls and a guy friend from out of state and definitely enjoyed my nightout. I was not planning on going out, but got talked/pressured into going, but well worth it. Ran into a couple people and enjoyed those precious moments with the lovely ladies and friend

And that pretty much wrapped up my weekend. I didn't touch any homework or anything school related at all and on Monday, I was NOT ready for school. I was sleep deprived, well, still is. I feel like calling in everyday so far... lol. And this weekend is not going to be easy on me either since it is our Thao Clan celebration for the new year and I have to be one of the food servers (sucks, because old people complain too much).

And....................... here are pictures! :DDD

The Brother and his Girlfriend.

Cousin Nancy, Cousin Goldarla, Myself, sister Lisa, cousin Gaomaomee, and buddy Mango.

My little cousin who I adore the most and myself. Yes yes yes, I look extra deformed, but I still like it. :DDD

I didn't really care for the fashion show nor the dance, but I really like their ending with the banner so I took a photo. Haha.

I have no idea why my brother and nephew are *high five-ing* for what.....

My lovely parents. <3

Buddy Mango from Kansas City competed in the Modern Dance Competition and took 2nd place!! Whoot whoot!!!

This is the talented artist Kenneth Lee. My lovely dancers received the opportunity to collaborate with him again this year.

Motion Crew, they didn't place this year.

My lovely sisters and I before heading out to the New Year event on the last day.

Julie and I waiting for the winners to be announced for Modern Dance.

Momma and her beautiful four daughters.

Apparently my brother wants to be a daughter too... lol

And a group shot of us with Mango.

Saturday Night @ Stargate Nightclub.

The BFF and I.

MNT

Thanksgiving & Black Friday

2011-11-25T02:22:00.007-06:00

Lots of TURKEY and family time. I prepared the turkey the night before and my mom woke up earlier to cook it. Had a mini family meal then headed over to join the first cousins' feast then headed out to buy the last minute final touchings for our traditional outfits because it is our very own Hmong New Year here in the Twin Cities.

Afterwards, came home, rest a bit (stomach) and then my friend arrived in town, hung out at my house for a bit, then decided to head out for some Black Friday Shopping, well I was just the driver actually because I didn't plan on buying or shopping. Went to Walmart because their sales start at 10pm and boyyyyyyyyyyy was it CRAZY! People rushing for things, bumping into one another, grabbing for things like the world was ENDING!!!! It was crazy! The lines for checkout was CRAZZZZZZZZY. So we walked out of there empty handed, we didn't even know where to start shopping because every single aisle was jam packed with people waiting in line to checkout.

Walked over to Target *was not about to drive and not be able to find a parking spot* and they didn't open til midnight, so waited outside for about an hour and a half and must I add that thank MOTHER NATURE for not snowing on us, not give us bad freezing cold weather. It wasn't too bad waiting out in the cold for that long because the weather was cool and nice and the people I went with was super talkative and all so we had a good time laughing at our own stupid jokes etc. We were super close to the front, maybe like the 50th-60th people and got in quite fast. They were pretty smart for using shopping carts to block off people from walking into the store or budging ahead of us (some people did attempt to jump over the carts and etc and got arrested, one boy jumped over because his mom was infront of us and almost got a beatdown by the securities but his momma came to the rescue). It's crazy I tell ya, people are crazy!!!!

My friends bought quite a lot of things, sewing machines, vacuum cleaner, towels, makeup, everything! There were some pretty decent sales such as big flat screen TVs on sale for like.. pretty much half off and even closer to 60-70% off. A lot of neat stuff, but again, I'm just broke and not too interested in anything. It's like every year I go, I'm only there because I need to drive for others or whatever. And I usually like get a new coat, haha, that's about it, but this year, I'm really not going to spend a penny at all, I'm that broke!

I snapped a few photos on my phone, and I have got to say, some people are reallllllllllly weird and crazy. Haha, one car, such a fail, parked only half way into a parking spot, like REALLY? How stupid are you to risk your car getting hit and running into a store? What!!!!!

