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girliegrl85
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Name: Diane
Country: United States
State: Washington
Birthday: 5/3/1985
Gender: Female
Interests: Jason! shopping, chillin w/friends, eatin' sushi and drinkin' bubble tea!
Expertise: taking naps, procrastination to the extreme, shopping, and just being a girl!
Occupation: Student
Message: message me
Member Since:
9/27/2003
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| no more ramen!So today, the Legal Division at GroupHealth had their annual holiday party. We started off going to NW Harvest on Pier 70 (i think?) to help pack boxes of food to be distributed throughout the state. Oh my gosh did I learn about what food to give and what not to give! First of all, we had to fill empty boxes with 25 pounds of food! Now, STEPS last friday held their own food drive to collect food for NW Harvest. And the items on the list provided to us included Ramen. Well, can you imagine filling little 1 ft x 8" x 2 ft boxes with food that weigh 25 pounds? Well, this becomes quite the challenge when you have packages of macaroni and cheese, pasta, and ramen that don't weigh anything, but take up lots of room!
So, in the future, when you give to NW Harvest, give CANNED goods! Ramen is the worst! Also, part of our process of packing required us to go through the food people donated--which included checking expiration dates. You would not believe some people donated their canned goods from 2002!!! Like honestly, it's not a garbage drive.
Some interesting facts about who NW Harvest's food mainly goes to...
1) Some homeless
2) low-income children at school programs
3) A good portion goes to the working class poor
4) A lot of it goes to elderly who have to choose between affording prescription drugs or food (this was absolutely heartbreaking to hear!)
We were only there for 1.5 hrs, but we were able to pack 9XXX pounds of food! The food is being sent down south to the victims of the floods. it really felt good to be able to help people. i can't even imagine what it'd be like to be in that sort of situation, especially in the holidays. i feel like it's easy to give money to causes, but to actually give your time--that's more of a sacrifice.
anyways, so moral of the story is give canned foods that aren't expired, and do not give ramen! :)
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| Say hello to my new baby...So, this weekend, I took one step closer to independence...I bought my first car! I got a 2008 Honda Civic EX-L in black! It's soooo pretty! So, I totally wasn't planning on getting it this weekend because every dealership told me that I'd have to wait for a couple months because they were so in demand including the dealership where I bought the car from--Lynnwood. So, my parents and I went up to the Lynnwood Honda at 2. I had been emailing back and forth with this guy named Rick. When I arrived, I asked for him, but he was no where to be found. So, my dad and I took a stroll around the lot. We came back into the showroom. It turns out while we were taking our stroll on the lot, another couple came in looking for the same guy. Well a couple minutes later, Rick comes into the show room, but instead of walking to us, who was there first, he walked straight to the other couple that came second. I was slightly offended since I was there first. But the owner saw what had happened, so Rick passed us onto a different salesguy-Shawn. So Shawn was a pretty easy to talk to guy. Originally from Hawaii.
So, I told him I was looking for the Civic EX-L in black, and of course he wanted to know what was our bottom line for them to get our business. Well, we first wanted to know how soon they would get that car in--i wanted the ex-l so with or without navi didn't matter as long as the price was fair. So, the guy looks at the inventory sheet and he's like "today is your lucky day! we have your car in stock-black on grey Civic EXL!" and i was very skeptical cause everyone had said it wasn't in stock. it turns out it really was on the lot and Shawn was like "today is Chinese people's lucky day- the 8th. I sold a car to a Chinese couple earlier today. They came in because it was the 8th!" Well, my family isn't superstitious, and plus we aren't canto which is where the 8th really comes to play. Anyways, so we go take the car out for a drive.
Everything goes smoothly, then we get back and start talking numbers. So originally at the beginning my parents and I agreed that we wanted the highest we'd go as $20,000 and for the trade-in we wanted $8,000-$8,500.
Honda's offer #1: $7,000 for the trade-in New Beetle and $20,690 for the Civic (price includes already installed wheel locks and splash guards).
Lin family counter offer #1: $9,000 for the trade-in and $19,500 for the Civic.
Honda's counter offer #1: $8,000 for the trade-in and $20,500 for the Civic (they threw in the wheel locks and splash guards for free this time).
Lin family counter offer #2 which was supposed to be our final offer: $8,000 for the trade-in and $20,250 for the Civic plus include all weather mats for free plus the splash guards and wheel locks.
So, it came down to the last $250 difference. My mom thought they wouldn't loose our business over $250. Shawn said he could beg his boss for an extra $100. My mom and I were willing to walk out cause we weren't even planning on buying it, but my dad just gave up. He threw his hands in the air and said "fine fine, let's just get done with this!" and my mom and i were like  what did he just do?!
So yeah, final price was $20,400 for the Civic and $8,000 for the Beetle. From the moment we stepped into the dealership to the moment we drove off the lot with the new car was like 4.5 hours!  but I did get the car I wanted!  plus, Shawn, in light of my asianess, said i could bring in the car once a year, right before chinese new years and he'll have the car washed and cleaned for me! haha oh yeah, and somehow through all of the negotiating, my mom offered to draw him a chinese character to put up in his office cause he already had one of "harmony." hilarious! my parents were joking around with him about going to eat king crab legs at a casino. lol, he was an awesome sales guy, so i'm glad we got him instead of our original guy. funny how the Lord works! Amen!
So, here's my baby! Like the bow?! ok, nothing like the fancy lexus one on tv commercials, but was awesome too! i didn't get to keep it though. hehe
the car with the family minus richard.
bye bye beetle! It was the best 1st car a girl could ask for! Small and cute and easy to drive and park in! The bumpers were like a tank, indestructable, which was especially good for me!  ::tear::
now, i gotta be careful where i park being that I drive the #1 most stolen vehicle. 
