Dangerous Mind

Merry Christmas!

2012-12-24T11:23:00.002-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Have a beautiful, memorable and meaningful holiday with your loved ones.

Christmas for me is a reminder of God's faithfulness, goodness and forgiveness.

It is a day for restoration, reconciliation and faith

It is a celebration of victory, let earth receive her King.

Christmas is a holiday of love, hope, renewal and faith in Christ Jesus,

who came to this earth for you and I,

to live abundantly in His purposes,

to live in freedom by His grace.

It is also a day to cherish with your friends and family!

Pray together as a family (my favorite),
Read Some verses about Christmas, whether you agree-like it or not, it is Christ's day :)

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Matthew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

Luke 2:10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Make a memory that will last forever,
not just focusing on what presents you will get or to get others for Christmas.
It is fun and all, but it is NOT the purpose of this day.

We tend to commercialized everything,
selling-buying-profit,
then make it all about Santa Claus,
corny Christmas movies that has NOTHING to do with Christ,
mostly about how desperate a woman is to bring a husband to a family dinner,
a workaholic man/woman,
Santa saves Christmas,
finding a husband for mommy, etc.
LOL
We ruined the meaning of Christmas!

Be a blessing to someone,
especially those who has nobody to celebrate the holiday with,
even strangers.
If you see someone in a supermarket, street, etc,
wished them a Merry Christmas, a smile, a helping hand, share something!

Spend time with your loved ones,
I miss all of my family and my memories with them on this holiday,
those memories makes me smile and I will pass it on to my children someday.
Take a lot of pictures,

Eat a lot of foods,

Laugh,

Love,

Hug!

Hope your day be MERRY and BRIGHT!

;)

xo,

Lindsay

Pearl Harbor

2012-12-07T11:57:00.003-08:00

We Shall NEVER FORGET Our Heroes,

Those Who Sacrificed Their Everything,

So That Others (we) May Live Freely!

~December 7TH 1941~

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Our Love, Gratitude, Respect and Prayers To Those Who Lost Their Lives and Loved Ones On This Event.

~We Remember~

PS. Check Out These Websites For More Information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/pearlhbr.htm

http://www.usswestvirginia.org/ph/phlist.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Arizona_Memorial

http://www.pearlharborhistoricsites.org/

http://www.pearlharboroahu.com/

xoxo,

Lindsay

My Christmas Tradition

2012-12-04T12:58:00.001-08:00

Christmas is my favorite holiday of all time! I love the tradition my family used to do when I was a kid, I love the decorations, I love the Christmas songs, I love the weather, the cookies, hot chocolate, seasonal coffees, sales on stores and people seemed to be happier during this holiday season.

My Family's Tradition

I grew up in Manado, Indonesia, where the majority of its people are Christian, even though we are located in Indonesia, the largest Muslim population in the world. But, in Manado, people with different religions lives with peace, love and harmony.

Anyway, starting December fifth, the children are getting ready to meet a very special person on Christmas season: Santa Claus and Zwarte Piet (click on it to find out more about them). Zwarte Piet is from the Dutch language, they are Santa's helpers. Manado has a lot of Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, British and Japanese's influences due to our history. Therefore, our names, languages, foods and cultures are influenced a lot by those countries. The Zwarte Piet was known as a black person, so in Manado, because our skin is not as dark, those who "played" the role as the Zwarte Piet must put on some body paint all over their bodies to make it very dark.

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But, unlike Santa's helpers in America, in Manado, the Zwarte Piet are very scary and they make all the children afraid of them (you will not get your gifts if you are naughty lol). So, the parents usually enrolled their kids to some churches or organizations who did the annual Santa Claus season and write the list of what to tell their kids (their best and bad behavior). The goal is to make the children understand that they will get gifts when they do good and when they are bad, they will not get what they wanted. We must earned our gifts, so December is the month where all the kids are behaved and afraid to see the Zwarte Piet (over there, their role is to scared the kids so they will not be naughty for the whole year lol). The parents will choose to either invite Santa and the helpers to their house or to go to the place where it is being held (mall, church, school, etc).

I remember, I used to be afraid when I heard the Santa's car coming to my neighborhood and have this loud microphone to tell you which houses they will visit. I, personally, think that the idea to make the kids behaved well is good, but the way they presented it, is not healthy for the children. But, the presents are always a huge reward for us back then lol.

When I was older, my mom decided not to invite Santa anymore, instead she was being very creative created Santa into our own house. So, on the night before Santa "supposed" to come, my mom will tell me to go to sleep and when I woke up in the morning, she created the house has a grass trail and a little mud here and there on the floor (because Santa's reindeer were there lol) and I will followed the grass trail and found my gifts wrapped beautifully under the tree along with a note from "Santa". And yes people, because of that, I was a believer of Santa Claus when I was a kid, my mom is the best! :)

In Manado (at least when I grew up), people started to bake the cookies since early December, so the smell of fresh homemade cookies are everywhere. People are starting to decorate their houses with Christmas trees, lights, ornaments, fake snow lol, it really feels like North Pole, even though we live in a hot, sunny Asian country (usually on December, it rains a lot so it is not as hot as summer time).

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You will find jars of cookies like that picture in almost every house in Manado. Let's eat!

On Christmas Eve, we usually gathered in a family member's house to pray and eat some Christmas foods, my mom and grandma made some special dishes only for Christmas, so we waited the whole year for those dishes LOL. Sometimes we went to church on Christmas eve, which is one of my favorite holy moment. It was just so beautiful, peaceful and amazing. At 12 A.M on Christmas Eve, we will pray together as a family to start the Christmas day. Then we will eat tons of foods and go around the city where they held a lot of fireworks, music, and yes you can visit ANY house started December 24th all the way to January 3rd. HA! Yes, people, my hometown is the real deal when it comes to Christmas! There really is NO other place like Manado when it comes to celebrate Christmas. Where else can you visit any house to eat, even stranger's house, from Christmas eve to January? Only in Manado!! ;)

These are just a glimpse of Christmas in Manado:

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December 25th and 26th are church time! So, since AM to PM, you will see people are wearing beautiful dresses going to churches together and then after church, we will eat again, either at our own houses or visiting families and friends all over the city. We also like to visit graveyard, bring flowers to our families/friends who are in heaven by now. It was a sweet time, not that we worship dead people, it is more likely to remember their lives and gathered together with our family to remember the good ole time we had with those people who are no longer with us. Flowers always look nice on a graveyard anyway :)

Manadonese LOVES to cook, eat, party and very family oriented. We know everyone in the city and we love to invite everyone to have a party. It is in our culture to help each other, eat, dress up and party! So, we have a lot of varieties of foods, from Asian dishes to western dishes and of course local dishes. We have a lot of homemade cookies as well, from cheese, chocolates, caramel, peanut butter, strawberries-pineapple-any berry on earth, etc. In almost every house you will eat appetizers, main menu and desserts (cookies, puddings, salad, fruit cocktails, cakes, pies, etc).

We also love to dress up and look nice everyday, especially on Christmas time, so sometimes it could be stressful for those who do not have money to keep up with the latest trend. I was NOT one of those people, I thank God that my parents taught me to live well, loving God, others and not worry of having new things on Christmas day. My mom used to literally pushed me to go to stores and buy something new for myself, because I am one of those kid who do not wanna put burden on my parents shoulder to buy me new gifts, even though we are not poor. I am a believer of contentment and my mom always tell me that she is forever grateful to have me as a child..LOL..!

So, Christmas in Manado is all about JESUS, family, feast, friendship and celebration of love, faith and hope. So, what is your favorite holiday? What is your family's tradition? Tell me..tell me :)

Matthew 1:21

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

Matthew 1:23

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

My husband and I at Union Square, San Francisco, last Christmas Eve (2011).

