Siobhan and I signed our lease and got our keys, woo hoo (a week and a half ago).  Now I just have to clean the apartment to "Cobra standards" before moving in.  Does anyone have an extra vacuum cleaner they would like to give away?  I want to vacuum my blinds before washing them with mild soap and water.  There is so much dust and dirt on them, blecch.  You guys should all come over once we're settled.  Who knows, perhaps I'll make cranberry oatmeal white chocolate cookies, or some sort of trifle.  Or maybs a broccoli dish for Chesnut, hahah.

So I finally tried Starbucks' green tea frappuccino.  May I recommend to order it sans melon syrup and with an extra scoop of the maccha green tea powder.  The whipped cream does add another flavor dimension, but is not necessary for complete enjoyment of the beverage.

Btw, Siobhan and I finally found an apartment!  It's only 9 blocks away from FBC; about 5 blocks away from S.U.; and a hop, skip, and a jump away from the I-90 entrance.  The essence of convenience it is.  We're signing the lease this Sunday, and moving in shortly thereafter.

P.S.  "Million Dollar Baby".  Rent it.  You will not be disappointed.

So, how was everyone's 4th of Jul-Ivar's?  My uncle Tony (my dad's brother a.k.a. the one who wears overalls 24-7) hosted a family BBQ.  He made steaks, BBQ chicken (6 whole chickens worth), and homemade french fries.  One of my aunts brought a homemade macaroni salad, and one of my cousins made her famous eggrolls.  Sooooo goooood!  It was definitely the largest meal I've eaten all year.  So huge that I dropped two double-flushers today, if you know what I mean.  Good thing I worked out yesterday.

My relatives also went craze with the fireworks.  Two of my cousins bought these ones called "Final Felony" and "Illegal as H---: 500 grams of pure evil".  (Seriously, who comes up with these names?)  They were actually quite impressive.  After the display of pyrotechnics, my uncle took all of the firework garbage and dumped it in a pile on his front lawn.  Then he poured motor oil on the pile, and set it on fire.  (No joke.)  According to my dad, my uncle does this every year.

Yep, that was my 4th.  Oh, and my red white and blueberry trifle was a hit.  This dessert may appear at a future Talk Time.

My trip to L.A. was a blast!  I went to Disneyland and California Adventure for free, had several free and/or discounted Starbucks drinks; went craze at For Love 21 (like a Forever 21 except with all jewelry/accessories); discovered the Matcha Green Tea Blast at Jamba Juice (which I may love even more than my tried-and-true soy chai); had lots of yummy food; met a bunch of cool, new peeps; and spent lots of QT with Nuggs and his GF.  It felt so nice to just relax and do whatever I wanted for 5 days.  I almost forgot what it felt like to stay up past 2am and wake up past 11am.  I heart vacation!

This weekend I'll be heading down to Portland for my first dragon boat race of the season.  Then next weekend I'll be off to Vancouver B.C. for another race.  My team made reservations at Shabusen, yessssss!  I can't wait!  The last time I was there was back in January of '03 with Vickie, Darby, and Michelle.

Hello people.  T-Bun has been laze, thus no update in a while.  Lots of changes happening there are, hmmmm.  First of all, I don't work at Mercer Island Covenant Church anymore.  About three and a half weeks ago, Vickie called me wanting to know if I knew of anyone who'd be interested in working as a Personal/Administrative Assistant for Vivien (her sister) at her law firm.  Of course I told Mini that I was interested!  Within a span of five hours, I had already talked things over with Vivien and was essentially offered the job.  I know, so quick.  So that's where working now, for Chang and Associates PC.  Not that I hated my job at MICC or anything...it was just getting to the point where everything was very easy (and sometimes boring b/c I would finish all my work early and have nothing to do), and I wasn't feeling very challenged and that all of my abilities weren't being utilized to the greatest extent.  I didn't think I would be sad when I left, but I was.  It was a wonderful place to work, and I'm thankful that God provided me that job.

I am leaving for L.A. on Friday!  I'm sooooo grateful to finally be going on a vacation.  I'll be staying at my uncle's apartment in North Hollywood.  I'm looking forward to going to Disneyland, getting free drinks at Starbucks (that's where my uncle works), shopping, relaxing, and being in a warmer climate.

I saw "Revenge of the Sith" last night...loved it!  It fufilled all of my expectations.  There were some cheesy lines here and there, but still a good movie overall.  Quite intense at times, and defintely more violent/gory than the other SW films.  Not like Star Wars movies are violent/gory in general, but you know what I mean.  As Master Jedi Yoda might say, "See Revenge of the Sith, you must.  H-dub it is."