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| comforting verse"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."
- Romans 5:1-5
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| it's been a loooong timehehe, so much for my "i'll post later this week." life got waaay busy after i got back from peru! so, let's d o a little recap of the last few months.
1) June 9, 2007: I graduated from college!!! My college years were seriously THE BEST years of my life. I've grown so much and have a better grasp of who I am and what I believe in. I've definitely become more comfortable and confident in who i am. graduation was bittersweet knowing that it was probably going to be the last time i see a lot of people. but hey, there's facebook to keep us connected! LOL
2) July 12-21, 2007: I visited Jason in DC, only to fly the next day to Florida to go to DISNEYWORLD! that was both of our first times there, so that was exciting! of course, i wanted to get every signature of every character, so we spent a while waiting in line with little kids. LOL they probably thought i was weird for being an "adult" and standing in line.
   
We also got to go to SeaWorld to see Shamu (did you know, there's not only 1 shamu (the one in SD)?!) I got to feed dolphins and pet sting rays! it was sooo hot in FL, but i had a blast there!
3) August 2-16, 2007: I went to peru for a short term mission trip! it was such an amazing, blessed experience. i had some doubts, but God definitely was working on my heart. We worked with this amazing missionary couple while down there and it was just so neat to see a couple so down-to-earth, yet they were doing so much for God. i feel like we sometimes have this misconception that missionaries are so holy and are really righteous people, but Rich and Lisa are just ordinary people, giving everything they have to God. And that's all God wants, just us.
We helped do construction for a day care center. The city we were in Trujillo, has a lot of poor people. There are many families that dig through garbage for a living. They often bring their kids with them to the dump. When the bus first pulled into the garbage dump, the first thing i saw was a little boy, shoe-less walking in the garbage with a garbage bag and a stick. i had tears in my eyes. it was just so unfair that a child should have to do that!!! a child at such a young age should not have to work in the garbage in order to survive. they should be playing with other kids, and learning. it was a humbling experience and just seeing all that made me realize how blessed i am and how frivolously i often use my money. like just a couple weeks before the trip, i dropped a few hundred on designer jeans without thinking twice when that money could've easily fed a family for a month if not more.
at the construction site, we also played with children, and that was fun. by nature, i am not one that just loooooves children. but these kids grew on me. all the wanted was a little attention-specifically "pache!" which we guessed to mean "piggy-pack". the kids were so fun and friendly and it was so hard to say goodbye. i really hope we made an impact and the daycare center will help them and hopefully give them a better chance at a brighter future!
i was also in peru for the 8.0 EARTHQUAKE! while, this was not the first earthquake i've been in, it's the first earthquake i've been in not inside a building where i can duck and cover. when the earthquake happened, the taxi car i was in happened to be pulled over on the side of the road. a police officer had pulled the taxi over and i'm not sure why. and then while we were in the car, waiting to see if our driver would get a ticket, we all felt the car shaking, but we assumed it was just the vibrations of a bus going by. but after 10 secs, it became clear that this was not the case. our taxi driver was the first to get out of the car, and then the rest of us thought it was also a good idea. we stood on the side walk as the earthquake was going on. it was a 2 minute long one. at first it was just little shaking and you could easily ride out. people were pouring onto the street from buildings. apparently, most of the buildings in peru are not safe, so it's better to be on the street than inside. and the last 20-30 secs, the earthquake got super bad and the shaking was so strong, i thought i was going to die in peru. but praise the Lord, my time is not up yet.
So, the things i learned:
- to use my money on things that will have a heavenly impact. sure, God has blessed me with a great job, and there's nothing wrong with spending money, but if i'm not spending my money on something that will positively impact others...that's something to think twice about.
- relationships are important. i could easily see myself becoming a workaholic. even in the summer when i was working, i would always leave missions meetings first because i was tired and had to work the next day. but life is about relationships--and those take time. so, really taking time to get to know people and know what their needs are and trying to help meet them.
- being more bold in sharing the gospel. i felt utterly useless in peru because i could not speak any spanish. i probably picked up 5 phrases while i was there. and it was often discouraging because i couldn't say anything to the peruvians. but it just made me realize that back in the states, when i am able to communicate with people, how much more should i be eager to share God's love.
4) working life: i've started full-time work! i've been so blessed at GroupHealth. Just looking back at how I got the internship and how everything fell into place. Especially since I decided to not pursue public accounting (i know a lot of people that was pretty dumb on my part), it's been really encouraging to see what else God has in store for me. God definitely knows my personality and what type of work environment i need. I definitely get the work/life balance that i really need. also, my bosses and co-workers are fabulous! i can totally share about my day and weekend with them as well as look to them for professional assistance. also, i've been able to witness to my co-workers which is often scary, but it's the little things that make you stand apart.
5) the little God moments: It's so encouraging when you have those little "God moments" where you know that it was God that totally caused something to happen. To know that God is there, walking right beside us and before us. I so often feel like He's not there, but these moments just reinforce the truth and they always come right when I need it the most.
6) October 5-9, 2007: back to DC for a looong weekend visit. Jason's already started school, so he was kinda tired, so it was pretty laid back. just shopped, ate, and watched tv/movies. even though we didn't do anything too fancy, it was just nice to be in his presence since we don't get to see each too often. in december it'll be 3 years! it's crazy to know we've been dong long distance for almost 2 years, but God has been so gracious to us to always keep our hearts close to each other. many times people come up to me and ask how i do we do it. all i can say is, lots of phone calls throughout the day, being on the same cell phone network, commitment, trust and prayer. and i know there are people out there praying for us, and for that i'm very thankful!
so, that's a recap of my summer and more! until next time... 
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| me amo perui miss peru!!! and i miss the team. ::tear::
i haven't updated in a while...maybe later this week. hehe
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