Springtime Sun and Raspberry Smoothies

Today was such a gorgeous day; the sun was shining, the skies were bright, the flowers were blooming! Wow! PTL~~ Luckily Friday, I only have one class, so today was quite relaxing :) I also had the chance to participate in a sandwich making competition: who can make the most sandwiches in an hour for Skid row? <3 It was a lot of fun working together with new and old friends while doing something for a good cause!

And you know what accompanies good weather? A nice, delicious cup of raspberry smoothie!! The recipe can be found here! Check it out~ She's my twin!! <3

eeks, still working on my food photography skills >__< Don't worry though, it tastes good :)

Hope you all have a wonderful and beautiful day~ What do you like to drink on a warm, spring day?

Spring Break in DC!

I'm (sadly) back from Spring Break! It was an amazing time, during which I was able to relax and explore! While I was not able to catch up much on sleep, I was able to obtain the much needed mental break. I went to DC with my family to visit some family friends and to check out the anesthesiology assistant (AA) program at Case Western (and of course check out the plethora of monuments).

My two days of checking out the AA program consisted of (1) checking out the actual campus, which was very small--only one floor!-- and shadowing an actually AA. Both were a great experience as I was able to talk to current students and to real professions! They were encouraging and super willing to answer any questions that I had. If you guys are interested in the health field and don't want to pursue the medical route, just out AA! It's a very rewarding two year program!

Sorry! I'm making such a strange face. hehe. We're in scrubs!! 

The next day, my family just ended up exploring DC and all the monuments (sadly we didn't have time to visit museums T___T). We partook in the Big Bus tours and went around to different historical sites! It was super fun and interesting to see just how much history there is in America, even though America hasn't been established as a country for as long as other countries have been.

The next three days consisted of running around between DC, Maryland, and Virginia visiting family friends! It was encouraging to meet up with them and to eat together. I definitely had my fill of Chinese food there. Now I think I need to focus a bit more on my diet... XD hahaha 

Below are some of the more artistic photos I took! Hope you enjoy them :) Please click on the images if you'd like to see a larger version!

Question for this post! Where's your favorite place to travel to? Is there anyplace you'd go annually? 

Thanks for always talking to me and commenting! I really appreciate it! 

Feeling Flowery and Beautiful Today!

Horray, I'm back home! Spring break has finally started, and I have barely done an ounce of (home)work! I sleep a good eight hours last night and a long two hour nap! Can't say I've ever enjoyed a nap so much; I couldn't get up from it, BUT that doesn't matter!! yayy!

By the way, I was really grateful for all the encouragement you gals gave me in the last post! I was definitely really stressed out, but you gals are all super awesome! Thanks!

I did my nails on Friday night (since all my exams and woes were oven)! This is the last nail polish I received from the Julep Maven It-Girl's series. So far, this is my favorite! It's such a gorgeous deep purple, and it contrasts nicely with my skin tone.

The colors are pretty dark, but in real-person, the purple is a bit more prominent. The name of this polish is Elle.

 Hope you like the photos. I really like all these (fake) flowers. I'm such a big florals person; they look amazing in photos <3 The rings were something my mom's friend brought back from China for me and my sister. The big flower is a hair piece for my mom's Chinese dance team--hehe I just borrowed it quickly for the picture~

And since I'm posting flowers, I will post another picture of flowers. I received them a while back when I had my Traditional Chinese Dance performance. They were absolute beautiful! I just forgot to post them that one time >__<

sighhhh~~ I'm in love! with flowers that is :)

What are you planning for spring break? Or, if you don't have spring break, what/where do you like to do/go for vacations?

Let's talk: College Stress

Stress. It's all too common in college. The endless mounds of upcoming midterms, and the never-ending list of textbooks to read, power points to watch...everything can accumulate to make life too stressful. I don't always know how to deal with it---well, at least deal with it in a healthy, good way. All too often, I fall to stress eating and overwhelming fear, and even though I know that these response mechanisms won't do me any good, I still do them, because they're all I know.

