vickitoria's Xanga

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Sat, 31 Jan 2009 04:35:57 GMT

...with the Xanga crosspost from my Wordpress blog. So update your bookmarks and go to http://www.lyricalisse.com. :)

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:47:35 GMT

what if…

…instead of tables and chairs for our backyard wedding, we had picnic blankets?

Probably not going to happen, though… not very practical with what we’ll be eating (bbq!) Seating will probably be more like this (w/o the packed boxes):

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Friday, January 02, 2009

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:05:02 GMT

We’re having two wedding events–a ceremony and backyard BBQ in Washington DC area and a Chinese banquet in Vancouver BC. 141 days until we’re officially married, and 182 days until our banquet celebration!

I was in Vancouver over the weekend and Joe’s parents very generously treated us to dinner at our banquet restaurant on Saturday. The food was amazing–I think we had 12 courses, including jellyfish, roast duck, lobster, steamed fish, and my favorite, Chinese veggies, how I missed you so! The service was amazing too– each time a dish came out, the servers prepared individual plates for each of us. This isn’t normal, because food is usually served family style and everyone helps themselves. Wish I had pics to show, but I still haven’t been able to justify purchasing a digital camera for myself. :p

Joe is staying in Vancouver to start looking for work and settling into our new place, while I’m back in DC for work and to help out w/ church ministries… so we’ll basically be long-distance until our wedding. We’ve been apart for four days and let me just say that I have a newfound admiration for friends who spent months or years of their relationship long-distance! How did ya’ll do that? We’re thankful for Skype and Gchat!

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Thursday, January 01, 2009

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:34:47 GMT

goodbye 2008, hello 2009

Happy New Year!

2008 was a full year… full of many changes, some joyful, others difficult. For my friends, there were new babies, engagements and marriages, loved ones lost. Here are some things I gained and lost this past year:

I gained many miles. Does my daily use of public transportation balance out my air and car miles? I went to Seattle, WA to visit family in June and December; Grantham, PA for our church’s summer retreat; Austin, TX for Joe’s cousin’s wedding and to visit our friend Hannah; Kauai, HI for the October wedding of Neil and Michelle, my best friend from college; New York City for Thanksgiving weekend; and Vancouver, BC for the first meeting of our families.

I gained an engagement ring and a fiancé! Joe proposed to me in August and we celebrated our 2 year anniversary in November. We’ve been growing and learning more each day how to love each other better, despite our differences and shortcomings, as we grow in our understanding of the love that Jesus demonstrated to us on the cross. Even though 1 Corinthians 13 has become cliché in commercialized Christianity, if you examine it within its context and purpose, you’ll see a passage full of truth—that love is patient, not self-seeking; that love keeps no record of wrongs; that love always protects and perseveres—basically, that love is really hard work! Being with Joe has challenged me to be a better person, and his fun, laid-back nature balances out my serious, overanalytical one. I am happy and thankful to God for connecting our lives together.

I gained technical knowledge and expertise. I started a new job in February for American University Library, working with internet resources. It was a little over my head at first, but I’m starting to feel more comfortable with the library tech lingo. My favorite parts of the job: providing tech support to end users, doing IM reference, and working with user interfaces.

I gained ten pounds. You have no idea how much of a victory this is for me! Only problem is that the ten pounds are not in the right places (i.e. not upper body muscles)

I lost consistency in communicating with my best girlfriends. My closest friend is 2 hours away by public transit and my furthest friend is 6 time zones away in Hawaii. It’s hard to communicate frequently when your friend is still at work when you’re going to bed!

I lost my motivation to work for organizations that serve the poor. My three years of work helping low-income students disillusioned me. Having few resources, little support, too many responsibilities (from being understaffed) and no power to change the circumstances, day in and day out, gradually grew tiresome and really frustrating. Experiencing this powerlessness was eye-opening. For 8 hours a day, I was able to get a taste of the poverty our students experienced: crappy computers, no heat, rat infestations, out-of-date books being held together with scotch tape, high staff turnover. Being able to share that experience with them gave me a sense of “we’re all battling this together” but it was hard to offer hope. I wasn’t able to equip these disadvantaged young women with material resources, so I just talked with them, listened to their stories, and tried to encourage and cheer them on. But it never seemed enough.