So now, I can finally say I am officially... or should I say, I have now experience the real feel of Black Friday shopping because usually we (family and I) go around 5-6 am and just head to the mall for clothes and etc, but this year I actually stood outside til the door opened (and I didn't even buy anything either LOL). Still, it was an amazing adventure and I had a lot of fun during this chaotic experience that I would never ever would've experienced if I didn't agree to go be the driver for my friends. LOL. I hope everyone else had fun and bought a lot of things for themselves and for others. Please do share!

And I will be back.. most likely on Sunday night or so to update with the Hmong New Year of 2012 here in Minnesota for everyone. Enjoy your weekend!

Mango shocked at the prices of the laptops. Lol.

Walking across the parking lot of Walmart to Target.

Us four waiting outside in the line for 1+ hour until the doors opened.

Almost EVERYONE had one of these in their carts!

Needs: towels $2

Sadly, the BFF had to work an overnight shift and didn't get to join us for the adventure of witnessing people fighting, trampling over kids, and acting as if the world is ending. Can you spy her? LOL (sorry Der, I just had to blog it. hahahah)

Na was telling the lady in front of us (in line) that we came just for an eyeliner, and I think she believed us... lol.

Waiting for Na to get her eyeliner.

Mango knows he need some lip gloss! Lol, jk jk.

Like really? How are you going to park your car HALF WAY only? They really parked it like this, there was NO ONE IN THE CAR, and we just had to laugh so hard at how stupid and desperate some people can be especially to risk their car getting hit and getting a ticket.

And that sums up part 1 adventure, why am I saying part 1? Because in about 2 hours, I have to get up and take my siblings + little cousins out shopping too. Bummmmmmmmmmmer.

So good night.

MNT

Wedding Bells

2011-11-20T02:23:00.002-06:00

I just found out like right now 2:23 a.m. that one of my dear cousin from my mom's side just tied the knot (the cultural way) and I'm extremely happy for her and her now husband, but at the same time, I'm in tears.

I remember just last week talking to her about how I will not get marry and we were saying that we will wait for one another and such yada yada and she kept joking on how she's going to wait to learn from couples who are already married and such before she actually tie the knots... and now she's really gone. She's much much older than myself, but her and her now husband have been dating for 8 years and I think it's about the right time, both of them are done with BS degrees, holds decent jobs in their fields. I am feeling extremely sad, not because she didn't wait for me and all that joking we did last week. But things from now on won't be the same.

Like you know, when people get marry, things change, they focus their time on building onto their lives, and us people who are not married, still roam the world endlessly, and one by one each of my cousins get marry and move far away, lose contact, and create little families. The only time we will get to talk to one another is if time permits and the future pulls us together will we bump into one another. People may say there's always FB and only a digit or text away, but it's never the same.

I know I'm not entirely sad because she got married, I'm sad because sooner or later, one by one, my sisters will be leaving me, my best friend(s) will be leaving, and soon enough (if I'm lucky) I'll be leaving too. It makes me extremely sad that my culture revolves around our "husband" and his family, rather than "us" and both sides whether it's friends or family members. Some people may argue that it's not entirely true, but when I piece the puzzle together and get a solid image at the end... it's the truth. I also have another friend... who moved from NC to marry her husband here; her mother told her that her best friend will no longer be the girl who did good and bad with her, it would be her mother-in-law, and that just made me even more sad.

I really hate goodbyes, even if it's just a goodbyes down the road and not entirely, I will never ever see you ever again kind of goodbye, goodbyes make me sad in general.

But anyways, good luck and best wishes to Lulu Chang & Frankie Xiong, no matter what is thrown your way and no matter what obstacles may block you both, I know you two are strong and will fight life together. I will miss our silly conversations about marriage and about how people are asking when we will leave our parents' home. I'm glad you two tied the knot and will begin this fantastic journey together as one. Like the elders say, once we step out of that door, it will never be the same again, but I have faith in you Lulu, you will be a beautiful and wonderful addition to the Xiong family. <3

MNT

Hello Winter Snow!