However, I think it's time for me to "realize" (to truly realize and act it out in my life) that one exam, one grade won't determine my future. My life doesn't depend on this one event. My fear is a response of knowing that I can't control the situation, and this lack of control drives me crazy. Also, because I've been so caught up with grades my entire life, it's been really difficult to let it go...

I know not all of you are religious, but as for me, I know that life is more than school and more than grades; it's more than wealth and brands. It's more than the here and now. Rather, my life shouldn't be focused on worldly satisfactions like food, good grades, appearance, and shopping (all of which I love to craziness!). I should should know that the end goal is when I see my Lord Jesus, and at that moment, will He (and I) be proud of what I've done in my life? Should I let my focus on good grades and appearances distract me from forming good and loving relationships or helping and serving others?

I won't discount grades and education as important, because I know they are. Rather, I should take a step back and see the whole picture. A couple B's won't determine what kind of person I am. Even if in a worldly sense, I am intellectually less than a person who earned at 4.0 in college, I am still loved by an almighty and gracious God. I am not loved any less for my faults. For those of you who aren't Christians, parents also feel this way. I'm so grateful that my mom (who used to be very concerned over grades and college rankings, etc.) to be so supportive during the stressful times in college. Even when I haven't been doing as well as I've liked in some of my upper division classes, she loves me and reminds me to get enough sleep despite studying less.

Nonetheless, I want to try my best. I want to be able to use my study to glorify the One and Only God. I had a really difficult time understanding this concept before, but I've come to realize that it means to give it my all and not let the outcomes distract me--to know that I've tried my best, and that's all that God calls me to do.

John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."

I hope that everyone will have great week! Don't get too bogged down by stress!! Good luck to all of you who are busy and overwhelmed! I hope you guys will find peace during this time! <3

I want to get to know how you guys some more, so how do you guys deal with stress? Or how would you like to deal with stress?

Like I mentioned earlier, I deal with stress pretty badly--mainly stress eating and uncontrolled fear. I want to change that stress into energy to exercise :) I hope that exercise is a very good (and healthy) way to de-stress and decrease the amount of stress hormone cortisol in your body!

TCD: part of your world performance & White nails

Hello everyone! Recently I just had my TCD (or Traditional Chinese Dance) performance. It was so much fun bonding with all the members! I feel so blessed by the new friends that I've developed during this period of time--being able to learn new forms of dance and getting to know others who love dance, as well.

We had an extreme week of practice: 3 hours of run-throughs on Monday and Wednesday, and a 5 hours of staging and practice on Friday, and the performance on Friday from 8-10:30pm. Nevertheless, it was such an amazing time. The after-show dinner was a lot of fun too--Korean food! I got Bibimbap, my favorite <3 hehe

Our performance was based off the Little Mermaid (hence the name, "Part of Your World"). I'm not posting to many pictures however, since I don't want to show others' faces without permission.

We're practicing! It's run-throughs! Horray! Isn't that flower pretty? It's my sister btw~~ also, if you'd like to check out her food blog, here you go! <3

Also, I've changed my nail color! It's white, now! This polish is the Julep one that I posted about a while back! It's called Bunny and is supposed to have a little gold shimmer, but I actually don't see any...hmmmm

I really like the color, but it's a lot harder to apply smoothly! Sometimes, there's bubbles that appear, and it scrapes, too. This Bunny polish doesn't dry as quickly as the other...

Sorry, the lighting is sort of bad, so I tried to change the brightening, but the end result was this...eeks? The color is actually a lot more white than the picture shows.

Don't you just love white nails? I think it's such a unique trend. It's a bold pop of color! I love how much it contracts with my skin tone and with my outfits~ It's super sweet and chic!

What's your favorite nail trend right now? Or have your ever seen Chinese dance before? <3