Admin 'Appenings

 

One of my friends recently gave me her drum set for Guitar Hero, which may not be exciting to you, but I was definitely hyped. If you've ever seen Whiplash, I downloaded Caravan (the song they play at the very end), and tried it out... and it is nigh impossible. (S/O to Steph's cow cubby.) I asked Johnny, who is one of the best drummers I know, to try it out and he was also struggling, so I felt better about myself. I took this picture to show the paint store what paint I needed each time I went back for another gallon. It has been on my to-do list for a while to paint the patio cover that the previous owner had built. Let me tell you... I never want to paint again. I borrowed a paint sprayer from a friend and even then, it was one of the most tedious things ever. It took me about 2 weeks to finally get the whole thing painted! If you enjoy painting or are skilled at it, wow. Color me impressed (haha, get it?). The same time I started painting my patio, a large sinkhole opened ...

Had the opportunity to see my friend, Kaytlin, off as she moves out of state! One of the strangest people I've met, but also one of the quickest I've connected with. (Does that mean I'm strange too?) We met at a church (not my church) pickleball tournament last year and someone asked us if we knew each other from before. My go-to response in those instances is, 'Oh yeah, we go waaay back.' But in reality, we had just met a few minutes prior. Happy Lunar New Year! I got to celebrate with these friends from church with some good food that we spent hours preparing. 新年快樂 (Happy New Year!) Alright.. my first time trying to make focaccia. It turned out more dense and bread-y than it was supposed to. But I'm going to keep trying! If there's anything you think I should try making, let me know. :-) Happy Valentine's Day! I got these flowers after the actual day because they're cheaper that way.. but the thought still counts, right? 😁 Whether you have a signi...

It was my friend Nicole's birthday (in the middle)! Me and Steph went over to have some homemade spring rolls and play Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. It was my first time and it was pretty fun! You know those people that you've known for a while and have interacted with a little bit, but then one day y'all discover that y'all could be better friends? (That seems hyper specific but also like a universal experience?) That's Nicole! She was a part of UTD FOCUS and graduated recently and it wasn't until she graduated that we started hanging in the same circles more. I'm so thankful for unexpected friends! :-) We had our Winter Staff Retreat the first week of January. What a sweet time to reset, reconnect, and prepare ourselves for the upcoming semester. Each Winter Staff Retreat, we read a book as a whole team and reflect on its message. This year, we read To Love As God Loves  which takes you through the history of how we have thought through loving people a...

The December update will be filled with family photos (sorry!) because they stayed for most of the month! Because my family (at least half of them) live in California, I typically get to see them once, maybe twice a year, so it's always a fun time when we are able to get together! I hope y'all had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year! It was my mom's 40th anniversary since deciding to follow Jesus, so we celebrated a little! We got her an embossed journal, some flowers, and a nice cake from 85C. Whoo! We went out to Nickelrama and got Nora so many prizes, including this Dora balloon wand. It was my first time and it was a blast! On my birthday, Steph's parents came over and we had some hot pot. Our table is definitely not big enough for everyone, so some of them got to sit on the couch and be served food instead of having to work for it themselves. It's been so long since we've done hot pot at home, I forgot how much of a production it is. Our family cele...

Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope y'all had a wonderful week and got to eat yummy food! :-) It's been a crazy month!! Our church had our annual fundraiser for the kids' ministry. We flew in Iain Provan for a weekend to speak at a joint-church service and Pizza Theology. I got to see a few movies—something that I've not done in a little while. Birthdays, parties, funerals, dinners. And today is Giving Tuesday! (And the month is still not done yet!) If you haven't heard, FOCUS has an annual fundraiser called Keep FOCUS Growing. A generous subset of our supporters has pledged to match over $55,000 in donations that come in during this fundraiser campaign which officially ends today! If you haven't yet, would you consider donating? To learn more and to donate, visit anyfocus.org/kfg ! We will also be posting updates on our Facebook page today. For a taste of what God is doing on our college campuses, read through this short testimony from Josh at UTA that was posted yest...