After taking this picture, he swiped it from me.

It’s so sad.

The poor thing didn’t even stand a chance.

(@ Urth Cafe in Santa Monica, CA)

You’ve heard of Jesus, haven’t you?

…The one who paid the price for our sins?

He endured torture so painful that you wouldn’t even wish it on your worst enemies. He suffered from betrayal so traumatic and ridicule so intolerable, you wonder what being could ever deserve such treatment. But most importantly, he experienced the most harrowing death to ever happen to any human being on this planet, that it still gives us chills to talk about it this very day.. He is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and he gave it all just so you could have that second chance.

I thought about Jesus a lot today. I thought about him, well, because I was thinking too much about myself. I was thinking about my week, my stress, my family, school, and work. I was thinking about my friends, both in and out of touch. But in the midst of all this thinking, I failed to remember the Cross.

The Cross is such a powerful reminder of my wicked nature. I become so convicted of my sins, and it pains me to realize that I have been committing little sinful deeds here and there. Likewise, the Cross also brings me great hope and joy, because it is a symbol of our God’s love for us. It is a great reminder that I cannot proceed in life on my own…not without the strength of God.

Jesus. How could I ever stop thinking about you? How could I ever forget what you have done for me? After what you’ve done, I could never be who I used to be. Granted, it’s because of your great love.

As each new day comes to fruition, my mind becomes wearier and my body grows older. By the end of the day, I am always feeling completely spent. It’s funny, but I’ve learned to expect this in my daily routine; thus, I’ve learned to accept it as a part of my daily life.

But because I know who I’m living for (and who I would die for), I realize that every victory and every defeat serves a greater purpose in my life. I am deeply devoted to my Lord, my Savior–Jesus Christ.

Anyway, I got my own cubicle.

Needs some work done to it, but I’m only staying there for a few short months. Might not be worth my time?

At any rate…managed to sneak in an obligatory “cubicle” picture. Hehe.

-Stacy

The nurse was administering shots to the newborn, Ethan. As the mother, my cousin simply could not bear to hear her precious baby cry. It was too much to bear. It burdened her so.

This photograph strikes me as very beautiful and sad all at once. Beautiful to know the strength of a mother’s love for a child she has only gotten to know but for a short time. Sad because you can almost live in this moment, understanding the immensity of her heartache.

They say that a mother’s heart is unfaltering. Look at your mother and realize this may resemble what she went through when she gave birth to you.

Love your mothers, because they sure as heck love you.

-Stacy

Many people don’t know the kind of schedule I am dealing with this quarter. I am spending 16 hours a week at school in Pomona. 24 hours a week are spent at work in Costa Mesa. I commit 2 hours a week to taking a Korean class in LA. In total, my commute on a typical week will consist of about 7 hours of driving. That is almost 50 hours of my week solely dedicated to learning and working, alone. But once my new internship schedule begins this wednesday, it will obviously change the dynamics of my weekly schedule significantly.

When I lay my timetable out in a tangible format, I’m a bit surprised to see how I ever find time to meet with some friends, or even go to the spa (which I will get to, some other time). Frankly, I really don’t have the time to do anything leisurely anymore, but I desperately squeeze the time in because so need it for my sanity.

But to keep some of my friends in-the-know about what is going on with my work and internship clash, I’ve decided to stay at the Costa Mesa job as their marketing assistant. Granted, I will be working fewer days over there, it is still a job that I have come to enjoy and appreciate as time goes on. I’m so grateful for the people I’ve gotten to know through this business, and the lessons I have learned. However, you may or may not have heard that I’ve also been offered two great marketing internships at this moment. I’ve decided to take on both, knowing that each have different things to offer. I am working on staggering the internships, and things seem to be okay so far.

I’m just really tired. All the time.

Yeah I’ve taken on a heavy, heavy load this quarter. I know I am over-working myself, but I totally see that “light at the end of the tunnel” we always hear people talking about. Keeping myself busy is great, and I am meeting so many wonderful people in the process. In short, if I can make it through this quarter, it will prove to me the things I am capable of. My eyes are not crossed. I am seeing perfectly clearly, and I see that I will make it out alive.

Thank you, God, for the opportunities, the setbacks, and everything in-between.

-Stacy

This project took me a good couple of hours.

I can’t count how many times I started piping the frosting, only to scrape it off and start all over. To be fair, I’m still not 100% satisfied with the way the base turned out, but I was completely spent… so I let it be.

It wasn’t until after I had finished this much that I decided to start photographing. It’s a chocolate cake baked into a giant cupcake bowl, coated entirely with raspberry cream frosting. (Real raspberries were mixed into that) The sticks are actual chocolate raspberry, and the flowers are simply candy decor.

I attempted the writing part several times until it came out close to the way I wanted. That icing was unbelievably stubborn.

So this is the finished product. I’ll give it some touching up tomorrow morning before it gets delivered.

For now, it will stay soundly in my fridge until then.

Good night, lovebirds.

-Stacy

And to celebrate the Lunar New Year with my colleagues..

A plate full of random Korean food.

-Stacy

What an awful day. This morning I took my GWT (Graduation Writing Test) at Cal Poly, and if I had known it was going to be raining as much as it did today, I wouldn’t have worn my TOMS, which got sopping wet…and remained wet…for the entire day. I had to head straight to work after my test, leaving no time for me to go back home to change my footwear. And to add insult to injury, I think I must have experienced the craziest day I’ve ever had at work…ever. It is just insane how dysfunctional things can get between my colleagues and my boss, and the lack of communication really digs us deeper into the hole.. With too many customers and too little teamwork, it’s hard to remain efficient and productive with our duties. I hope things bode well with the place even after I’m gone.

But what’s done is done. Let’s bury the past and move on, shall we? I am very excited that I have the opportunity to work for such an awesome company for the next several months. If there is one thing I can attest to, it’s that hard work always pays off. For the past couple of months, I had been working hard, scouting for an internship for that “right-fit” opportunity. It’s taken a lot of time and effort on my part, but it was certainly worth it. Out of all the companies that offered me an internship positions, there were two that really stuck out to me, one of them being The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and another, which is still a secret for now. While LLS hired me on the spot and even set a date for my first day, I was still anxiously waiting on the response for the latter company. Earlier this week, I finally got the call back and they said they would like to take me on as an intern. I was so stoked! It was the highlight of my entire week. I was up against hundreds of applicants for one of only two internship spots for this company, and they picked me! How awesome is that?

They want me to start next week, but I still need to submit some paperwork for corporate to keep on file. Until all that is said and done, I’ve decided to keep things under wraps, just to play it safe.

I think I’ll just let that be a way to close this brief update on my life thus far. It’s too bad I can’t seem to fall asleep. I’m sick as a dog.

Peace out, boy scouts.

-Stacy