Hello all, I'm back in Massachusetts after a lovely 2 weeks in Hawaii!

My sister's wedding was superb, and even though I spent a lot of time helping her prepare, I had so much fun doing just that and the tourist-y things that I got to do as well. My favorite was snorkeling in Hanauma Bay, because I swam less than a foot away from two giant sea tutrles, and saw one of those crazy eels that hangs out in holes in rocks, as well and tons of other crazy fish. I also got lost in the reefs which was quite the adventure! There's no way I could write about all the cool stuff I saw/did, so if you want to know, let's go get dinner/drinks and I'll tell you more. :)

Also, I will post a few pictures once my parents get back and I steal their photos. We had 4 cameras taking pictures between the whole fam, so I'd like to have all of them before I share them here or on facebook!

How was everyone's xmas and new years? I hope they were all excellent. I love new years, it's a time of such promise. People feel so hopeful, and it probably sets a record high for people that are ready to let go of things from the past. Even if we do forget our resolutions or fail at them, that week or so of optimism is beautiful to me.

2008 is/has already been an excellent year. My sister Christina is now Mrs. Christina Noh, and will be starting a new life living in Hawaii in the summer, I will be starting my last semester of college in two weeks, student teaching the whole time, graduating in May, moving to CT, and if all goes well, getting a real person job as a teacher! So much to look forward to.

I feel ready for all of it. Life has been at too much of a standstill, and now things will be changing and exciting. Difficult, no doubt, but different and challenging-two things I really love.

In other news, Gene gave me his ukelele (a really nice one, too) that he barely used, so I'm excited to learn to play it. I really want to incorporate it into a lesson or two during my student teaching--kids would love it! I bought a book of 12 traditional Hawaiian songs, so hopefully I can learn at least one or two well and play & sing for the kids.

Also, for xmas my sister got me the audiobook of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris, and I snagged her audiobook of Holidays on Ice by him. He makes me want to write so badly. Twice today I was struck with some ideas and so I text messaged them to myself so that I wouldn't forget. :)

I really love short stories because they are often unresolved. It's like seeing a picture. All you really see is that moment, and the closest you get to the characters is your perception of that one moment in time. Anything before or after is unknown to the observer and whether it is relevant or not, you don't know want to know anyway.

So anyway. My mind is everywhere because I've been playing FFX for the past like 4 hours (see? i am asian) to keep myself from going to bed too early so I can readjust to east coast time, but now that it's 12:30 am here, I can't fall asleep!! I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, so I guess I should force myself to fall asleep. Wish me luck. :)

And also, I'm home until the 20th or so....so if you are home, let's hang out! :)