ushering in 2011

It is yet again another new year, full of new possibilities and new adventures. I am excited to see what this new year will bring me, in terms of personal growth and career advancements. I'm in the midst of applying for graduate school and it has been quite hectic and stressful, to say the very least. It does not help that each school has a different prompt for the personal statements, requiring me to re-edit or rewrite each statement - a very time consuming task in which leaves me wondering why do I even bother?

I have a phone interview and a fellowship assessment with KGI this week and the following week and I am frantically trying to prepare for it. Furthermore, I have to finish the personal statements, send out the letters of rec and applications, and most importantly, send out the ETS scores. So much to do, and it's only the second week into January 2011!

But regardless of the workload, I am pleased to say that I have just had one of the most enjoyable weekend dates. It certainly lifted my spirits and all in all, re-energized me, filling me with the optimism to tackle the mountain known as grad school apps. So thank you B, for the yarn, for the dimsums, and for the long walk in the park. :)

catching up

In total recap: finished with my GRE (fist-pump hells yea!), went to the wonderful DISNEYLAND (woot woot!), and now is wasting away me weekend being a fob and watching dramas. Sweet...

While the trip to SoCal was quite exhausting, even though B did all the driving, I would love to go back. Road trips are so fun! All the bonding, the food, the fun... I want to go further away next time. Hopefully to another state! And speaking of road trips, B's on his one-week-long trip up North to visit schools. I'm crossing my fingers and praying for safety and for good news later!

learning curve?

So I have been practicing my butt off this weekend and at last, I am seeing improvement! Yay! I have approximately 7 more days till exam time and I hope I will be ready for it. I'm going to push myself to practice and practice everyday until then. The only concern I have at this point is that I'll lose my concentration during the exam. Maybe I should wake up super early each morning to prep my brain and get it use to functioning...

I can't wait to be done and focus my energy elsewhere. Like knitting, dramas, running (maybe... haha), and looking up programs for grad school! I can't wait to move on with my life and explore and try new things.

On a side note, while I was trying to find a TVB drama for my brother, I stumbled onto a drama that is about to air tomorrow that looks very tempting to watch! Anything that's crime or related to fighting, I'm all for it. And especially since it's airing tomorrow, it's going to take a lot of self-control to download, but not watch it. I'll save it all up for later and once the test is over, instant reward! :)

the month of awesomeness

This month is going to be the month of awesomeness, or at least the start of the many more awesome months to come. Not only is it the month of Trick or Treats, it is also the month of GRE testing (boooo!) and Disneyland! I can't wait to get my GRE test out of the way and begin my trip to Southern California. However, just thinking about the GRE is nauseating. I am so ill-prepared. I need to put on my game face but it is so hard to focus. All the plans and preparations for the SoCal trip has already been finalized so I should be able to concentrate but now, all I can think about is how many more days till the test date and how much more I have yet to learn and absorb. I've been trying to do more math problems but seriously, I just suck at math. Hopefully, with this last week, I will do enough math problems to feel better about it and read and memorize enough vocabulary to do decent - not that decent is what I'm aiming for...

I'm going to send my tutor an email with all the math problems I have issues with and hopefully she'll be kind enough to reply back with explanations. Here's to studying hard for one last week!

waiting for winter

It's nearing the end of September and I can't believe we are still in the mid-high 90s here in Davis. I'm ready for the coldness of Winter, the bulky sweaters and jackets, and oh my, definitely the soups and stews! I want to try my hand at making clam chowder, chicken pot pie, and even a Thai soup that looks so scrumptious I can eat it off the page! My brother told me I should try to make it right now anyway, despite the weather, but I don't know...

I also started a new scarf for myself with the blue yarn from Caron and it's going pretty well so far, with the exception of a slight curling on the edges. The design is coming through nicely, which I am greatly pleased with. In addition, I bought a Kaplan Vocabulary deck for the GREs and I must admit, it is a lot easier to study with actual, physical, flashcards rather than using the flashcard website. I can carry the deck anywhere. It is extremely portable and compact!

As for everything else, I'm experiencing a cautious optimism? I'm trying to just keep my head on straight, focus on the GREs and get that done with, and let everything else fall into place. I can only hope and strive for the best, cross my fingers, dot my I's and cross my X's, etc. So yes, cautiously optimistic is the phrase I would use to describe my mood for the time being. Maybe even slightly tinged with apprehension?

september sucks

This week has been yet again, another disastrous week for me. I know this is more complaining on my part but I can only keep it to myself to the point of exploding. I feel like I'm sailing on the most ill-constructed boat ever, rocking back and forth on the water, unsure when or if I'm going to fall overboard. I'm craving for stability and the more it eludes me, the more frustrated and unhappy I'm becoming. I'm at the point where I cannot mentally focus on anything but trashy reality TV shows like The Rachel Zoe Project. Anything where I can turn my brain off is good for me. When my brain is on, my thoughts continually wander back to certain topics and events and it's like the replay button is stuck, looping me with conversation snippets that just makes me want to cringe and cry. I need a hard slap on the face to compose myself.

I want to go shopping so more and just spend on shoes and nail polish. I want to buy many more pairs of heels but it sucks when I have no where to wear them to, nor anyone who will appreciate them on me. Right now I can say that September is the worst month of all. I'm so emotionally drained that I feel physically ill.

saturday shopping

I was reading another blog earlier (Happy Fun Time) and was struck by how different the writing was compared to mine. I typically type down exactly what I am thinking, whereas the other blog sounds a lot more formal, more structured, more educated. (boo me...) Maybe I should brainstorm topics for the my blog and then go about writing it as if it was an essay, complete with examples and explanations. Hmm... that's a thought.

Today my family and I went on a semi-shopping spree. We originally planned to go to Michaels (for more yarn!) and then to Costco for food and gas. I saw Joannes Fabric and made a quick detour which lead to us Marshalls and Nordstrom Rack. There were so many shoes at Marshalls!

Score! Can't wait to wear these. Check out those heels...

Afterwards we went to Sizzler for lunch, yummmm! We are so stuffed that there is no room for dinner! Clam chowder soup, oh my goodness. Be still my beating stomach.

A small portion of food we consumed at Sizzler.

Ice cream! With M&Ms and Oreos! :)

On a side note, I saw my first train crossing in Davis last Tuesday while I was waiting for my GRE class to start. Clarification, I saw a train crossing and blocking traffic.

I thought it was pretty neat and decided to take a picture of it. Numerous cars got tired of waiting and made U-turns to leave. Speaking of which, I should really do my Test 3.