Ho..Ho...Ho...

xoxo,

Lindsay

Love is NOT blind!

2012-11-28T13:51:00.005-08:00

I have heard this saying, "Love Is Blind", since I was a baby lol. I mean, people have their own opinion, reason and excuse about everything in life, including your own opinion for a certain statement, such as:

LOVE is blind.

I have always disagree with this statement, simply because I, personally, think that we must be able to see to understand and to love someone or something. Yes, your heart could also see beyond what eyes have not seen. Your eyes, brain and heart must work together to accomplished a balance judgement, decision and choices in life.

We must be able to open our eyes to see the imperfection, injustice, fear, abuse, passion, talent, etc. We must be able to see so that we will have compassion about something or someone. If we chose to close both eyes and be "blind" about love, then we will never know whether it is love, lust or attraction or temporary feelings. When we are "blind", we are lost in the dark, not knowing what to do or what suppose to be done (In this context, I am not talking about/trying to make fun of blind people).

I am a big believer of if I am about to be in a relationship with a man, I have to like that man, I have to at least have a physical attraction to him. Come on! You cannot say it is all about the heart and you do not care of what they look like physically. I am not talking about a certain race, body shape, face shape, etc, because beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? I am talking about personal attraction (physically). Everyone has different taste when it comes to see other people's beauty. Personality is a huge part and a great heart is also a double plus points, but if you are not attracted to that person at all, then it is hard to build a relationship with him/her because someday, sooner or later, you will try to change them or wished they look like someone else or you will find someone else that will make you re-think your choice.

A lot of people chose to be blind when it comes to loving someone, too blind that they let this other person treated them like crap, disrespectful and almost like a sad recycle garbage, excuse the comparison, I chose it wisely so that we understand that we are NOT a garbage. We are a human being who deserves better than a punching bag or visiting hours only when they want something from us and then throw it away after they get tired or bored with us. That is not healthy and NOT love either! Love should make your eyes open with gladness, your heart flourished with happiness and your brain smiles. Love does not make you forget who you are as a person, love does not create fear, love does not mean you lost yourself so that the other person would/might like you, love honors you, love respects you and love treats you as a human being with dignity and soul.

All I am saying is that to love someone, you must OPEN your eyes (heart and brain), so that you will be able to understand them as a person, to accept things about them, to learn about them, to love them regardless of their weaknesses and strength. THAT is why love is not blind, to see is to understand-accept-learn-love and be loved for who you are (or he/she is) as a person.

How do you know that someone loves you? through their words and actions. You need to SEE the facts and the proof that they love you.

I stand with "Love is NOT blind" :)

xoxo,

Lindsay

VOTE

2012-11-05T10:56:00.001-08:00

Just a reminder for the American people to go out and vote!

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6TH, 2012

Make your voice be heard and VOTE for someone that you believe could and should be the President of The United States.

Vote for someone (the party) that represents you, someone (the party) whose policies are closer to what you think is the best for the country and the people. Vote because you care for some things and issues that are important to you and others that you care about in life.

There is never a wasted vote, your vote counts for something and someone. So, make a difference and vote tomorrow.

Stop complaining, whining and hating the government when you do not even make time to vote. Whether you choose to vote or not, it will impacted your life because you are an American (or live here), so instead of thinking way too much about things that might never happened to you, think of what you could do as an individual to change the world NOW (present time), to make your life better and to prevent certain things from happening to you (or others, things that matters to you) in the future.

Educate yourself on the issues as well, don't just listen to celebrity, your family, friends, co worker, religious leaders or politician on TV, I meant consider their voices, but also read, do some research and see the point of views from both sides, not just what you wanted to hear or what will benefit yourself and make other people suffered.

Be wise, be smart and represent yourself! Pray and Vote!

These are the CANDIDATES:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2012

These are the ISSUES that you need to learn/understand:

http://campaign2012.c-span.org/issues

If you are still confused, try this QUIZ lol:

http://www.isidewith.com/

Stay Safe and Be A Good Citizen..

VOTE (click on the name for more information) for: Obama, Romney , Johnson

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xoxo,

Lindsay

Test Your Limit

2012-11-04T12:12:00.003-08:00

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One of the many excuses I have heard is: "I can not do it!"

Can not and will not are two of our very own enemies inside us that limited our abilities to grow and to move forward. We will never know our own strength unless we give it a try and so many times, the first try, second and third might not get us right to the top. Everything has its own process and purposes, including strength, whether it is physically, mentally or spiritually strength. Strength is trained and gained, it is not given or received overnight. It is a journey and process in life, sometimes it is a short ones and many times it is a long one. But one thing for sure is that you will get stronger when you try one day at a time, one foot ahead of the other, one step at a time. A step further is better than a step backward!

What might seemed to be impossible will not be impossible unless you try it, right? Everything seems impossible for those who never try to seek the possibility. A baby will think that walking is impossible, then he tried to walk and succeeded. What seemed to be hard, might not be as hard once you trained yourself to face it.

You are stronger than you think! I used to not being able to do a perfect push up or pull up, now I am able to do any form of push ups and pull up (with some help lol). I used to think that lifting weight is for men who wants huge muscles, but I was so wrong and I am in love with lifting weight now and I could lift heavier weight with squats or on a balance ball, name it! lol!!.

So picture what you want for yourself, set a goal in your mind, get moving and make it happen! A stronger, leaner, healthier, happier, better you is just one step ahead (for starter). I used to see a fitness model and thought, wow she must be crazy to do that. Today, I look at them and I was like "I could do it too with one leg or one arm" ;)

Test yourself and see how far you passed your so called "limitation".

xoxo,

Lindsay

Fortune Cookies

2012-11-03T16:13:00.003-07:00

HA!

Last night, after I ate my delicious Chinese Food for dinner, I decided to have two fortune cookies because they were so yummy! In my opinion, some fortune cookies are just better than others. Anyway, these are the result of my fortune cookies! The statements compliment each other and finished each other sentences LOL.

Sometimes it is nice to hear or read encouraging words from other people, may it be someone you know, a stranger or even some fortune cookies lol. This is why I love collecting words of wisdom, write it down on my journal or take picture of them as a reminder of what I could be if I am willing to do it. I also love to write them down to encourage myself and others.

When something captured your eyes, your heart and soul, your brain tends to remember it and stored it for future references. That is why we need to stored wisdom and encouraging words into our brain so that we live by those words instead of negative, self pity, discourage words that will pull your spirit down along with the people that you meet in your life. You know, misery loves company kinda person, you don't wanna be that person. Nobody deserves to live a miserable lives and nobody have any right to bring other people down with them, dives into their unhappy life.

Say something nice to other people today, do something good for others, try to encourage other people without being fake. What do I mean by that? we do not have to compliment others and lie as well. Every person has their own uniqueness, whether they realize it or not. Bring that out of them, point it out to them so that they could see it as a gift, talent, useful and special instead of weirdness, bad and useless.

Don't compliment others based on something that is not in them, for example do not encourage someone to pursue a singing career when everyone think they could not sing, including that person himself lol. Encourage them to pursue something that you know they could do and would be good at it plus it will satisfied them as well. Sometimes people just need a little push, a word of encouragement to step into their "dream comes true" world.