I miss my students, but I burned out and lost my stamina for the work. It’s an injustice that these women can’t have access to the same opportunities I had, and I’m still figuring out how to reconcile my heart with my actions– trying to differentiate between what I want to offer, what I can offer, and what God is asking me to offer…

I lost the discipline of reflection. My journal from this past year is sparse, and even my blogging slowed down a lot in 2008. This past year has been busy. I’ve spent more time with people and less time alone, which is probably good, but the problem is that my level of introvertedness hasn’t changed, and so it’s essential that I keep writing to internally process my experiences and regain the energy I lose from being with people. Which means my lack of journaling this past year has caused a sort of “backup” in my internal processing pipes. Journaling helps me to be more in tune with myself, what God’s doing in my life, and the world around me—so I hope to be more intentional about carving out time to write and reflect in 2009! (hence this post)

What did you gain and lose in 2008?

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Monday, December 22, 2008

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:28:06 GMT

round 3 of snow?

Apparently it’s supposed to snow AGAIN in Seattle today, which is highly unusual! Joe and I are scheduled to fly into Seattle on Wednesday… at least our layover is down South, so if we get stuck, it’ll be somewhere warm…

(What’s with the -999 mph winds?)

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Thursday, December 11, 2008

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:54:00 GMT

no more slankets!

I wanted to get my brother a Slanket for Christmas, but they are all sold out!

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Sunday, December 07, 2008

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:21:15 GMT

bbq & cupcakes

Joe and I have been busy working on our DC wedding the past several weeks. Plans are starting to come together, and we’re super excited! We wanted something relaxed, outdoors, non-pretentious, and kid-friendly– and the couple that mentors us offered us the use of their backyard. It’s perfect, and we feel so grateful and blessed (their home is actually where Joe and I had our first DTR conversation and made the decision to date)!

Here’s a tag cloud describing what we envision for the DC wedding:

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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:30:30 GMT

book shower!

I found this great idea on a wedding blog– a book shower! If you click into the link and look for the last image in the post–the bottom left-hand corner book–that’s the best vegetarian cookbook ever!

Not sure how excited Joe would be about books since they’re heavy and he doesn’t really read print material…

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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:15:40 GMT

it’s already the week before…

…Thanksgiving?

I am thankful:

-for my kind, considerate, and loving fiance who came all the way into the city tonight to put in mouse traps (we have a critter in our kitchen, eek!), helped me make dinner, and even did the dishes!
-for down comforter, heat, and safe place to live
-for a job that is challenging, gives me the opportunity to deepen my technical expertise, and allows me to help people (and also pays the bills!)
-for supportive and loving family and friends who help me to focus on the important things in life
-for lessons learned and re-learned this past year
-for books that impart wisdom
-for CSA and farm fresh vegetables each week, which remind me of our dependence on the earth to nourish our bodies, and ultimately our dependence on God the Creator and Source of all life
-for our merciful God who gives us second chances over and over again
-for Him who has lovingly provided all these things and has directed us to give thanks in all circumstances

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Monday, October 13, 2008

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:57:45 GMT

weekend update

It’s mid-October already?

+ I found my wedding dress! It was $230. It’s also versatile enough for simple picnic wedding and semi-formal banquet celebration. Yay! Now I’m debating about whether to look for a veil.

- I have searched the internet high and low, and there is no such thing as picnic table rentals in DC.

+ Megan and I joined another CSA because the Bull Run season ends this week. We’re now subscribers to Sandy Spring so that we can have more CSA! This week we’re getting sweet corn, sweet potatoes, Chinese (Napa) cabbage, peppers, lettuce, radish, and apples!

- I have about 20 apples from Bull Run left, and they are going to go bad soon… which means I better make applesauce in the next few days…

+ I am leaving for Kauai, Hawaii next week for Michelle & Neil’s wedding!

- I have a lot of stuff to take care of at work before I leave.

+ Went to Dolcezza yesterday for gelato… hazelnut and lime!

+/- J gave notice at his job last week. I’m happy because he’s moving forward and has good opportunities ahead of him, sad because that means he’s leaving DC soon!

? It is 80 degrees in DC today!

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