Goodbye, 2021!

This year has been a whirlwind. I am grateful for everything this year brought, and excited for 2022.

The best of 2021:

• Chungus - even though I can't get any work done, and I can't ever be on my phone anymore.

• Assisted in the design of brand new taxiways for 3 airports; wrapped up 3 construction projects at LAX and ONT.

• Bought a house, continuing to make it a home. Even though the closets are the bane of my existence right now.

• Everything K&N became this year. Excited for a new direction and ideas in 2022.

• Bon started her career in Pasadena. That meant more sleepovers and twice the amount of pasta.

• Ran my first and last half-marathon. Training for it took dancing away for a few months, so I'm excited to be back to my preferred outlet of Tahitian, Hawaiian, and ballroom :)

• Dodged COVID for the second year in a row. This seemed almost impossible towards the end of the year.

Goals for 2022:

• Keep shooting consistently and follow through with the projects I've been meaning to start.

• Start and finish the closets at home (lol to how long I've ranted about this to my sister)

• Europe - this trip got postponed FOUR times. WE. ARE. GONNA. MAKE. IT. HAPPEN.

• Road trips - to parks, to Lyssa and Leo, and just to get out.

• More courage to step out of comfort zones, and more grace when mistakes happen during that process.

Happy New Year! Thank you for all the support on this site. I see each one of you, and am grateful for your visits 😉

Our Paper Year

We celebrated one year of marriage and Tino's birthday in the past two weeks. The traditional first-year gift is paper. Paper symbolizes how the early years of marriage are fragile yet withstanding. If you handle paper with love and care, that sheet will maintain its written words for a lifetime.

I never believed in soulmates until Tino asked me if he was mine ...and then we got into a very heated discussion lol. Another year to us and to you, my soulmate 😉

Some of my favorite things about Tino:

1. Heart for God. Before we started dating, his own personal relationship was rooted. He served within his own ministries, and I wasn't the reason he attended church. This was an answered prayer and a blessing as we married.

2. Heart of a servant. His service extends to my family and friends. Find him sweeping booths at a craft fair for me and all my small business ladies or setting up chairs at church. He cleans up Chungus' poop around the house☺

3. He lets me pick where we eat and all I have to do is agree we get dessert at the end. He also eats everything and anything, so I can be adventurous with what I cook at home.

4. The way he forgives is inspiring. I never see him hold ill feelings or bias over someone after an argument has been resolved. He's always the first to say hello to ease an awkward situation. It's something I am working on and I find SO challenging, but it looks effortless for him. I know it isn't easy, which makes it even more amazing to me.

5. The best and my favorite ballroom dance partner. You should see how focused he gets doing body rolls hehe.

End of a Decade, Start of an Age

I celebrated turning 30 a few days ago. As I look back on the past decade, I can't help but reminisce. My 20s were so full of adventures reinventing and redefining who I thought I was. Along with celebrating different milestones, they were full of uncertainty and mistakes that shape who I am now. What a blessing it is to step into my 30s more sure of who I am.

The only constant I knew then that is still true today - my God is good, and He is faithful.

I love these pictures taken by my favorite non-photographers. Despite the blurriness, I remember each moment so clearly.

Left: The first picture of Tino and me celebrating buying our DTLA condo taken by Bon. Right: The last picture of me in my DTLA apartment taken by Tino.