Go after your passion, your dreams, use your talents for something good and be happy with what you have accomplished now. Life is not over until we are dead, so as long as we are still breathing, we could still reach our goals! Good Luck and Best Wishes!

xoxo,

Lindsay

Happy Halloween

2012-10-30T11:44:00.003-07:00

Hello Readers,

First of all, I am not into Halloween, but I do love candy and I did these pictures just for fun, inspired by one of my favorite TV show, "The Walking Dead". It's funny because I am not into Zombie's movie, I like horror movies but not Zombies and everyone keep telling me that The Walking Dead is so good. So, thanks to Netflix and Google TV, I watched the series and it is a great show.

xoxo,

Lindsay

soMEbody loves you

2012-10-22T11:28:00.001-07:00

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Nothing is better than to love and be loved by other people.

This is for all of you who read my blog.

I hope that you all know that I love you and appreciate your time to read, comment,
pray and share my thoughts.

Have a great week and wonderful journey everyone!

Be Strong and Courageous,

Be Happy and Joyful,

Be Wise and Honorable.

Enjoy Life Without Losing Yourself In The Making!

xoxo,

Lindsay

Happiness Is A Journey

2012-10-17T11:07:00.004-07:00

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Because we are living in the era of "Express", we wanted everything in our life to be express as well. We would love to have a date stamped on a specific event in our life, we wanted to control everything, including how fast a certain thing should be fulfilled.

Happiness is a journey!

I love those words! It does not mean that along the way you should be unhappy, miserable and cranky LOL. But, for some people, everything takes time to reached a certain degree of happiness. Forgiveness takes time, forgiveness is also a journey in life.

There are steps that we must going through before we arrived at our "destination" or should I say degree of forgiveness. First, we must feel the hurt, then we got mad, confused, angry, sad and all of the emotions mixed together in our soul. Then we acted our emotions out, may it be crying, blaming someone (or yourself), regret, planning a revenge, hurting someone, being alone, partying, etc. After that, we have some options, we could either forgive the abuser and move on with our life or we could plan a revenge that might not just hurt him/her but yourself and others along the way. We could confront the person and tell them that we are hurt in a mature way or not so mature way, we could live miserable our whole life playing the blaming game, never ending regret or the "what if" mentality, or we could just cry, pick up our own life, move on toward a more positive renewed uplifting and better life.

Everything takes time and that is why it calls a journey instead of a destination, because I think that life is a journey. We continue to walk and filled our life with surprises that we found along the way and we continue to walk our journey. We have options to stop and enjoy a certain moment in that journey, take some pictures, laughed or cried, remember or forget. We also have some options to unpacked some baggage that we have been carrying along the way (baggage: unnecessary burden).

Aren't you tired carrying those emotional baggage that is hurting you, emotional, physical and mentally?. Why carrying those people who hurt you, abused you, did not appreciate you with you on your journey/life? Let them go, unpacked them, leave them behind and never look back. You have learned your lesson, now it is time to let go and live your lighter life. Filled your bag with new experiences, good people, moments and lessons to cherished and worth remembering or carrying along the way. Create beautiful moments not miserable moments. Remember the great times not the bad times.

If you still find it hard to let go, then make a promise to yourself that you deserve better and make a goal to help yourself out to move on with your life, so that you could reached your next destination in your journey.

When or if you have arrived at your next destination, may it be the next city, next boyfriend you have, next job, next ministry, etc, unpacked those unnecessary baggage. You do know that those losers do not even think of you anymore, remember you or even know what they did wrong to you, right? So stop the pity party and expecting him/her to come to you and admitted that they were wrong and they were sorry. Some of them did regret and apologized but MANY of them did not even know what they did wrong. So, stop wasting your time analyzing why bad things happened to you and create your own happiness without destroying yourself and others. Happiness does not mean you could do whatever makes you happy, there are rules and limitation to everything on earth. Drinking, food, shopping and partying makes you happy, but if you do it way too much, you will ended up hurting yourself.

Live in the present!

We could not change the past and we do not know what tomorrow holds, so why bother and worry way too much about it? We should just cherish the present moment, make it worth our time to remember, to smile when we think about it in the future. There are two things in the past, one that is worth to remember and one that is worth to forget. Only carrying/taking with you what is important and worthy of your soul and time, leave the emptiness, bitterness, sadness, unhealthy lifestyle and unhappiness behind so that they will not contaminated or dictate your future.

Remember that happiness is a journey which means every single step that you take should create happiness until the day God calls you home to His everlasting arms. We all going to die someday, the when-how and where is unknown, that is why we should just enjoy our life before it ends because life is short.

The journey of happy life does not mean we are always happy, because there is nobody on this earth, past-present and future people, who will never experience fail-hurt-death-sickness-drama in life. Everyone has its turn to experienced pain and gain, because it is part of life and living with other people with different background and characters.

Sometimes we must experience the bitterness to understand and appreciate the sweetness of life, that is of course if we are wise enough not to do the same mistake twice or picked up/chose the same people twice (could be different people with the same attitude/character than the first mistake we made).

Chose, create, live your happiness and enjoy your journey!

xoxo,

Lindsay

For Better or For Worse

2012-10-12T12:23:00.003-07:00

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I truly LOVE that quote!

By the way, you should check out her website: http://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/

Anyway..

I love that quote because marriage life is not always about the fun, love, holding hands and great sex. There are times when none of that happened for various reasons. However, even when things gets harder or even worse than before, we must keep in mind why we got married on the first place and fighting (work together) to make it work, to fix it, to make it better.

I will not write a lot about this issue because that quote already speaks EVERYTHING about marriage life; problems, conquer it and be a victorious lovebirds for the rest of your life.

Sometimes things must get worse before it becomes better. Sometimes it must be broken so that you could have a better, renewal life. Sometimes life must tasted the bitterness so that we could appreciate the sweetness out of it and be thankful.

Those who survives the storms comes out stronger, better and wiser. Facing the problems, solving it with the one you love, not running away from it. Problems will always be there even in a perfect situation, there will always be problems. So, giving up on your marriage and thinking that the next one will be "problem free" will not solve your misery, because the next one might be crazier than this one LOL.

PS. Of course it depends on your "problems" as well, like I always said, if it becomes an abusive relationship and your life (and kids) are in danger, then be wise to seek help and save yourself!

xoxo,

Lindsay

Strong, Brave and Humble

2012-10-03T12:34:00.002-07:00

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Our body, mind and soul could do amazing things even when we thought we would not be able to do it. Our weakest moment could be the time when our true, inner and most of the time, hidden, strength comes out and fight back.

We survive because we try to do our best and the result surprised us, because we limit our ability to do something greater and settle for less, until something happened and we have no other choice but to survive. In our survival mode, the strength will rise and shine to its limit or I should say the ability to be the best.

Bravery is not just for those who fear nothing in life, but also and especially needed for those who worry a lot, freaked out too many times over little things, and scared of almost everything in life. Yes, life is (sometimes) unpredictable and is a scary place to live, but life also happens in a way that we never thought possible.

Whatever meant to happen will took place, whether we like it or not, ready or not, expected it or not. We could not control everything in life, so why bother by worrying about things that might never gonna happen to you anyway?. Deal with what is in front of you now, take it one day at a time, everyday has its own trial and triumph.

So, try to be brave even when you are scared simply means to put up a fight even when you think you might not win the battle. But when you fight back, you do not give up easily, you put up a good show and who knows? you might win the battle, but if you never try, you never know, right? ;)

Strength is mostly mental than physical! If you set your mind to do it, the result will be much better than when you already think of "I can't do it!". When you set your mind to try your best, bravery will rises in you and will gives you the boost that you need to face everything in life.