2011-11-19T17:34:00.004-06:00

Reminds me of Winter Sonata.. Old Korean Love Drama.

I've always liked snow ever since I watched this other drama called Tree of Heaven. Will forever like snow due to the one specific part in the drama where both of the main characters are hurting deeply, and the step brother tells his step sister why he walks in the snow without shoes and just barefooted: "When my feet are cold, my heart will not feel pain and therefore it will not ache."

*DIES*

And really.. it works. Haha, how do I know? I put it to the test.

You bet my feet were freezing cold, but my heartache didn't bother me because I was focused on the burning freezin sensation from my toes. Stayed outside on the freezing cold cement for about an hour, had an argument with the ex bf, forgot what it's about, but it was serious so I was trying to forget everything that happened that night and stayed out in the cold. Talk about emo-ness eh? And then later near the end when the hour was up, he called and my sister snitched and said I was outside barefooted (lol, sounds retarded now that I think about it) and he rushed over and apologized and so on, but I was already okay because "when the feet is cold, the heart will not ache." Seriously, true story.

So yes, I really like snow besides the fact that it's freezing cold--- when I used to have to take the bus to school, but it doesn't bother me now because of course, I don't have to wait in the cold anymore. I lovvve the morning after the first snow fall... EVERYTHING looks beautiful, until cars starts running and everything turns icky brown. Seriously. a lot of people complain about the weather here, but I feel like we are blessed to have 4 seasons. We're not stuck with extreme heat, nor extreme cold, we have a mixed variety of weather here in Minnesota. I would never move out of here (well, if I was rich, I'd buy houses in different states so I can go on trips and stuff) because this is home to me. It would be WEIRD to not have a white Christmas. Maybe to other people from different parts of the world where it doesn't snow, it's normal, but to me, no snow and Christmas does not go together. Quite awkward. And I'm really also use to New Year's eve and New Year's day (usually) waking up with a hangover or makeup smeared from the parties the previous night to a beautiful white sheet outside.

I just love love love the cold and snow. I like cold more than hot. When I'm hot, I cannot do anything to help cool me down (or so it seems), but when I'm cold, I can wear all these layers of sweaters, long sleeves, jackets, etc. Too obsessed? Maybe. But I have a lot of old memories from around this time in the past, going out to plays, watching Christmas related movies, etc. Snow to me = holidays and holidays to me = happiness, warmth, joy and family&friends. Loveee.

And then to think of the people (that I know) whose never ever in their whole entire life seen or touch snow... wow, just wow. You're missing out BIG TIME. The closest thing to them that is snow is, you know, those frozen chunks of ice in their freezers LOL, yeah those... I once told my uncle from CA that if he wants to touch snow, that will probably be the closest thing to it if he has no access. And then sometime in the winter, he and his wife drove to the mountains up north and came home with a truckload full of snow so his daughter and the kids can play with it, heard they had a blast too. Haha, come to Minnesota and you will never ever want to touch snow again like some people who lives here.

Anyways, this is all, I just wanted to share that today is our first official snow fall (snow actually on ground). :D

MNT

My Savior

2011-11-16T07:09:00.002-06:00

I don't mean to preach or anything, not forcing anyone to believe or not. As previously stated in my blog, my mom and aunt is going through a hard time and afraid my mom's pain is similar or exact, I've been worried from the second I heard about them two to this very moment, and no longer.

I just woke up from my dream, estimating about 15-20 minutes ago, got off the phone with my mom, cried a little, and thank God for his message, so therefore I'm writing it down so I will not forget if I had to wait for after class today. 6:40 a.m.

