getting use to a new town...

... Brisbane Australia. Yep, I am currently in Brisbane Australia for a work assignment. I have been relocated out here and its amazing. I am currently in my temporary resident in Spring Hill, just outside the CBD (Central Business District).

This is the second night, and I am still pretty jet lagged.

Three things I learned today:
- walking up to Spring Hill from CBD is tiring.
- www.hulu.com is an amazing website allowing you to watch all sorts of tv shows!
- okay, maybe two things I learned today, =).

and Picasa wins.

well, Picasa seems a bit easier to share than Flickr, unless I am just clueless and I can't figure out how Flickr shares via web and not web link (i.e. embedding into html).

can't sleep.

can't sleep. so what am i doing, totally random stuff at 3am.

anyhow, i am checking out how Picasa does with imbedding an album on a website. lets see how this works.

2007 Stanford Women's Volleyball at Arco Arena

...

3 Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

- Psalm 37:3-4 (New King James Version)

what's going on...

So.... what is going on with me, ... quite a bit (but those who know me well, know that that's not new). Work for the last 4 months has been insane. along with long days at times, it also has been shift work, changing shift work. working weekends, working 6 days in a row, working holidays, like Christmas and New Year's. But, there is light at the end, and its coming up quick. Work is slowing down for me, in fact, the first time in my 9 year career, I won't be on a full-time project starting Mar 3rd (at least not for a while -- which is okay, because.... see second point below).

First, i'd like to share what i have been doing, in between my crazy work hours.

last month i participated in a half-marathon. yep, i did a half marathon. jog / walked it. it was fun, exhausting, but the trip reminded me how much i miss to run and be away, away from computers, tv, work, and just enjoying thing things around me, like the rain on my face, the sun over the ocean, the ocean waves, being outside. it also was a huge risk in some sense, i stepped out of my comfort zone, ran / walked longer than i had in my life, in the rain, no doubt. I mean, i could've bailed and forfeited the run (with a good excuse, it was raining), but i prayed about it, as i was conflicted, i have a tendency to want to try something crazy and new, and then when the moment comes, i bail out. after much thought and prayer, I felt that i need to try to do it, and just do it. [I think the Lord was telling me that its okay to step out of one's comfort zone, and take on a bit more than one thinks they can handle].

i've been working with a group called rjcnetwork.org. their a networking group of retired and current missionaries, Reaching Japanese for Christ. They're an amazing, grassroots type organization that has tremendous momentum right now. shortly on the website, i'll be posting a video promo i put together for their 2008 international rjc conference held this past weekend up in seattle. me and my gear went up to seattle for three wonderful, blessed days. very powerful and informational, as i learned that Japanese churches are sending missionaries to the US to reach Japanese! had a great time and hope to continue to be able to work with them and help provide my God given media and technology skills to their ministry.

Second, i want to share what i will be doing, in 7 days. i am hopping on to a plane bound for Quito Ecuador. why Quito? well, its a bit lengthy, (and this is the summarized version of it...)

at urbana 03, as i sat in the wok-bowl of a place at Urbana, there was this whisper, "you're going to do missions, with the technology and engineering talents i've gifted you with". i was like, "uh, yeah, me, full-time missions, yeah, right." i thought God was kidding. then the weeks and months after urbana 03, the vision of the future started to reveal itself, it wasn't going to be a 'quit my job now and go off to south east asia'.... It was more like, 'you're at where i want you to be, continue to learn and absorb all this amazing engineering where you're at, i am preparing to use you, later....'. i was like, 'sweet, that means i can continue to fly satellites, i can go to school and have my company pay for it, earn another degree, i am down with that.' i also visited Wycliffe's technology group, JAARS, in North Carolina. Seeing and feeling first hand the need for talented technology, system and software engineers to help use those resources to further His kingdom.

