Dog Days

Before I got my puppy, I kept hearing from people that dogs are so much responsibility, and that they're just like kids, yadda yadda yadda. I thought they were totally exaggerating. Well, I can now say, they are not exaggerating!! lol I had no idea just how time-consuming a pup can be! It really feels like I have a kid or something! It's unbelievable how much of my day is taken up just taking care of him. I'm sure most people wouldn't let their dog consume so much of their time, but I can't help it! He's just so darn cute that I just end up catering to his every need and whim! lol He wants to play? Then forget about working, and play with him! He wants to sleep? Forget about doing the dishes, and let him sleep on my lap! Spoiled little guy. hehe
On top of that, you should see my apartment! My living room, which was once so clean, has toys scattered everywhere! Actually, every room has some sort of toy of his in it. But the living room is the worst. He's kind of a funny dog, and likes to keep all of his favourite toys together in a pile. So whenever he finds something new to play with, he drags it into the room and brings it to his pile. I think he's a bit of a kleptomaniac actually... he steals everything and then thinks it's his to keep. I recently found my cell phone in his doggy bed. And my wallet too. lol!
Anyway, so in case you're wondering where I've been, and if I'll ever be resurfacing back on earth anytime soon... that is my explanation! I blame my lack of computer time on my dog. I blame my lack of time for anything on my dog! lol!
But it's fun, and I am loving him!!

新年快乐！

新年快乐！今天是一月一号！

It`s so hard to believe that it`s already a new year! This year feels like it flew by. Although, thinking back, nothing very extraordinary happened this year to be honest. It was just another regular year... good things happened, bad things happened, happy things happened, and sad things happened. I wish I could write a nice long re-cap of my year, highlighting the greatest things month-by-month... but a) I can`t even remember what happened every month (lol) and b) you`d get bored very quickly! lol  But I do want to share really quick some of the things that do stand out for me as I think back on 2010...

~ The Good

* Of course, I had another great year with my awesome friends; especially my wonderful FLH sisters! I have known a lot of my sisters for almost 2 years now (or more!) and I'm still so thankful that I met each and every one of them! Even though I haven't met everyone, I still feel like my FLH sisters are some of the best friends I've ever had. Some of my sisters I've known for long ~ Melia, Genie, Susanna, Larien, Ia, Aor, Diyana, Corina, Christine, Jo, Rayne, Ricca, Rachel, Kayleigh, Constance, etc, etc... and some I've had the privilege to get to know better this year ~ Alex, Lita, Janelle, Jecael, Paula, Telma, Clarise, Zafirah twins, Timmy, Roxy, etc, etc. I know there are many names I've left out, but you all know who you are, and you all mean so much to me. Each and every one of you hold a special place in my heart, and I'm blessed to know you all.

* I did have the chance to meet in person 3 of my FLH family members this year! First was Kayleigh ~ my awesome meimei! I got to tag along with her family to Toronto for an afternoon/evening, shopping around in Chinatown, eating in a fantastic dumpling restaurant, and couting Tim Hortons joints! lol It was so great to be able to meet my meimei... it's one of the most memorable things of my year!

I also got to meet Christine! She came down and stayed with me here for 4 days, and it was a great 4 days! We did all the tourist things we could... including seeing Niagara Falls, and going to Toronto (twice!). Our time together was another highlight of my year.

Last, but not least, I got to meet Clarence! We were the representatives for the MUA North American group order, and so when everything arrived here, we got together and ended up spending most of the afternoon talking non-stop about Jiro and FLH! lol I'm very thankful for the opportunity to have done the MUA group order with him, and am thankful to have met him ~ my FLH brother... a true Jiro fan!

One of the coolest thing about meeting my FLH family in person has been how natural everything was... as though we'd known each other forever and hang out all the time! lol It felt like long-lost friends reuniting. Very cool!

I really hope that in the near future I will have the opportunity to meet more of my FLH sisters... it's my biggest wish!!

* A very recent good thing of the year was getting my new puppy! I've only had him for just over a week, but I already love him to bits!! He's been so much fun! And, at times a bit frustrating (let's just say puppy pad training has it's negatives). But I never once have regretted getting the little guy, and I know I never will!