Dream:

It started off with my aunt who has been in the process of diagnosis, she came and picked my mom, me, and my other aunt up to go buy fabric to sew our traditional Hmong clothes for our new year coming up then afterwards, go exercise. So that was supposedly day one of my dream, then it flash forward to when my aunt came again to pick the three of us up, but my other aunt all of a sudden said she's too tire from work, she won't go with us today, so my three sisters ended up tagging along. So in my aunt's van was her, my mom, and my three sisters. My aunt started driving, and drove right into those thick & wide fence that are usually around a parking lot--------------------------------------->

She drove right through this, and I started panicking because something was definitely wrong, she couldn't control her car it seems. My mom didn't seem to notice nor did my sisters, but I definitely did, but stupidly didn't say anything either. And right after she hit this in my dream, there was a street, and across from that street, there is another fence (the regular high wired ones where you would see on a bridge to block off people from jumping off) blocking off cars from driving into a highway which is waaaaaay below, it's not a bridge, but for some reason, if you look over the fence, the high way is way beneath. My aunt drove right into the fence and by this time everything started to slow down in my dream. My mom yelled "Niam hlob zeb~ nres nres, nres nas! Zaum no ces peb ces tuag li lawm os, peb ces yuav tsis muaj ntxiv yuav tuag tiag tiag li lawm os" which tranlates to "Elder Aunt Ye~ stop, stop, stopppp! This time, we're going to die, we're all not going to survive and going to die forreal." My aunt couldn't utter a word and my mom just kept screaming, and for some reason... none of my sisters existed in the car, they were there, but they were lifeless, it felt like it was just me, my mom and my aunt in the van. Time wasn't waiting for us as our car continues to fall down to the busy high way beneath us. I'm going to estimate it to be about 70-100 feet from the top fence to hit the bottom high way, and I remember seeing in the movies and witnessing cars falling off the clip and actual cars flipping over in reality, everything happens within a split second, there was no time left for us, so the first thing I did was think about all possibilities and recalls my mom telling me (in reality) that when I'm in need, I'm a child of God, he will rescue me and help pick me back up unless it's my time to go live with him (meaning death). I closed my eyes and loudly cried out "God...God, if you're real, please come help your children, we are in need of you, we are suffering for reasons and actions we cannot control, we are seeking and calling and begging for you to take away our misery and help us, please God. GOD GOD GOD GOD GOD GOD!!!!!" And with my eyes still closed, I started to feel as though time has been put on slow motion, our car started falling slower, almost as if we were floating in air instead of falling, I was waiting for it to be all over, for us to hit ground or any vehicle moving fast below minding their own business and not noticing ours falling... why is time so slow.. why does it feel like we're floating, I didn't dare to open my eyes, all were silent, I didn't hear my mom screaming anymore... and at first I thought we were dead.... but suddenly I hear my aunt's voice asking what just happened...

I slowly open my eyes, WHAT THE.... we landed softly on a ramp on the high way going towards our destination and what seems like we're entering into the parking ramps of this very big shopping center that I've never seen in reality before, but is very familiar with in my dream. With all the commotion in the car, everyone asking what had just happened, why are we not dead, etc, I turned around to the accident scene behind us. From our location in the ramp, the whole entire view was very clear. A silver car below has been smashed, hit, and the driver and whoever else was in that car was clearly dead. I looked up at the fenced that we had ran into and down into the highway... it's broken, it has been ran over, the part that my aunt drove into is dangling from the top half way down into the high way, the car that got hit is smashed almost flat, glass everywhere... but no where for us to be found. There was nothing that came from above that could've caused that much of a damage. EVERYONE who stopped at the accident scene looks up into the sky and the dangling fence confused to as what happened, why the fence is dangling and why the car is smashed flat, but.... no one, no vehicle, nothing to explain the accident.

My aunt finally parked and we sat in her van in silence, I believe everyone was recapping and thinking about what in the world had just happened. Everything replayed in slow motion, then fast forward, then slow motion all over repeatedly in my head and I suddenly remember.... I believe in God. Both my mom and aunt believes in God, I was the one who called for help, I was the one who demanded for help... from the children of God.... and... God heard me calling for him. When my mom and aunt couldn't call for help, when they were in mute and panic mode... I stood strong and remember God is who we live for, God is the person who will help us as long as we call his name, and ask to be forgiven, he will seek our misery and help guide us out. I was so shaken up that I was the one who called for help and didn't realize everyone was outside to check the exterior. After hearing my mom's voice, it brought me back into [the reality in the dream] and I got out and examined her van, which....... there was nothing wrong with it, just a small, very small dent in the front. It didn't make any sense to me how we ran over two fence, the car down in the high way, smashed flat... glass everywhere, police sirens from all directions, and her vehicle was only dent a little. Didn't make sense at all.

