Flowers cry too.

I received a bundle of flowers 2 weeks ago.

They were supposed to go to someone else but ended up with me.

I don't mind. Flowers are always a wonderful surprise.

After a whirlwind weekend (post coming), 

I came back to be entranced by a droplet on the stigma of one of the flowers.

As if the flower cried a beautiful, silent tear in my absence.

If you remember elementary school that protruding gland in the middle of the flower is called the stigma. (I'm not sure why I always remember that.) The stigma is releases droplets of sugary liquid and the pollen will stick to it when a pollen-carrying bird or bee or me brushes by and thus pollinate the flower.

Another surprise during my trip,

look what I found growing in front of a gas station in Oregon!

lavender.

a sweet-smelling surprise.

I was taking a picture of the area and smelled their fragrant aroma and found them by my feet.

Why would these be here along this lonely road?

Perhaps they stayed for the view.

"I am not a weed," the flower replied, sweetly. -The Little Prince

Sunday/Saturday Signs

{Let's go backwards. Sunday...}

Sunday was an exciting day!

Jbear and I have been attending a few meetings for a new church plant. 

After months of preparation, it was opening day.

This past Sunday was the first service for Jesus the Recreator!

I can't believe how smoothly everything went. Everything pretty much exceeded my expectations. Praise God for everything coming together! The church hopes to reach out to different ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds so Pastor Abel found a facility in downtown San Jose. We are renting from the Roosevelt Community Center. Amidst some older neighborhoods the city has built a gem of a park. The facility was gorgeous, the worship music was diverse but the musicians are so talented they can pull off any style, the message was great, and the food was delicious. I admit I was very hesitant about becoming involved in another church when I feel as if I haven't yet experienced all that my current church has to offer, but I am so glad I did.

Check it out on facebook.

Jesus the Recreator Covenant Church

AND...
despite helping out with lunch and staying to clean up, we were able to make it back to GRX for (the end) of Fall Launch. My beloved small group. Sometimes you can have it all, with flan.

 

{On Saturday}

After an amazing Pho breakfast at Cong Ly,
our little trio went to a park in attempts to burn off the filet mignon meat and endless noodles.
Actually, the plan was to go for a hike. But hike easily turns into eating LARGEst bowl of noodles available and taking pictures at the park.

I wish I could start all mornings like this. Yes, I got a LARGE.

Oh what a beautiful Saturday morning.

As we left the park I noticed this sign... then found out my future residence is just around the corner.
What a pleasant surprise.

YouCapture

Pulling out the cushion.

 Do not worry about tomorrow for today has enough worries of its own.

I am finally leaving the nest and venturing back into the world of rent and utility bills. Although I am excited to live with people my own age and new friends and FINALLY have FREEDOM! in kitchen once again, I'm a bit scared. When I first graduated college, my brother, who was one of those handsomely rewarded "I live at work" investment bankers, looked down at my (fraction of his earnings) salary and asked me how I expected to survive, I responded "well I better get used to PB&J sandwiches". I saw it as a good opportunity to force myself to simplify my life. Fortunately, I decided to not rush into living with craigslist strangers and moved with my dad, temporarily. Lucky me had a cushion of what I was supposed to pay in rent to save or spend semi-frivolously (mostly on classes) AND visiting my wonderful grandpa only meant a one-minute walk AND I got to spend some time with my dad to get to know him better than I did in my childhood. Unfortunately, "temporarily" turned into over two years and I grew accustomed to my own bathroom, hanging my laundry in that bathroom, sticking holes in my walls, living two-minutes from the freeway, not cooking and that slightly cushy cushion.

They say rent should not be more than 30% (or 30-35% if you a place with a high-standard of living, aka CA) of your income. I feel so fortunate that my future housemates were able to bargain down the price of the house. Yet fear comes around for a surprise visit and pounces on me. You know that gnawing fear of the unknown? That let's come up with every worst case-scenario possible type of feeling. I've been thinking about setting aside money for love opportunities. If I do, I am really going to need to do some tight budgeting and lots of discipline.