Now, winners are those who defeated their enemies, may it be your own struggles and problems within yourself or with other people. Whatever it is or whoever they are that you defeated, keep in mind to stay humble. Yes, you are happy, do your happy dance and share your success with others, you deserve it. But, stay humble, because when your pride takes over your humility, you will not go far. A great leader and winner showed others how to be success, they do not keep it to themselves, they shared. A great leader and winner help others to reach their goals. A great leader and winner is the role model to others, that includes being humble, wise and smart, especially in victorious moment, when your character is being tested.

True compliment comes from other people who praises you based on your performance, accomplishment and testimony. Action speaks louder than words and people will see your action and hear/listen to your words. Be careful, don't let you defeated your own victorious moment.

Seek wisdom!

xoxo,

Lindsay

Who's Your Daddy?

2012-09-24T12:45:00.001-07:00

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Those are just a little samples of what our Father in heaven is all about. He is ALL that, more and beyond our languages, understanding, wisdom, and words could ever describe.

The idea of having a heavenly Father might be new, foreign or sounds ridiculous to you. Maybe you don't believe in God and the concept of trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is silly according to you. But, if you want to know more or just curious about it, please click on these websites just to get an idea of what this"Father in heaven" is all about:

-Trinity: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/what-is-the-doctrine-of-the-trinity

-Fatherhood: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/honor-thy-majestic-father

-Father in heaven: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/ask-your-father-in-heaven

-Anything about Christianity in general, you could check out this website: http://www.desiringgod.org/

(PS. Of course there are a lot of Christians websites, but just be careful before you read them, check out their credibility and doctrines. "Desiring God" is a great website that I, personally, find helpful.)

Some of us when we heard the word "Father, Daddy, Papa, Pops, Ayah, Bapak, Abba", etc. We immediately think of our own father or I may say it our "earthly/biological/caregiver/step/adopt parent", etc. The father figure that we grew up with since we were a kid is not necessarily describe or represent our Father in heaven. Our "earthly" father might be a great man, wise, provider, etc, but he is not perfect, he is after all just a human, just like you and I, we made mistake.

There are also fathers who are far from perfect; they are abusive, lazy, run away from their responsibilities as a father (or husband), etc. But, whether we like it or not, that man is your father and as much as we hate them, it will not eliminate the fact that he is your father.

It is NOT your fault if you have a father who is just a "sperm donor" and does not do anything as a good father suppose to do, for example: teaching your kids discipline and shows love at the same time, provide for the family, work with their own hands not begging from other people, protect the family, loves your mother, your friend but also your mentor/leader that teach your right and wrong, etc.

Sadly, there are so many children grows up these days without knowing their own father (or mother). Some people chose to love themselves more than to be a responsible person, too selfish to sacrifice for someone who desperately wanting and needing their love and affection.

There are fathers who are having problems with the "baby momma" and neglects their children, even though the children is caught in the middle. Adults make love, get pregnant, have a baby, problem comes, fight, and get a divorce, but you will never get divorce from your own flesh and blood. You are the father and will always be one, even if the court limit your time with your kids, it does not mean you are not responsible for their lives.

Mothers, even if you have problems with the daddy, he is still your children's father, respect his right to be with the children (unless he is not a "fit" parent, then protect your kids from the evil one-vice versa for the daddy with the evil "baby momma" lol).

The good news is even though our "earthly" daddy is a jerk, horrible person, far from perfect, neglecting you, forsaken you, disowned and abuse you in so many ways, WE have a heavenly FATHER who will never forsaken, forgotten, neglect and abuse you in any way. We could always come to Him in prayers, believing by faith that He is Lord, our Father in heaven, who will provide for us, guide us and gives us eternal life.

"For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in."

Psalm 27:10

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you."

Isaiah 49:15

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

John 14:18

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Hebrew 13:5

Read/Click: Matthew 6:1-34 and Luke 11:5-13

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xoxo,

Lindsay

POW/MIA

2012-09-21T10:47:00.001-07:00

Today is National POW/MIA Recognition Day. The DoD has more than 600 people dedicated to the worldwide mission of accounting for the more than 83,000 missing service members from conflicts as far back as World War II. To learn more about the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO website at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo.

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Please keep them and their families in your prayers, hearts and thoughts, not just for today but everyday, until they ALL come home, it will give closure and hopefully peace of mind to the families who are still waiting and hoping.

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Please visit these websites to bring Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl home:

http://bringbowehomewod.com/

https://www.facebook.com/BringBoweHomeWOD

There are ways to help him come home:

1. Praying

2. Call Your Congress:

Contact your Elected Officials today and tell them to Bring Bowe Home!

Ways to Contact your Elected Officials:

(1) Call (202) 224-3121. This is a switch board in Washington D.C, when you connect with this number ask to be transferred to your elected official’s office. To find out who your elected official is use http://www.contactingthecongress.org/ Once connected to your elected officials office you may have to leave a message. This message should contain you name, a way to contact you, and you message to Bring Bowe Home.

(2) Tweet elected officials. For lists to tweet our elected officials check out https://twitter.com/POWMIAvoice/lists use hash tags #BoweBergdahl #POW #BringBoweHome

(3) Write your elected officials. To find the address of your elected official use http://www.contactingthecongress.org/ this will connect you with their specific website which will include a mailing address.

UNTIL THEY ALL COME HOME!

May God be with all of you and your families, gives you comfort, hope and peace of mind.

We REMEMBER you and praying for your return.

xoxo,

Lindsay

Pray More- Worry Less

2012-09-17T12:36:00.001-07:00

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Sometimes, even when we pray, the worry, fear and problems are still there, but there is power in prayer that makes you stronger to face them all. There is a huge comfort in knowing that God is doing something for your own good. It does not mean that you will get your prayer answered the way you wanted it, but it means that God answered it according to what He thought is the best for you.

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."

(Romans 12:12)

So many times when God showed us what He thought is the best answer to our prayers, we do not like it. In fact, it could be the most painful thing in your life. We may never understand why God would allow such thing to happened in our lives, especially because we prayed. But then one day, we woke up and we get what God was trying to do through that painful time in our lives. He wanted to save us from a future disaster, He wanted us to experience His love and miracles. He gives us hope and strength that nobody else could provide, etc.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

(James 1:2–4)

But, there are also moments and specific events that we might never understand why God allowed to exist in our lives. But, by faith, we just have to believe that God knows what He is doing, it is above our own understanding to know everything in this world. We just have to pressing through our problems, move forward with our lives and knowing that God is good, even when painful things happened to us, He is still a good God. Why? because that is faith; Pain, suffering, death, persecution, famine, and war will never separate us from God's love.

Our destination and home is heaven with Him, where there is no suffering, war, pain, sickness and death. This world filled with evil thoughts and acts, but this is not our forever home. Our hope and faith is in God, who is preparing our forever home in heaven.

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

(Romans 8:28)

Some gives up hope and faith when painful events took place in there lives and hating God for not helping them, for allowing those things to existed, for leaving them when they needed God the most (or at least that's what we thought, while God is thinking and act differently). God will NEVER leave you, forsake you or laughed at you when you are in pain. He cry with you, laugh with you and died for you so that you could experience eternal life, not death (Read/click: 1 Thessalonians 5:10 and 1Peter 2:24)

"Be strong and courageous.

Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you.

He will not leave you or forsake you.”

(Deuteronomy 31:6 )

Some gained hope and faith when those things happened in their lives and experience God's love like never before, because they knew that only God could take away that pain from their lives and replace that with unspeakable joy, healing, peace of mind that surpasses their own understanding and fear.

It is OUR choice to see and experience life differently!

We may chose to be happy and moved on or we chose to be miserable and walk backward to our past. We could chose to give it all to God or to carry all of our heavy burdens to ourselves and let it consumed our lives. We may chose to let God do what He think is best for us or we may chose to do it ourselves and screwed it up because we have no idea what we are doing. We could chose to be free or a slave to our own misery, sickness, pain and troubled life.