* Another quite recent thing that has been a highlight for me has been my new-found friendship with my "little" cousin Adrianna. Adrianna is my cousin from my mom's side of the family, and she's 13 years younger than me... but a while ago we realized that we shared the same love/obsession for K-pop and K-dramas! And since neither of us have any friends around us in person who share this same love, we have bonded instantly over our mutual love! lol It's been great e-mailing with her and gushing about our favourite K-dramas and K actors, etc. She was shocked when I started spouting off my favourite K-groups and actors ~ we were both on cloud 9 with excitement over it! lol So, this new-found friendship with my "little" cousin has been very cool, and very fun!

~ The Sad

* Of course, the hardest thing of 2010 was the death of my Opa in November. Actually, all the months leading up to that were very hard too... I feel like when I think back on 2010, the majority of it was filled with hard times because of Opa's illness and then his death. However, I must say that this experience also showed me something very important... that is, just how special my FLH sisters are. How did I get from my Opa's death to that conclusion? Easy. When my grandpa passed away, I was of course very upset and going through a hard time. Those days surrounding his death were very tiring and very emotional. And, believe it or not, only 1 friend of mine here gave me any words of comfort. My other friends didn't even call or e-mail... nothing... not a word. Yet when I went online, I was overwhelmed with messages from my FLH sisters sending their condolances and support. During one of the hardest things I've ever gone through, it was my FLH sisters who were there for me above and beyond any other friends. I really want to thank, in particular, Janelle and Alex... who let me unload my emotions on them, and were there with a listening ear (or, reading eyes... lol) through everything. I don't know what I would have done without your support and encouraging words. Thank you my dear sisters!

* The other sad thing of 2010 was the break-up of my brother and his fiancee. It sucks when a sibling goes through a break-up because not only do you feel for your sibling, but you also feel the loss of his partner! Tanya was already very much like my sister, and was very special to me. With their break-up I feel like I lost a sister. But, no matter what, she'll always be my jie, and will always be a part of my life!

And that's where I'll end!

Overall, 2010 was a good year, with good memories, and some sad memories, but through everything I feel like I learned a lot and grew a lot too. I'm thankful for every experience ~ good and bad. And I hope that in 2011 there will be many more great memories, and that I'll keep growing as a person through everything that comes my way!

So, again ~ Happy New Year!!!

Opa (我的外公)

Hello, I'm back... it feels like it's been a while since I've written. This whole week has just been a blur to me. Since Sunday, when Opa passed away, the days have just kind of been fading into each other... it's been so busy, hectic, and emotional. The worst was Tuesday when it was the visitation at the funeral home. First off, going in there and seeing him in his coffin was just awful... I totally broke down. And I also, right there and then, decided that I most definitely do not want an open coffin at my funeral! I didn't like it one bit. It made it feel like Opa was right there, and yet he wasn't. It was an awful feeling. Being at the funeral home all day/evening that day was so tiring and emotionally draining. The people coming to pay their respects were countless... the line just kept coming and coming, and for every person you had to listen to them express their sympathies, and ask how you were doing, etc. Obviously it's very nice to have their support, but it was very draining overall. My poor grandma... I don't know how she managed to stand there for hours on end shaking people's hands as they talked to her about my grandpa. She sure is a strong woman.
Then of course the funeral was very hard too. It was a nice funeral, but very tear-filled. However, my uncle gave a super nice speech, reflecting on Opa, and it was so good... and very humourous too! It was great to remember all those good and funny stories, and smile remembering our dear Opa.
Now it's all over, and I guess things will just go back to normal. I went to my grandma's yesterday, and it felt so strange being there, without Opa in his chair. I think that even though things have to go back to normal, things will still never feel the same. Opa was such a stronghold in our family... his presence will be so missed by us all.
But, whenever I feel myself getting sad or feeling like crying, I make myself think about the fact that he was so sick for so long, and now he's free of all that sickness and struggle. Picturing him up in heaven, laughing and feeling well is basically the only thing that makes this all feel ok. And knowing I'll see him again someday too... that's definitely a great thought.

lol! Opa... I already miss you so much!!

Love you always!