at urbana 06, i went back as a volunteer, i was hoping to do something with technology, but God showed me that i don't have to directly do something technological to serve him. I was a volunteer at the information booth, but i got to use my organizational, scheduling and tasking skills to help the IV staff to organize the function of the booth, and i got to hang out at the global connections area quite a bit on my off shifts. here is where hcjb comes in. i was roaming around in the global connections area on day 1, and came across this multi-media booth that was very awesome in presentation and form.... and it was hcjb. then i remembered, randomly (of course nothing is random with God), i knew someone back in 1992 that went off to be a missionary with them.... so i asked the guy behind the counter, did he know a guy named Allen Graham. The guy behind the counter was like, 'yeah, he's here'. I was like, no way! I hadn't seen Allen in 16 years, and he was there. I got to reconnect with Allen, and also find out more and more about hcjb, by hanging around their booth all Urbana-long. the amazing thing about hcjb, they do three major resources: radio broadcasting (which at times, they use satellite up and downlinks, as well as deploy satellite dishes, etc); medical services; and water resources. i've always had a fascination with medicine and first aid; my BS degree is in Civil Engineering with a water resource emphasis; and i currently work in communications field as a system engineer (and i seem to enjoy all things in media technologies). hcjb seems like a good fit for my multitude and diverse interests.

in 2007, after returning back from another trip to Dubai, this one being 6 weeks of 12 hour days, i vacationed in Colorado for 4 days, visiting hcjb's global headquarters in Colorado Springs. I had a blast there, meeting different folks, seeing what their IT / software and web guys were doing at the time. They kept saying, you should go down to Quito. I was hoping to, but i didn't seem to be able to fit the timing in, well, until now!

so, mar 3 at 6am i head to miami, then quito. i come back on mar 10. i will be going as a visitor this time, but hopefully in the future, i may go as a working visitor. i am totally stoked. excited to see what the Lord may have in store for me.

also later april, i'll be heading to the NABshow, attending the workshops for technologies in worship.

all the while, i'll be working on recap videos for the RJC folks as well as serving as IT director at Venice (my home church) and hanging out with the Christian Surfer's of South Bay.

um, Spanish?

So, its been a few years now that I've been thinking on taking a foreign language. First it was deciding between Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. I am one of like two cousins on my mom's side of the family that hadn't taken Mandarin Chinese while in college. Then the thought crossed my mind, "you will take more than one language"... and I was like, "um, okay." So, I figure, it was probably going to be both, so which one first. If I chose Chinese, I could talk to my mom and my Aunts and Uncles. If I chose Japanese, I could talk to my friends at church who speak Japanese. Part of my hesitiation in choosing a language is praticality. (the other is I have been doing some more work related travel, that I couldn't start a class yet). So, here comes Urbana 06, the folks at hcjb global, and Quito, Ecuador. Spanish? Wow, didn't see that one coming, Lord. And randomly (or maybe not so randomly), I was searching at LMU (the closest, I could even walk, close, University) and they have a beginners Spanish class starting next Tuesday. Okay Lord, 1) I want to get back into the classroom, 2) I want to learn a language, 3) and being an LMU extension student gets me into the LMU gym! (bonus). So, am I to take Spanish? Well, all the signs are pointing, a few things to check is to ensure that my company will pay for LMU Extension and that the class is still open for students to enroll... oh and one more prayer check with God... just to be sure.

... can't believe its 2007.

Looking at the last few times I blogged, so much has happened since fourth of July. One big thing that has happened, my 30th birthday. It was a nice weekend in August, my birthday. It was spent with some new and some ol' friends. It started with the idea of camping in the sierras. After the 5 some-hour drive to the Eastern Sierras, namely Bishop. We drove up to the campsites, my blue honda and my friends VW, and found the thunderstorm clouds a bit frightening. We drove back into town and found a nice cozy, the only-room-left, Holiday Inn room. Next morning, was hiking a most beautiful hike south of Lake Sabrina. Though not all of us made it to the destination, it was a wonderful (yet exhausting) hike. The views were magnificant and inspiring. We headed back into town, for a bite to eat and to check out one of the photo galleries (something I always wanted to do, but never had the chance to stop and do). I am glad we stopped. Seeing how this one artist captured nature and humanity left me in awe. And inspired me to do more photography. We headed back into LA a day earlier than I had originally planned, but that was alright. This particular weekend appeared to be the weekend of unplanned activities.

