Done deal!
A story of jellies, heat escape, and rocks.

Yes, Jason and I are engaged! *happy dance*

Some background first. For those of you that don’t know, I’m in between jobs right now and have a week off before I start my new job on Monday. Also, for those of you that don’t know my father, he in his brilliantly endearing colander-esque way tipped me off as to what was coming. He called me a week prior. The conversation went like this:

Dad: I got a call today.
Me: Yes? Who was it? About what? (thinking it was about insurance or money or something random)
D: From a guy...
M: About what?
D: About you and this guy....
M: Huh? oh...Dad! You're not supposed to tell me these things!
D: WHAT?! I didn't tell you ANYthing!!
M: It's supposed to all be a secret!
D: It is a secret! I didn't say anything. You're thinking stuff, but I didn't say anything
M: When this happens to Jessica (my sister), you better not spoil it for her and tell her.
D: I didn't say anything!!!

Classic.

So, back to what you guys care about…

On Monday, Jason and I escaped the scorching Bay Area weather and headed out to Monterey for a couple days. Tipped off by my dad, I was suspicious of everything, but played along. If he wanted to walk, we walked. If he wanted to sit, we sat. Monday was full of relaxing, watching both the A’s and Giants’ games on TV. Yes, I’m a good girlfriend.

Tuesday, we headed off to the aquarium, the location of our first day trip together 4 years ago. All day long, he was fidgeting with his pocket, indicating that the rock was in there. Near the end of our time at the aquarium, he led me to a bench in a quiet corner that looked over the bay. He said some mushy things that are not for public consumption and then said, “I don’t know how to ask this.” He then fumbled around for a while in his pocket for what felt like an eternity before he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

To answer the important question: Did I cry? Yes, a little. No weeping, just teared up.

And that was that! After the proposal and calling the apporpriate family members, we headed back into the aquarium so that he could see all the exhibits that he was too nervous to enjoy. For dinner, Jason took me to a yummy, organic, sustainable seafood restaurant in Pacific Grove. It was so yummy! The waitress even said when she came in, “Did you guys just get engaged?” We wandered around Asilomar and Pacific Grove and watched the sunset. PERFECT DAY.

I’m so happy!! A perfect proposal to a wonderful wonderful man that I get to spend the rest of my life with! Yay me!!

Ok, what you guys really care about, pictures!

Two minutes after

The rock

The laughs

The susnet

A brief word from our sponsor

Happy birthday, lady friend. My world is a better place with you in it!

And congratulations to Olivia & Jonathon (last week), Bev & Ben (monday), and Brandon and Jen (tomorrow)! ! Love is in the air.

Lots of pictures to follow. I'm trying to decide what online photo service to use. My requirements:

- Easy to post albums
- Some sort of privacy settings so that not everyone can see every picture
- Viewers can download original or large size photos.

So, I'm trying to decide:
Picasaweb via google (testing) - I currently use Picass to organize my photos already, 250MB limit
Yahoo! Photos (beta) - it's nifty, it's new, it's a little slow.
Smugmug - all the things I want, but I'd have to pay.

Thoughts?

A celebration of life.

Thank you to everyone who supported our team! We had a great team come out, and I have to say, I’m truly impressed by how much everyone walked. We were one of the few teams that had people walking almost the entire time. There was live music, bbq, games, and camping out under the clear blue skies. Who was sore the next few days? We all were. It was a great time of hanging out, meeting new people, and supporting a great cause. If you ever get a chance to participate in an event like this, it is a great learning, bonding, and growing experience.

A HUGE thank you to a wonderful team:
Thomas
Long
Kenn
Anne
Alinna
Hideyo
JanetMary
Bev
Jessica
Jason

And many many thanks to all of you who supported us:
Amy
Beth
Brian
Cindy

Dad
Diana & Birgit

Gene
Gina
Helena
Jean
Jenie
Karen
Olivia
Teresa

Some pictures for your viewing pleasure (borrowed from Karen and Thomas..I’m bad at uploading pictures):

Our Team: Summer Lovin' (minus Kenn, Anne, Hideyo, Jess, and Mary)

Our campsite, decorated by fabulously by nettie spaghetti.

My pops and I.

The Luminarias that were lit in honor and in memory of those affected by cancer.

Chillin' (big teethy smiles)

In memory...

Relay for Life

My sister at a Relay For Life event!

On June 3, a group of friends and I will be participating in the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life. Relay for Life is about celebration, remembrance, and hope.

When my mom died of lung cancer a little over a year and a half ago, my world was torn apart. She was the picture of who I wanted to become. The healing process has been slow, at times painful, and yet full of hope and looking ahead. My mom fought her cancer with all the strength that she had. During the last few years, some of my most treasured time with her was when I would take her to her weekly chemo appointments. We would sit and talk, read, and eat together one day a week. Yet, her body was fighting against her spirit. My mom was strong, beautiful, loved her friends and family deeply, and greatly involved in the lives of others. I hope to become those things as well.

Relay for Life is a 24 hour walk. Cancer does not sleep. Those who have experienced it personally or through loved ones can attest to this. For this reason, our team will be walking a track for 24 hours continuously from 9am June 3 to 9am June 4. Will you support us by donating to our team? We have a lofty goal of raising $3000 as a team. I am certain that we can do it. All of the funds go to support the critical work of the American Cancer Society's work in the areas of cancer research, education, and resources.

You can donate here: http://www.acsevents.org/relay/ca/mv/remember . You can also view our team page here: http://www.acsevents.org/relay/ca/mv/summerlovin

Even if you can't donate, your support through the years has meant so much to me. Each of you have been a part of the healing. Thank you for loving on me.

1-2-3 Not it!

I've been tagged. And since I'd rather do this than other things that need to happen, here you go:

1. Four Jobs:
a. Boba/smoothie maker at Planet Juice
b. Coffee/Donut setter-outter for the chemical engineering department at Cal (I was the grad student assistant and, apart from putting donuts out every day, I got to open grad school applications! mwahaha!)
c. West Nile virus queen
d. Disease Cowboy

2. Four Things I Wish I Had Done Earlier: (earlier?!? or ever? some are earlier/some are ever)
a. Triathlon
b. Studied abroad
c. Gone to Taiwan with my family when they went in 2001
d. Gone to bed last night!

3. Four Places I Have Lived
a. Charm City, USA (aka: Baltimore)
b. All my college years on one square block in Berkeley one block from campus
c. Lake Merritt in Oakland
d. The house with the Love Pit

4. Four Countries I Have Been To:
a. Brazil
b. Italy
c. France
d. Taiwan

5. Four Countries I Would Like to Visit:
a. China
b. Japan
c. Greece
d. Belgium

6. Four of My Favorite Dishes:
a. stewed pork ribs like my mama used to make
b. leftover lasagna
c. carnitas
d. the dol sot bi bim bop with seafood on top.

7. Four Sites I Visit Daily:
a. mail.yahoo.com
b. craigslist.org
c. bbcnews.com
d. sfgate.com

8. Four Software Applications I Cannot Live Without:
a. excel
b. trillian
c. itunes
d. picasa

9. Four Things I'll Never Forget:
a. saying goodbye to my mom
b. making a new life for myself in baltimore
c. my surprise birthday party that B.E.T. spoiled 3 seconds before I got to the location
d. being 3 years old and leaving my pink elephant on the airplane

10. I tag..
a. jessicaca
b. es
c. mel
d. punksam