My prayer today for you who read this post is that God will gives you peace of mind, strength and comfort, hope for a better tomorrow and love that will filled your heart with gladness.

May God be with you and bless you,

May God takes away your pain and heals you,

May God comfort you and hug you with His arms,

May God wipe away those tears from your face and gives you peace,

May God take away the pain that enslaved your soul and gives you hope as your new anchor for the soul.

Be free in Jesus name! Amen

"do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

(Philippians 4:6–7 )

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"Still" by Hillsong

xoxo,

Lindsay

9/11 Tribute

2012-09-11T10:55:00.002-07:00

We Remember!

We Pray!

We Forgive!

We Defend Our Freedom!

"We are cracked and chipped from our afflictions on all sides, but we are not crushed by them. We are bewildered at times, but we do not give in to despair. We are persecuted, but we have not been abandoned. We have been knocked down, but we are not destroyed." --2 Corinthians 4:8-9

#NeverForget

image/words via

Hero comes from a different type, both human and animals.

This is the tribute for our four legged heroes of 9/11

We thank you and love you both handlers and dogs!

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My own collage that I made to remember this event (top left to the right, clockwise).

Images are taken from Google. I could not remember each pictures sources, but I remember searching the keyword 9/11 attack images.

We are praying for the families/friends of those who lost their loved ones on 9/11 (and because of/since 9/11). We will never forget and words will never be able to express our love for all of you.

We also wanted to thank those who served and are still fighting (Military Men/Women, Law Enforcement, Firefighters, etc) for our freedom and to make sure that no family would have to go through this senseless terrorist attack again.

xoxo,

Lindsay

From Trial To Triumph

2012-09-09T15:11:00.001-07:00

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James 1:2-3 ESV

When we are facing struggles, problems, trials and all of those not so fun circumstances, the last words that will come to our mind would be "pure joy". What is so joyful when we are on trial? if anything, that would be unpleasant, uncomfortable, painful and not fun. But yet, the Bible teaches us to consider those moments as pure joy. Consider does not mean it is what it is, but to think outside the box, to fix your mind on a different approach, to see things on a different perspective/angle.

"We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance"

(Romans 5:3).

And then there is another verse who basically says the same thing; to rejoice in the suffering moments! What?? How could I rejoice when my child is very ill? How could I consider it pure joy when my husband just left me for another woman? How could I rejoice when I just get fired from my job? How could God asked me to do such things and if He is a good God, then He would never let anything bad happen to me (or the world). The list of questions, doubts, denials, anger and unanswered questions will always occur and will never end, until we fully understand the power of rejoicing in the midst of our problems, the power of laughing in the midst of an unhappy moments, the power of letting go and let God, the power of faith because there is nothing that you could do as a human being to change it.

It is easier to say it than done it and I am still struggling with that everyday of my life. I am a Christian who loves and believes in God, but when someone treat me unjustly, when I am facing problems, death, sickness, unfairness, etc, I have my "Why God?" moment and I also have my denial moment as well as my complaining and self pity's moments. But, the denial, complaining and self pity's moments do not get me anywhere and those stuff never solved my problems, sheesh, if anything, they make my problems even bigger, complicated and not to mention I am more depressed when I let those thoughts and attitude enter my heart and mind.

This world will never be perfect because of everything and everyone in it are not perfect and therefore the sickness, poverty, famine, war, fight, unjust, etc, will exists simply because we are human with our own pride, strength and weakness and we used it without wisdom, love or compassion for others.

We, human, tend to keep everything for ourselves, our selfishness defeats our own humility or compassion toward others, may it be for other human, animals, plants. We killed animals so that we could have tasty foods, even though we would be fine without eating animals. We destroyed our own environment in the name of comfort and survival. We declared war against other nations in the name of power, politic, religion and wealth. We neglect our own body to live a healthier lifestyle and then we got sick. We failed as a parent to be the role model for our kids, we failed as a child to obey our parents. We failed on a lot of things...yet we blamed God for everything that went wrong in our lives.

However, there are times when we did our best to prevent bad things from happening and they still exists. There are things that is beyond our control and there are things that God allowed us to experience so that we could help other people who are facing the same situation.

There are also things that God allowed us to experience because He wants us to experience His love, power, grace, miracle and blessing. When the doctor told us a long time ago that my dad only had a couple of months to live due to his liver failure/damage, we were devastated, but God allowed it to happen because He then showed us that He healed my dad completely and He is still alive until today.

When my uncle fell deep into the drug addiction's world, we thought he would die. Then, God took my grandpa to heaven and at that moment, my uncle turned his life around to Jesus and he is living the best life today. It takes a death of my grandpa to save my uncle's life. But, we are rejoicing for his life and yes, we mourned when my grandpa died, but we all going to die anyway. Grieve, cry and feel the pain, then get back up and live the rest of your life with gladness. Just because someone die, it does not mean that you must die either. Their job on this earth is finished, they are resting now. Our jobs are not finished yet, so we better live our lives and cherish the moments of being alive.

Consider it a joy or rejoice when we face trials speak about faith, hope, and love. Life happens, whether we like it or not. Surprises comes and go, whether it is a good or bad ones. We could not control everything and we could not control what other people will do to us, we could try to prevent certain things from happening, but everyone of us has a free will to do whatever we want. Some made wise choices, some made bad choices and it caused pain to themselves and other people.

Faith does not mean everything will always be O.K., faith means possibility, faith means ability, faith means chance, faith means you are not alone. God promised to be with us until the end of time (Matthew 28:20) which simply means, we will never going through it all alone. He was there before you were born, He is still here with you and will always be there for you until well..forever. He comes, he stays and will never leaves..HA!

TRIAL => TESTING => PERSEVERANCE => MATURITY => TRIUMPH

The power of training to become a champion!

Suffering produces endurance, perseverance and patient. Every athlete or successful people do not just get it, they were going through a LOT of pain, gain, learning, defeating, winning moments. They were going through a hardcore training that requires strength and suffering along the way, for their own good. The stronger you are, the better chance you have to become a champion.

Trial exists to produce endurance, we persevere so that we could be stronger to face life, growing and mature in our faith in order for us to survive the life until the end. Strength is NOT an overnight process! It takes a lifetime of continuous process of training, endurance, perseverance, getting knock down and get back up, determination to become a winner not a loser, focus on the goal ahead instead of the circumstances, which is temporary.

If you want to have a strong healthy body, then trained your body everyday to become stronger. If you want to have a strong mentality, trained yourself to not giving up when life is hard. If you want to have a strong faith, pray and understand God by reading His word and obey Him, trusting Him and train yourself to rejoice even when things go south. Yes, to rejoice takes training! We have the ability to chose how to react when trouble comes. We could trained our soul, mind and body to accept certain things the way it is, to endure, to be happy even when life sucks, to switch our mind from useless thoughts to useful ones, to rejoice when we are pushed down. Do you know that it is very painful for our enemy to see us rejoicing even when they meant evil toward us? Haters hates happy people, their goal is to make your life as miserable as possible just like theirs!! LOL.

Push through your problems, stop complaining and comparing, stop the pity party and the blame game. Push through your pain, reach for that strength, reach for wisdom, be still and know that God is in control.

Hardship builds a strong characters and attitude toward life, which helps a lot when we are under pressure :)

"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."