As we headed back down to LA, I noticed this lump in my neck. I first thought it was nothing, but then it seriously started to bug. I knew that the church folks were leaving for camp the next Morning (sunday, Aug 6, my birthday). I didn't know what to do, all I knew was talk to Dr Sharon, she'd know what to do. She was to leave on the bus at 7am. Though we didn't arrive back into LA until almost 2 am, after unloading the cars and folks departed the Playa Del Rey Condo, i was up again at 6am, couldn't sleep (a bit like tonight, can't sleep). Anyhow long story short, met up and got to greet all the folks leaving for camp with the bus. It was great to see everyone. Though folks were wondering why I wasn't going to camp, it was good seeing the bus loads of Venice folk. I did get to talk to Dr. Sharon, she suggested I go into the weekend clinic, and get the lymph node thing checked out.

It was this particular birthday weekend where things get interesting in my life. If i tried to blog the events since then, it would take pages, and I am not sure I can remember everything. All I know is that Aug 2006 is where I started really trying to listen to what God wants me to do. (oh and my health, its alright now, wierd scare in Aug, but seemed to clear itself come September.) The church prayed for me, I think that helped me with my recovery, as parts of my illness was a bit debilitating in the sense that at times I was so exhausted, I couldn't stay awake even if i tried to caffienate myself.

The biggest thing was during the time I had to myself, I was able to reflect more and I asked God to "reveal His will for my life" and slowly but surely that's what He's been doing. He reminded me that I have to take care of my finances, that I really need to be financially free such that I can be in a position to do what He wants me to do, when He wants me to go. He also reminded me that I wanted to volunteer at Urbana 06, which I made that committment at Urbana 03, walking through the dome the third night, thinking, "yeah, i want to be a part of something as big as this". He brought me to the decision that I needed my work to move closer to home again, which it has. And He surprised me with a business trip opportunity to Dubai again, which was amazing.

So, where am I now. Well, amazingly, I made it as a volunteer at Urbana 06. I was able to work with some amazing folks, meet new people, make new friends, and get reunited with some old friends from home. Allen Graham, whom I hadn't really seen since 1992 was there to both his and my surprise. It was a blast to hang out with Allen! Also, randomly running into Geoff Hom, reconnecting and finding out that his sister, my bestest friend in high school was there too! I got to hang with Mary and Geoff the day after Urbana, in St.Louis, and that was more than I could've asked for.

Working now, trying to figure out how to block my time and be able to serve God in the capacitiy He wants me to serve in, which maybe to visit and work with hcjb global. Still seeking God's will on that. And a question right now is, "do i take that spanish class?"

I think God is teaching me that you can't plan for everything, He has a tendancy to show you things you never expect, and He'll take care of you. Thanks God, you are truly amazing!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day! Its been a magnificent Fourth Of July. I am ending a day where I truly enjoyed myself. Though I didn't get the run or swim in that I was hoping for, today was extremely productive, which resulted in a well prepared BBQ potluck and ended in fun and smiles for all.

Things I learned, hosting my first BBQ potluck.

1) Don't buy so much meat! So, although I didn't know exactly who would show, I bought way too much meat. I had prepared a lil' over 10 pounds of korean bbq short ribs, 12 lemon-herb drumsticks, and in the fridge had 11 Farmer John Hot Links. I only threw about 5 poungs of the Korean BBQ short ribs, and the chicken on the grill. Folks also brought drumsticks and salmon. Susan took the salmon back, but I have 5 pounds of beef short ribs, a package of drumsticks and the Hot Links. BBQ Rounds 2, 3 and possibly 4 are in order to consume all this meat! I have verbal invites to those who came today to come back tomorrow, for the "day-after fourth of july bbq!"

2) If you ask folks to bring drinks, they'll bring drinks. I have so many drinks now, the fridge and ice chest are still full of juice and soda.

3) You can never have too much fruit, or can you? Apparently I still have a bunch of strawberries, never got to the cherries I bought... So BBQ Rounds 2 and 3 should have plenty of fruit to go around.

Entertaining stories and humor.
Apparently the guests all felt that I had some rather entertaining stories and they seemed to laugh quite a bit. Not sure if it was my stories, or Van and Mark (who interestingly met for the first time today, yet were hilarious in their comments) or both. Anyhow, good times had by all, and folks left with a smile.

and the fireworks...
We gathered ourselves and made our stroll down to Playa Del Rey, we didn't make it to the beach, but we found a lil' parking area with a good view of the fireworks show that Marina Del Rey was having. It was a all-around nice stroll and enjoyable show. I was amazed on how many folks were out and about in the neighborhood for the fireworks.