Lately, I've been running into more people outside of stores asking for money. People that don't seem much different from me. They are clean, well-dressed and don't have a disability or drug problem or mental illness to blame for being down on their luck.  They recently lost their jobs, have rent to pay and usually have kids to feed. How far would you have to be pushed to start asking strangers for help? It must be a humbling experience. I was looking on craigslist for housing a few weeks ago and came across a post from a former banker who found himself in a place he never expected. Laid off and unsure what to do with himself, you could hear the desperation in his plea for a good Samaritan to provide him housing for a $200/mo. Oh how I wish I owned a home with lots of rooms to house all of them. I bet none of them expected to find themselves so vulnerable.

I never know how to respond to people asking for money. During freshman orientation the police representative told us the homeless had many services available to them and if we were to give them money it would probably be spent unnecessary things. I had a discussion with Jbear and his thinking is if you give to people who do it full-time you are enabling them to continue a lifestyle that doesn't contribute to society. But what about people who have to pay rent NOW and are still waiting to hear back from job prospects? Can you really know a person's situation without getting to know the person's situation? I think the time you are least likely to get meaningful help is when the person you are asking is in a rush to get somewhere. That has been me in most situations. I hope for change.

The one with the (not) taco trucks.

Lately people seemed to have upped their standards on fast food. Not only do we want it fast, but we want something beyond burgers and fries. We want variety. We want quality.

I had a food festival Saturday last week. Taiwanese Kids Day in Cupertino in the morning. Then we headed to Oakland. In an area around here.

To Eat Real.

Why pay rent when you can go mobile?
Here are some of my favorites.

Taco Guys. Maui Taco.
We saw a line waiting while the truck was closed and we figured this would be a good place to try.

El Porteno. Best Empanadas I've ever had.
(meat. good. bananas + caramel. amazing.)

Scream Sorbet. I had the pistachio.
Apparently, they were big on the farmers market circuit. They will be opening up an Oakland location near Bakesale Betty's. I am excited for both.

Sam's Chowder Mobile. The bread used in the lobster roll is so thick and buttery it reminds me of Texas toast. Clam chowder was still good a few days later.

Some various other things. Fried cactus. Various types of fried chicken (OB Town still wins my vote). Chairman Bao Buns (fried tofu was my favorite). They were all pretty good. But the the $3-5 price tag could be a bit debatable.

Another sunny day in cal-i-for-ni-a.

Beat-the-heat mints.

Did it suddenly become summer? Even in my cubicle afternoons feel so much warmer. Unfortunately, my office doesn't have ice to cool the readily available slightly-cooler-than-room-temperature water. How does one deal with such a dilemma?

Did you know that you have thermoreceptors all over and they are the part of your nervous system that detects changes in temperature? (unless, you are experiencing painful temperatures, that is something else)

Did you know some of these thermoreceptors are specific to cold and some to warm?

Did you know according to 2008 study involving a cat, scientists found...

"Aqueous menthol solutions of 1: 10,000 lead to strong stationary discharge of the tongue's cold receptors at constant warm temperatures at which there without menthol is no discharge. At lower temperatures at which the cold receptors are stationary discharging without menthol, this substance produces a great increase of the stationary cold impulse frequency."

HENSEL, H. and ZOTTERMAN, Y. (1951), The Effect of Menthol on the Thermoreceptors. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica, 24: 27–34. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1951.tb00824.x

When I was in school, my teacher said scientists think that capsaicin (what makes peppers spicy, burning hot) make you feel hot via those heat thermoreceptors (along with the pain receptors) and menthol (that freshmaker found in peppermint and mint oils which is found in gum/mints and tingly facial creams) may activate those cool thermoreceptors.

it says ice on the package.

Good Idea: Pop in a mint or chew some peppermint gum (especially try to get some of the mint on the back of the mouth towards the throat). Take a swig of that slightly-cooler-than-room-temperature water. Refreshing.

Bad Idea: Do NOT do this with ice water. Remember those pain receptors I mentioned? They activate with extreme coldness too.

A few days ago my coworker commented we have been out of school so long that some of the things we were taught in college may now be obsolete. It is inevitable, but I still have a stash of mints and gum in my purse. Perfect for days like these.