(James 1:12)

xoxo,

Lindsay

The Life Of A Military Wife

2012-09-07T12:04:00.001-07:00

Today, I would like to write a little bit about my life as a Military Wife, which I know many of you who are on the same shoes as I am, would relate a lot. On the other hand, I would like to write this for all of you who are not in the military or wanted to know what it takes to have a spouse who are serving his/her country with honor, loyalty, courage and commitment.

This is a story from my own perspective as a Military Spouse, those who are also serving without the uniform or the rank and many times the recognition (LOL), but holds a VERY IMPORTANT and the hardest job in the world.

Let's start, shall we?

The "D" Word

This is the word that no military family wants to hear, know or even say it (HA!). Ladies and gentlemen, meet Mr.D a.k.a DEPLOYMENT! What is so hard about deployment? oh wow, where do I start?

The LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP (LDR). This is not just a regular LDR, this is an extreme LDR. Why extreme? well because darling, we could not contact our spouse anytime we wanted, we could not visit them at all, we could not listen to their voices or see their faces every time we missed them or when the kids wanted to talk to their mother/father. It is not just the distance that separates us, but the job, the responsibility, the reality that we could not talk to them anytime we need a friend, an uplifting words or love, just like any other LDR. In fact, we must wait for them to contact us, when they can, which could mean an hour from now, a day from now, a week from now, a month from now. You will never know when your phone will be ringing and what kind of news you will find out. Your phone must be on all the time due to time differences and if your spouse is in the Navy, which mean they are not on the land, you must wait until they reach the next port or destination, which could take weeks even months of not knowing where they are, what they are doing. Their internet is not always "working", which means you will not receive any emails, let alone a phone call for days/weeks.
The Wait. Deployment could go from six months to fourteen months (even in the Navy, we get mobilized for twelve to fourteen months as well), so you must be very patient and creative to keep yourself busy, occupied and functioned without your spouse to take care of you and your children. You must be the father and mother to the children at the same time. You must be the one who keeps everything together, to stay strong, to wait patiently, even when things do not go well with you.
The Communication. Like I stated above, communication is very hard, especially being a Navy wife, because they are on the sea, which means we must wait for days to weeks until we finally talk to them on the phone, usually when they arrive at their next port. The internet on their ships are not helping either, so even for emails, we must wait for a long time for a very short email saying, "I am OK, how are you? gotta go!". HA! It also depends on the type of job your spouse hold, some have more time to write an email or make a phone call, but for those who must keep the ship running well, they hardly have time for themselves to eat, let alone write a long email. That is my husband! LOL. You must wait by your phone at all times, checking emails and mail often, just in case they call or write, you do not wanna have that missed call. Oh, the anticipation, the missing you so much, the I love and hate you so much are very typical during the deployment.
The News. There are two types of news, the good and the bad. The good news are that he/she is alive and well or coming home early. The bad news are he/she is sick, wounded, deployment get extended and the hardest one is that he/she will not coming home alive.

Tips to survive deployment:

Contact your ombudsman, stay in touch with other spouses in your husband's ship/unit.
Pray a lot
Stay busy and fit, do something good for yourself, create a routine like working out, work, do fun things with your family, visit your family/old friends
Make sure your phone is on, checking emails/mails.
Stay away from temptation lol, you know your weaknesses. Stay away from negative people as well, stay close to the uplifting friendship.
Sending emails, letters (love this), and care packaging is fun to do.
Get involve in an organization that will make you feel good about helping other people. That way you will not feel so bad about your own situation.
Make a goal for the homecoming (losing weight, having baby, go on vacation), something that you are looking forward to do.
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst as well

The "F" Word

This is the FAMILY word. Starting a family is sweet and beautiful, but when your spouse is in the military, this could be bitter sweet. There are women who are going through their pregnancies without their spouse by their side, there are military men who missed the birth of their children and only see the video or pictures of the "big" day. They will miss most holidays and important days, birthdays-valentines-anniversaries-Christmases-new year- fourth of July- thanksgiving- baby started walking- soccer games- sick days- sad days- happy moments, etc.

There are times when you are sad or lonely, but you must stay strong for your children and yourself because your spouse is not present to help you out, even though they wanted to help you at that moment. Deployments are not the only time we are separated with our spouse, there are underway (which could take two weeks or more in the Navy, almost every month), there are late nights, work on weekends or special days/holidays, conferences, training and other job they must fulfilled when they are not on deployment.

The moving could be very hard and stressful as well. You must move to a lot of places and let's face it, moving is a pain the a*s (excuse the language). If you have children, it is more stressful for them as well because they must leave their friends, school, etc and started a new life again.

If you are like me, whose families are on the other side of the world, then we bear a heavier burden. You never know how hard it is just to talk with your mom and you must wait for the right time (time zone is different, night for you-morning for them), you must find the right connection (internet and phone do not always cooperate), you could not visit or talk to your own family anytime you want or need them and your spouse is not available due to their job. You are all alone, but you must survive as well! Tough?..no try..toughest! :)

Family is your strongest supporters, but sadly not all of us get along with our own family or the in-laws and that makes your life even harder, but it does not mean impossible. You just have to blocked the negative stuff in your life and focus on the positive sides and work on it.

The "L" Word

This one stands for loneliness (and many times literally alone). You could be surrounded by thousands of people, but you still feel empty and sad, because you missed your spouse to create beautiful memories and sweet moments. Sometimes you just miss his/her presence, even when they are not doing anything, you just miss their smile, their voice and their touch and they are not available for a very long time LOL.

Loose Lips Sink Ships

Well this is when your role as a spouse becomes James Bond as well, LOL, because there will be information that you know about what your spouse is doing (his mission), but you could not share or talk or even think about it with other people, not even your own children or parents. You must keep it all to yourself because if you open your mouth and talk about it, you will put your spouse and the rest of his team and country in danger, they could get in trouble, even death because of your unguarded talk. Be aware of your words and the information you share with your family and friends, especially on the phone or the internet (such as social media, emails, etc). You do NOT wanna kill your own spouse!

So remember, Loose Lips Sink Ships or OPSEC is VERY important!! This goes to those who are serving in the military as well. I have military wives who talk (proudly) with me about their husband's mission that supposed to be a secret. Seriously?! Shut up and hang up the phone!

There are things that the military member could share with their spouse only (not with the rest of the family), there are things that everyone should know, there are things that only they know and we, the spouse, will not know the where-when-how-what they are doing.

The Other Woman

Her name is AMERICA. You must share your husband's love, compassion, loyalty, courage and commitment for America. You might be the second priority on the list because America will comes first and that is an order! Just deal with it and understand that your husband is making a huge different for the American people and other countries that they helped out (it is not all about war, they also help building houses, schools, bridges, humanitarian work, medical for free, education, etc).

PTSD

PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. You expect your "old" spouse to come home to you, but something has changed and it affected your life and him in a hard way. This is a hard situation to deal with and please seek some professional help. Please check out these websites:

http://maketheconnection.net/conditions/ptsd?gclid=CIHi1_mGpLICFWThQgodQkMAZw

http://www.veteranscrisisline.net/

1-800-273-8255 and Press 1,chat online, or send a text message to 838255 to receive confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Adjusting

Adjusting your life after the deployment might be hard for some people because we are dealing with the stress, different time zone and welcoming the spouse after that phase is sweet and challenging at the same time. If you chose to leave the military and becomes a civilian, then the challenges are still there. I know a lot of service members who left their military career and they are actually lost and there are others who loves it, so this is a conversation topic that you and your spouse must talk about before you make a decision.

There is also another option of becoming a civilian and join the Military Reserve, it is not as easy as it seems because they are juggling their civilian jobs, military jobs, family and sometimes school as well. The stress level is different and yes, deployment is still a possibility as well LOL.