We walked into the shopping center after examining the car and walked around a bit, I still didn't tell them I called and begged God for help. Nobody, and I mean, none of us, my sisters, mom and aunt could concentrate on shopping so we came back out and headed to my aunt's house (in the dream, it was their old old house that they first lived in) and my aunt went into her room to do something, my mom sitting on the floor in the living room calling my grandparents and telling them they almost couldn't see my mom's face anymore... then called my dad and told him to stop being mean and stop yelling at her from now on because he almost lost his wife and etc, and she was crying, and then hung up. I looked at her and said I have something to admit. So then I told her, while the vehicle was falling..... I called for God, that if he really exist all these times that I've been praying to him, talking to him, letting him guide me and for the holy spirit to guide my soul, if he was real, please come help us, we don't deserve to die yet, so he came. It is no one else, then the superior, my savior. My mom dried her tears and responded that... God is indeed beautiful. She didn't say anything else afterwards and I started getting dizzy and stated that we should be heading home... my aunt came out of her room and was about to send us home...

I woke up from the dream.

I know I'm missing out on the small details, but those are not necessary, but to be honest, I was a bit confuse and shaken up. I called my mom immediately to see if she's reached work yet and if she had a couple minutes to talk to me before she continues working, and good thing she said yes. So I told her my dream, I told her what I had done, I told her every single possible detail that I could remember, and my voice started to shake and now... in reality, I started crying. I couldn't believe my actions, what had happened, and could've happened. She gave me 4 things to think about, but I'm going to disregard the rest and focus on the last reasoning of what possibly my dream might've been.

It was a message. I pray to God every night, to let the holy spirit guide my mom and aunt's souls and body, let them heal, let them be able to live with us for the rest of their life, let this horrible disease go away, let them be cured, help guide them into the future with us. We've done wrong many times to them, but we need them more than God needs them now, we are like the lost lamb without the owner, we need them, their children, their husband, their people. We need them. I pray every single night since I've heard about their situation asking for forgiveness, asking for God to punish me instead of them, I'll take all the responsibility, let them live, let them be; and I think this dream may have been a message that he, my savior, understands my needs and my wants. He's helping them, it's a long and slow process, but he's responding to my request, he's living up to his will, the father of his children, he's doing his best. By blocking out my sisters in the car and only me, mom and aunt.... I think this means they're getting better. I think this means, because I've been praying nonstop about them, I think.... I remembered to pray for them everynight, that even in my dream, I'm praying for them and myself. It may take a while, but God is always listening, God is always looking down on us.

And right when I finish telling my mom.... she said she feels warm inside and the pain in her abdominal area stopped hurting... I haven't called my aunt yet to see how she's been feeling, which I will do after class. But, I want to believe that this is God's message and he is taking care of what I had beg and cry for his help, for him, he's doing what he can to help my mom and aunt.

My heart has been feeling heavy, very heavy, and right now, I can breathe, I feel like I haven't been able to breathe for many weeks, and finally for the first time in weeks, I can breathe. I'm just very thankful, whether others believe it or not, it is just a dream and people can interpret it any way they want, but I choose to believe it's a message that confirms my belief for God, for the holy spirit, and for my mother and aunt's conditions.

Like I said before, I don't usually preach and talk about my beliefs to anyone unless they ask, but really, I have to write this down because if I forget it, this dream means nothing, and by that, God means nothing. But he means something, and my mom stopped hurting for no reason at all (well, there is, but you know what I mean...) so I just thought I'd share that....

And now, I'm late, it took me a whole hour and a half to gather and write this blog, gotta get ready and run to school.

Thanks for reading this far, if you did.

MNT