Emotional

I haven't written much this week... I guess there just hasn't been too much noteworthy stuff going on here!
Today, however, I feel like writing. I went to see my grandpa again, so I'm feeling kind of sad again. It's so hard because I want to go see him, but at the same time, it's so sad every time I do and I hate seeing like this. But I want to spend time with him, so I go. I again just sat with him and held his hand. It's so cute... he holds my hand, and every so often will open his eyes and look at me and give my hand a big squeeze. Other than that, there's not much response from him at all. He basically just lays there with his eyes closed... he can't speak well at all because it's too hard (he has such a hard time breathing, that every work takes so much effort)... but I love it when he squeezes my hand because that's his way of communicating and letting me know that he knows I'm there. It's been a really hard week for him this week. It's like every day gets a little harder... and yet he's still just hanging on. My poor grandma, the other day said to my Aunt, "do you think it's ok if I pray now that the Lord just takes him home?" Of course it's breaking her heart so much seeing him like this and it's to the point now that even she would rather he be able to die in somewhat of peace and be out of pain and struggling. Anyway, we don't know what each day will bring; but I'm just glad I could go see him again and spend time with him again. Even though he doesn't remember that I was there... I'm thankful for any time I can spend with him. 外公，我真爱你！

On another sort of depressing note... 
The other day my friend came over whom I haven't seen in months. She recently had a baby and it seems that as my friends all have babies I just simply never see them. It's weird though, because it's not just because they have babies of course... but it's that I really don't have much of anything in common with any of my old friends anymore. We all used to hang out all the time, but over the past 2 years or so we've drifted so far apart, it's almost hard to imagine that we used to be such good friends. Now it's lucky if I see them once every few months! So when I saw my friend this week I was wondering how it would be since it had been so long... and sure enough, it was kind of weird. She's changed soooo much... and I'm sure I have too; but it was just so noticable. The whole time all she really did was dote on her baby... and pretty much all she talked about was her baby. Which is normal with all my friends now... their lives revolve around their husbands and babies of course, so that's sort of all they have to talk about. But I obviously can't relate to that... so I basically just sit there and nod and listen and act interested. But the upsetting thing is that as soon as I try to talk about something in my life, they simply don't seem to care. They really make me feel like my life just isn't as important as theirs~ afterall, I'm not married and I don't have kids. [I should interject here, and say that my best friend isn't like this... she does talk about her kids tons and stuff, but she is genuinely interested in my life too and is great that way]. I was so upset this week when this happened with this particular friend, because she was the last person I though would act this way. But, for instance, when I mentioned I'm still studying Chinese, she literally just said, "I have absolutely no interest in Chinese, or even hearing about it." I'm not joking. I don't think she meant to be rude and was just stating that she didn't have an interest in it... but still... it really hurt. I mean, this is such a huge part of my life ~ I am so immersed in Chinese and could practically BE Chinese, lol. But I can't even talk about it at all with these friends because they really couldn't care less. I mean, couldn't she have at least pretended she was interested in what I was learning? Or encouraged me somehow to keep learning? But nope... just totally brushed it off like I was doing nothing but wasting my time on something like Chinese. I felt so belittled and really upset ever since.
I knew that my friends and I have drifted apart and didn't have much in common anymore... but it really struck me full on just how much we've drifted.
It's ok though... I'm just thankful that I have lots of new friends who I love soooo much, and who are just so sweet, and so encouraging and who I have so much in common with. Although, most of them are friends via the computer... that's ok! lol I have also met some great friends here in person of course. But yeah, it's just strange how friends who you thought would be your best friends 'til the end don't end up being the kind of friends you thought. But, as I'm learning, friends come and go... there's a season for all things.
But still... I like to believe that my FLH family & friends will be friends 'til the end. hehe  We'll always be sisters, right?

MUA to you all!

Toys!

As you can see, I changed my blog look yet again!! This time, not much of a difference is really visible, but I finally have the comments working! lol I gave in and just used a template from blogger... but I had a heck of a time customizing it. I still am not 100% happy with it, but I can't figure out how to do things how I want them. lol I'm really not very good with computer stuff like this. Oh well; at least my main problem is solved ~ the comments. Yay! I worked on this most of the afternoon yesterday. lol But that's ok, there wasn't much else to do yesterday.