The Knock On The Door

This is by far the hardest battle of them all because you feel like you lost yours in a very hard way. The knock on the door means you will see military men/women in uniform standing on your front door and they will tell you that your spouse is dead. I am sorry for the blunt words, but that is the reality and simple way to express it. The tears, the confusion, the what to do now, the funeral, the media, the family, the children, the stress and the denial, the horror is just unforgettable. I would not wish this on anyone, not even an enemy. It was a dark time, terrifying moment and unspeakable sadness, the unanswered questions, the "we suppose to grow old together" moment, the small children who may never know their dad/mom, etc. My heart and prayers goes out to those who are dealing with this as we speak now.

Being a military wife is by far the hardest job I have done, from keeping secrets, sanity and feelings to myself. I must find a balance between the military life and civilian life, I must ignore the hatred from those who thinks we love the war (which in fact, we hate the war because we are the one who suffered the most).

I must laugh at those who says their taxes pays for our lifestyle..bahahahah..your money will never be enough to pay the lost moments, life and death of our family member, who sacrificed all of that so that YOU could hang out at the park with your children, buy a coffee from Starbucks, go to school and work, complain about your life, demonstration on the street, etc. You have NO IDEA what it is like, unless you walk on our shoes! This is why I talk to my fellow military wives when I feel discourage, no offense to my civilian friends, but you could never understand what we are going through and your judgmental advises will not help as well. But, we thank you for your prayers, concern and trying to help us out.

Stay positive, do something good for yourself, enjoy your family time, be thankful for everything, keep praying, keep the faith, speak kind words, be a role model for other spouses, love your husband and try to tell him your concerns, worries and problems. On the other hand, please understand that you could either help your husband's career or destroyed it (his reputation, dreams, goals, passion, job, life).

The military life is not for everyone, but it does not mean it is impossible to live life to the fullest as well LOL. The friendship is awesome, the support system with each other is amazing, the strong mentality it builds and prepares you in life is beyond words, the benefits are not bad, the knowledge and wisdom that you learned is always a plus, the handsome-tall-muscular-clean shaved-strong-smart-hero husband is priceless!! woot woot ;)

My husband gave me this coin and he saluted me when he gave me the coin ;)

He is the sweetest thang!!!

Through War time and Peaceful time Babyyyyy!!

lol

xoxo,

Lindsay

Encourage

2012-09-06T20:15:00.003-07:00

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One of the most powerful thing to do whether you are sad or happy is to encourage someone and be encouraged by other people. It works magic both ways!

In fact, you should try it now

Sometimes we just need to encourage one another to create a perfect peaceful life. When we stop caring for other people, when we think that we are more important than others or when we think that our problems are bigger than others, that is when we lost the power of "magic words" (read: encouragement).

Little did we know that many times when we are at our lowest point of life, that is when we should encourage each other because there is power in togetherness, there is comfort in knowing that you are not alone with problems, there is love and hope when we started open our mouths and speaking the word of kindness, hope, strength, comfort, the words of encouragement.

Sometimes we do not know what it means, what to do or how it should makes us feel until someone actually say those words to our ears and speak into our hearts and those words are the fuel for our empty "tank" (life).

Have you ever have that "wow moment" in your life, when you do not know what to do, and then someone else is giving you the idea and you go "hmm..that is so true, how come I did not think of it?", the truth is that human needs other human to remind each other.

Nobody will get hurt with encouragement, but somebody will get stronger, happier and better with encouragement and you will feel better as well during and after you encourage someone.

It takes courage and love to encourage someone, so be brave and be blessed!

"You are valuable because you exist.

Not because of what you do or what you have done,

but simply because you are."

Max Lucado

“Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.”

Steve Maraboli

xoxo,

Lindsay

Identity Crisis

2012-09-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

I LOVE MARRIAGE LIFE!

HA!

I mean despite the fights, the hectic schedules we both had or whose turn to take the dog out's conversation, I actually love marriage life. I love the companionship and friendship that my husband and I have the most, even though my husband is a "non talker" kinda guy, but he is cool. I cannot stand a very talkative man anyway, it is too annoying for me.

I know I am too young to give marriage advice or to even talk about how to make your marriage work and I am not here for any of that, because I believe that everyone's marriage life is different.

I JUST WANNA TALK!

First years of my marriage I found myself lost, because my husband is the only man that I've dated who is younger than me (gasp) and we've only dated for one year (with him being on deployment). It was a fast, fun and crazy love. So, when we got married, it was actually our real date. We found things that surprised us in a good and bad way, we sees things differently and there are questions of "Am I doing the right thing" or "What was I thinking" moments.

I also find an identity crisis! HELP!

OK, my husband is a white man, I am Asian. We have different background of cultures, foods, habit, family upbringing, etc. The great thing is that my husband is in the military, which means he LOVES to learn about other culture, eat different foods (he eats more spicy/hot foods than me and I am Manadonese, we eat extremely spicy/hot foods), eager to visit different places, longing to live in a different places - which is why we move a lot and loving it!. I mean, we are young, we should move around and enjoy life to the fullest.

But, I found myself doing things that I hate, but I do it anyway to make my husband happy. At least that's what I thought, but then I realized that there are so many things that my husband introduced to me that I used to think I hate it. I guess he brings out the potential, the goodness out of me. I do not like trying something new (unless it is food lol), my husband is adventurous. I hate hikes, due to its intense hills, sunburn and bugs. But, guess what? I am loving it now. I hate hardcore music and one day my husband took me to "Sleeping Giant" concert and I love it now. I still do not like extreme roller coaster, no matter how much my husband loves it. I still do not wanna touch a snake, no matter what my husband think of a snake. I still hate cherries, my husband loves it (I do love cherry fruit, I do not like them on my drink/cake). I learn some "geeky" stuff, since my husband is one of them, I love some, understand some, hate some, don't understand a lot. LOL!

My point is that in the beginning of our marriage, I am still trying to adjust the two worlds. I had to brave myself up to try the things that is foreign for me or weird or sounds discomfort. There are things that I finally love, there things that I still hate. You don't have to like all of your husband's hobbies, habits or friends lol, but you learned to let go, compromised, acceptance, sacrifice and get your own bargain..uh huh ladies..you do A for him, which means he will do B for you. It works both ways to be happy ;)

So, remember, just because you are in a relationship, it does not mean you have to be boring. What I meant by "boring" is that you do not wanna do something new because you had one bad experience or because of your insecurity. Try it first, if you do not like it then tell him/her, but you might be surprised of your new found love.

Do not do it in the name of "trying to fit in" or to look/sound cool on Facebook! Do it because you want to try it. Do it because you like the challenge. Do it because you want to find out what you have been missed all this time. Do it because you are curious!.

On the other hand, do not lose your identity either. God creates us unique in our own way, you do not have to be someone else to make him/her happy. Don't do something just because you want them to be happy and losing yourself in the process. Yes, we must sacrifice a lot of things in a relationship, but it does not mean you "killed" yourself. Stay true to who you are as a person and find what truly makes you happy.

There are things that we do that I hate, there are things that he hates, but along the way, we started to find out what works-what does not work, what needs time, how we do it, how we say it/introduce it to our spouse, when we do it and how to understand that sometimes not everything that we love would works for the other person. Instead of pushing him to love your hobby that he hates, why not doing things that you both love?.

Sacrifice is needed but remember of who you are as person. Do not lose your identity! Be happy, be proud and celebrate yourself. On the other hand, open up and live a little..try new things, even things that you are afraid of or hate, you might love it, you might not, but hey..you have tried!