Today, however, was a fun day! It's been sunny and nice all day today! I went out with my mom ~ coffee, then a bit of shopping ~ always a great time. I really love my mom... as I'm sure you can tell by now, since I mention her often and spend a lot of time with her. I live only about 25 minutes away from my parents, but I still only see my mom at least once a week; and I always love it. My mom's always been more than just "mom"... she's also really my best friend. We have so much fun together and really do have a great relationship. And we do so much as friends... and she's just as hilarious as my friends! hahaha I love that I have a mom like this.

Anyway, after that, this afternoon I got a package in the mail and it was my new toys I had ordered!! I tore them open so quick and had so much fun putting them together and posing them using the different arms, legs, expressions, etc. They're so great! lol And they're just so ridiculously cute! So, here are pics of my latest fun toys...

Kawaii ne? I already want to order the other figurine of Miku... I'll have to wait a bit though 'til it's back in my budget! lol For now, I'll enjoy these!

好久不见！(again!)

你们好吗？我最近很忙哦！Though... I don't even know exactly what's been keeping me so busy! 哈哈！I have been spending lots of time with my family, which has been nice. I went home yesterday and spent the whole day with my mom. Very nice! And, believe it or not, I'm already getting ready fo Christmas! Which, to me, isn't surprising at all...in fact, I'm usually way farther along by now most years... I'm slacking this year! lol Everything here in my city is all decked out for Christmas already! All the stores are decorated for Christmas, there's Christmas commercials playing, etc! And, of course, then there's the worst part of things ~ the weather has been so cold!! Yesterday when I went out I actually had to bundle up~scarf and mittens included! The cold weather is striking! Boooo! (哈哈！)
Overall, I find it so hard to imagine that Christmas is already so close! Only 50 days!! Wow, time flies. It feels like really not long ago that I took down my tree from last Christmas! lol But yesterday when I was with my mom we went to a local greenhouse/decorating store and they had just had their Christmas openhouse... everything was totally decked out for Christmas and it all looked gorgeous! I admit, it made me kind of excited! And I did buy a really pretty new ornament for my Christmas tree!
Oh! AND, the most exciting thing!!! My friend Angi came to my place this morning for us to have our own little "Chinese school" class here, and she brought Starbucks, and it was in the red cups already!!! I usually refer to this time of the year as "red cup season" ~ based on Starbucks. lol! On my Facebook I have a whole album dedicated to Starbucks' red cups.

And speaking of Christmas...  I bought myself a Christmas present last week! 哈哈！My new netbook! yay! I love it... I've been using it all the time since I got it! My other computer is going to be neglected I think. But this is just so much more convenient and has already come in so handy! Now that I have it I wish I had gotten it a lot sooner! lol

(as soon as I saw the squirrel, I thought, "SOLD!" 哈哈!)

我爱它！^^

But yeah, now that I bought this, I've got to be really careful money-wise right now! I have to get so many presents for Christmas... I'll be feeling pretty broke for a while I think! lol
I wish there wasn't so much stress around Christmas. I love Christmas so much, but I don't like the stress that it leaves... especially the money stress. The only good thing is that since I've gotten older, my friends and I don't buy each other presents like we used to. We've all got bills and other things to pay for, so now instead of spending money on presents we all just get together and go out for dinner or for a coffee & dessert or something, and that's how we celebrate together instead. It's kind of nice.

Anyway, I don't really have anything in particular to write about! I just wanted to come write something since it's been so long!
So, 'til next time...

Figurines

I've always loved Anime... but I didn't realize just how obsessed I apparently am until the other day, when I had no trouble whatsoever convincing myself that spending almost $100 on a figurine was a fine way to spend money. lol!  You know you've got a problem when...

But I did end up talking myself out of spending that much on just one figure... and instead, I spent only $30-ish on 2 nendoroid figurines...

#1: K-On's Azusa Nakano
(you can make her look like any of these, as she comes with many parts)

#2: Vocaloid's Hatsune Miku

(snow version)

But the problem is that I've still got quite a wishlist! Including...

#1: Another nendoroid Hatsune Miku

#2: Another Azusa Nakano

#3: Yet another Hatsune Miku...

This one, however, is over $100! So that's never gonna happen! lol

But it's by far my fave!!!