Do not limit yourself or your family! A lot of kids do not try new things because the parents are "boring" , doing the same thing over and over again. You might not like it, but your spouse might like it and your kids might love it too, but they will never know it because you might limit the fun meters. Sometimes you just need to let go and not being too afraid of everything. If you are a control freak, like myself, then it is time to learn that you can't control everything. If they (spouse/kids) wanna do something, let them try it and if you wanna do something new, do it! :)

-Live Life To The Fullest-

Me and my man on my B'day!

xoxo,

Lindsay

House and Colors

2012-08-29T22:52:00.000-07:00

I don't usually post anything about interior design, but I actually LOVE looking at houses and interior designs. These are some of my favorite things that I found today.

I love the colors!

I mean, I am a pretty basic girl when it comes to my own house interior design. I love contemporary house with white, blue and turquoise colors. I love the beach/island theme when it comes to what I want in a house. But, I made an exception for these pictures.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

via

Well OK, I gotta stop before I put thousands of pictures in this post LOL!

I just LOVE all these interior design's ideas. I would not mind doing these ideas for my own house someday.

Do you like it?

xoxo,

Lindsay

Neil Armstrong

2012-08-28T09:48:00.004-07:00

Rest In Peace Neil Armstrong

(August 5, 1930-August 25, 2012)
My previous blog about Mr. Armstrong, please click here!

via

An American Hero,

A History Maker,

A Great Man.

"Fair Winds and Following Seas"

xoxo,

Lindsay

Birthday 2012

2012-08-27T12:05:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone,

I celebrated my birthday last week and we took a trip to Shasta Lake, California for my birthday's getaway. Here are some of the pictures from the trip with links provided for each place we have visited.

Mt. Shasta

Exploring the cave at Lake Shasta Caverns

We took the boat then a bus ride to get to the cave, this is the view from the bus ride

Inside the cave

A lot of stairs to get there but worth it!

The Cabin

The Backyard of the cabin is this cool river

More Information click here

Nice day, great hiking buddies and look at this forest..beautiful!

McCloud Falls on the background

McCloud Falls

More Information click here: Castle Lake

Breathtaking

A gorgeous trail to hike.

Luke is trying to beat Michael Phelps

the trail was so good and beautiful

a lot of cool trees

Swimming on Castle Lake is unforgettable!

The water is nice, beautiful view, clear-clean water, peaceful!

Until Next Year!

xoxo,

Lindsay

Update On My 100 Miles In August's Challenge

2012-08-22T17:32:00.001-07:00

Remember my "100 Miles" post that I posted in the beginning of this month? Well, I could happily say that I have finished the challenge today, a day before my birthday! yay!!! Nothing like an early birthday present from you to yourself, right? hmmm that might sound a little weird, but anyway, what I am trying to say is that receiving presents from other people for you is a joyous feeling, but when you do something that benefits yourself for a better you, that is like the best feeling ever. I found it easier to give than receive, I hate being the spotlight, center of attention and I even hate an unexpected surprise. So, when I actually do something for myself, I feel good!

Along the way, I find out that I do not push myself to the limit when I workout. I mean, I run on a regular two to four miles daily, but because I do not have any miles goals in my mind, I do not push myself more. Now that I have a goal in my mind, I am actually capable of running or biking more that my regular miles daily. I did this challenge five days a week for forty minutes to one hour a day, with two rest days, or when I know my body needs more rest. I also did some strength training three times a week along with my cardio and I did not die LOL.

The best way to motivates yourself is to motivates yourself! You must be your number one supporter and fans in order to push yourself. Do not compare your journey to other people's journey because everyone has a different body type, metabolism and goals in mind. Every person has their own workout that works faster for them, but maybe not for you. You must find out what works for your body, lifestyle and goals. I also stay away from those who makes fun of my journey, simply because I know that when I am sixty years old, I would still have toned muscles, running a marathon, have a glowing skin, happy and looks hot (it is a fact, google it) LOL.

I prioritize my health because God gives me this body and I have an obligation to take good care of my own body, so that someday I will not bother my grand children to take care of their sick grandma with hospital bills because grandma did not taking good care of herself when she was younger. Sometimes sickness just happened even though you have been taking care of yourself, but many times, you know exactly why you got sick and that is not right or fair to those who have to taking care of you because of your ignorant and laziness. I eat everything, I do not live in a wrong diet world, but I eat in moderation. You will be surprised of how good healthy foods tastes like and do for your body, try it first before passing judgement.

I rarely get sick, but this month, unfortunately, I got a little sick because I was hiking on a very hot day and I did not have enough water. BIG mistake! So, I got sick for two days and after that I got back on track again and finished strong.

I would like to encourage all of you to start living a happy, fun and healthy lifestyle. Do it for yourself, your kids and the environment. No more excuses, because excuses will not get you places, but moving will do that. Start with a fifteen minutes walking, then increase to twenty, thirty and more. Start with a walk to a jog to a run or bike or swim. Do what works for you! Do it for at least three days a week, once you started working out, your body will wants and requires more from you. Working out is an addiction! HA!

Some helpful tips:

-Drink water before, during and after workout.

-Stretch before and after workout.

-Eat good foods, mostly fruits, nuts, vegetables and good proteins. Eat before and after workout (before: oatmeal, banana, etc. After: Protein Shake, Chicken Breast, etc- Google it)

-Rest and listen to your body.

-Run, swim, hike, bike, walk for at least thirty minutes a day for five days a week.

-Read or watch some workout videos before your workout, it helps you learn new techniques and motivates you as well.

-Do it for or with other people who would be a motivator/inspiration. Stay away from those who does not motivates you to be better. My inspiration is this girl, Jen, check out her Facebook page, like and support her journey!

-Join a health club if that will make you go workout.

-Mix your workout (run-bike-jog-swim for example), also try to burn a lot of calories not just counting the miles. If you are running/biking at the gym, run with some inclines or when you do bike, make sure you watch your RPM and paddle on a high level, increase your level of difficulties every three to four minutes for example.

-Find great places to workout outside your gym (nice hiking trail, run by the beach, etc). My husband and I (plus our dog, Luke) found one new place to workout every weekend. I calculate my miles and calories by using some apps like Nike+ to help me on track.

-Buy some cute and comfortable workout outfits and shoes that you would love to wear and feel good about your body. If you are a runner, find a good socks, shoes and sport bra (women).

-Take it day by day, do not over think it, over analyze it or over do it.

-Take a nice hot shower or cold shower, it helps my muscles to relax.

-Write down your accomplishment each day, write down your workout for the day, also I like to write down some encouragements words.

-Entertained yourself during a workout, may it be with music, videos/books/magazine (when you do bike inside a gym, not when you are running or riding your bike on the street lol), taking pictures before-during resting-after workout, like me (below) LOL!! Before you knew it, you already killed ten miles! woot woot!!

-Reward yourself.

xoxo,

Lindsay

My Getaway

2012-08-20T13:21:00.002-07:00

My Getaway..

Sometimes when I need to find peace,

I run into nature,

I hide on its beauty.

My Getaway..

Sometimes when life feels overwhelming,

I seek wisdom,

I listen to her.

My Getaway..

Sometimes when the uncertain scared me,

I surrender to the all powerful one,

I let my fear go.

My Getaway..

I found you everywhere,

I rest my case,

No more worry because life is beautiful,

My Getaway..

The ONE who knows my secret,

my deepest fear,

my glorious moment,

my best and worst thoughts,

my insecurity,

my pain and my gain.

My Getaway,

I am saved with you,
perfectly covered with grace,
overwhelmed with love,
living with hope anchored on my soul.

My Perfect Getaway!

xoxo,

Lindsay