(my mom's gonna have a coniption when she sees I spent money on this stuff! LOL)

 

Hard Days

Aiyo... What a day. I've been so emotional all day... it hasn't been fun. It's because I went to see my grandpa today, and it's just so incredibly sad seeing him so weak and so near death. When I was with him today he couldn't even talk because he was simply trying to breathe. He's having such a hard time breathing the past few days. He also hasn't eaten anything in the past few days because he can't seem to swallow anything. It's to the point where today he had a few sips of water and he even ended up almost choking on that. I can hardly handle it ~ seeing him like this. He's always been so strong and I never thought I'd ever see him sick or weak; He's always joking and laughing... and now he can't even talk hardly. It's so heart-breaking.
And it's so hard because there's nothing anyone can do to help him. Nothing makes him feel comfortable, and nothing will make him better now. So it's literally like just waiting for death, which is devestating. All I did today was sit right beside him and held his hand. He had both of his hands in mine and that's the only way I could give him any kind of comfort. I'm crying just thinking of it.
When I was leaving he seemed to be finally drifting off to sleep, so I quietly said goodbye and left. But when I was halfway down the hallway I suddenly turned around and went back... held his hand again and made sure he could hear me, so that I could say "I love you." He nodded, so I know he heard me. It's strange though, I had to go back and say that... I can't shake the feeling that it's the last thing I'll ever say to him. I'm glad I did go back, or else I would've regretted that forever.
So now I guess we're all just waiting... it's horrible to say, but I can't help but hope he passes soon. He's in so much discomfort... this is awful for him. It's like at this point, I just want him to go home to heaven and be out of pain and have no more struggles. Even though I'll miss him here, I just want him out of this discomfort and pain.

I think the next few days will be emotional and hard for our whole family...  please keep us in your prayers. 谢谢。

Opa ~ 我爱你！

Playful Kiss Ep 15 ~ Preview

I almost forgot!! This week is the last 2 episodes of Mischevious Kiss! Tomorrow episode 15 will air in Korea, so Thursday we'll get to see it here. It's the marriage episode!! Can't wait!!!!

Pent-Up Energy and Gloomy Salad Days

Good morn... oh wait... I just looked at the clock and it's the afternoon already. lol  Well then ~ Good afternoon!!

For some reason, today I'm in a super happy/energetic mood.

Yesterday I was so blah... didn't feel motivated to do anything, was feeling kind of emo, etc. Then today, I woke up and felt the total opposite from yesterday!
And of course I had to do something with all the extra pent-up energy, so I did what I usually do... clean!!
I got tons accomplished and it feels so good! (I actually like cleaning... mainly because of the accomplished feeling afterwards  lol)

I think this afternoon I might start a new drawing. I've been itching to get out my sketchbook this week, so I think today's as good a day as any to do it! Though, I do have my grandparents coming this afternoon for a visit... but after that. I'm so weird when my grandparents come... I get so flustered and nervous! I don't know why. I guess I just want everything to look perfect and everything to impress them somehow. My grandma is one of those ladies who cleans their house every single day (as in vaccuum, dust, etc) and is always dressed top-notch no matter what. So whenever they come I feel like my place has to be spotless and everything. Not that they'd ever say anything... it's just me feeling like that. Silly perhaps.

On a completely different note: Yesterday I watched the latest 2 episodes of Gloomy Salad Days (what does that mean anyway?). I'm really loving this show... even though it makes me really depressed. lol I find it to be super sad, yet at the same time, I can't help but want to watch it. Maybe because it's real stories/real life situations; or maybe because there's things in the stories that we can all relate to in one way or the other. Whatever it is, even though it's sad, it's still a great show. I'm looking forward to next week's episode... I've been wanting to see more about this next girls' story. Her life seems extremely complex. It'll be interesting I'm sure.

Anyway~  tomorrow I'm going shopping with my mommy! yay! I haven't been able to spend time with her in weeks, so I'm looking forward to that. I just hope I don't buy too much. Though, I don't really have to worry about that when I'm with my mom because she's great at giving that "do you really need that?" look with her eyes. She doesn't even have to say anything and I totally know what she's thinking. hahaha

So, 'til next time... 

New!

I'm back!  And my revamped blog is finally pretty much done! It feels like I've been working on it forever! I'm really not very good with computer stuff (especially html, etc). But I couldn't find any layouts that I liked, so I ended up finally just using a random one and figuring out which scripts did what and changing it to how I wanted it. For example, this is what the template was originally:

So I played around with it and chose different things I liked from other different layouts and put those codes in and voila! I now have this! And it was pretty fun making my new header too of course. I always love doing stuff in Photoshop. My header was originally from this:

And I loved these 2 pics:

And now for the ironic thing of it all...  I decided to change my layout to use a pre-made template in .xml so that I could have comments... and now I'm done it all, and the comments doesn't even work!!!!! I don't know why... but they just don't. And if I want to fix it, I'll have to DL a different .xml and start from scratch because I can't get the right codes unless I upload it into here, which automatically erases everything! (I tried!)  Oh well, at least I have a fun new layout anyway.
I hope you like it too!

Also, on a side note: I have been finding tons of fantastic little icons at this one photobucket account: http://s795.photobucket.com/home/PixKaruumi/allalbums  So if you're ever looking for super cute little graphics, check it out for sure!

Anwyay, I'm off to study Chinese with my friend! Yay!!
再见！

So Random

Good day! I was just sitting here trying to get motivated to actually get some work done, but instead, I found myself distracted by pretty much everything!! lol I'm really bad when it comes to procrastination... I will do anything to put off doing what I actually have to do. tee hee But it's not my fault! I swear my stuff has little voices that call to me...

See??! So how am I supposed to get work done when I have all of this fun stuff calling for me?

haha

On a completely different note... last night my bird had a bit of fun as he got out of his cage! It was quite entertaining to watch, because he really didn't know what he was doing. I've never seen a bird be so clumsy before! lol Silly little guy. He didn't last long out of his cage though... he loves his food to much and was back to it in no time. But I did get a couple of pics of his grand adventure. So here is Lazio's Adventure:

Ta da!!

Ok, enough procrastinating now... I'd better go actually do something useful with my time... hehehe
再见！

Thanksgiving, 101010, and Gloomy Salad Days

It was Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada this weekend... though I didn't actually do much to celebrate. My mom and dad were up at the cottage in Quebec, and my brother was in Toronto... so I just had Thanksgiving by myself. I did order in some dinner and had chicken and stuffing... necessities for on Thanksgiving. hehe

And, this weekend was also GKC's birthday!

I think I was more excited about that than Thanksgiving. haha I find that I'm loving GKC more and more lately. Reading his blog posts, seeing his pictures... he's just too great! I love how he always acknowledges his fans so much -- he makes it so special when he posts pictures of gifts he's received. And I also love how he encourages his fans to give donations in his name, etc., rather than sending him material things as presents. How cool is that? He's just so down-to-earth, and obviously has a really big heart. He TOTALLY stole my heart when I saw the pictures of him from when he went to visit kids and helped out the place they were at. Again, what an amazing guy! How can someone like that not steal a girl's heart?

And, LOL, his latest blog post! He was so high!! haha He's so cute! Especially when he wrote about how for the first time he hugged his family! That's just so sweet... he was so happy about that!  He's so totally lovable!

Before I go on and on about GKC...
Today I finally got to start watching Gloomy Salad Days! The links had been broken at Viikii, but they're working now! yay! It's definitely a pretty deep show so far. I imagine some of the stories will be hard to watch, simply because they're very real. It's awful that things like this go on in real life (suicides, abuse, etc). I worked for a couple of years while I was in highschool with a class of students from a special home who were all taken from their families because of abuse, etc. It's a really hard thing to be face-to-face with. It's especially hard when kids/teens like this suffer in silence.
I'm interested to see how the show portrays all of these different situations. And I'm also interested to see what the reaction will be from viewers. (besides "YaLun is hot!" comments. lol)

2 more random things:
1. I forgot to show off the super cute mittens I bought at the craft show on Saturday! I have a pair very similar to these, but mine has a cupcake on each mitten. These ones have cherries. I got these for my friend Kristen for her birthday next week. They're cute, and they're the warmest mittens ever! A must-have for Canadian winters!

2. My lovely earrings I bought! I wore them yesterday and loved them!! Very happy with my purchase.

Anyway, that's all for now! 再见！