2009 in Review

I think today's blog is going to be a two-parter: one to review 2009 and one to discuss 2010.

2009 proved to be an exciting and adventurous year. After reading through my old post from the beginning of the year, I can say that I was fairly successful what I wanted to accomplish this year.

The most important thing that happened to me this year was finding South Bay Church. I have grown to love God more, grown closer to Scott and grown spiritually. I guess just a lot of growth in general. We started attending the church in February and I participated in one of their community outreach events: the Easter Egg hunt with over 2,000 people. I began volunteering with the Bay Kids ministry in their Nursery department and with greeting. Scott and I joined a couples small group and learned some useful tools to help strengthen our marriage. In May, we began sponsoring a child in Columbia through Compassions International and I was baptized. God has worked in my heart this year and I feel like I'm in a great place :) I hope 2010 is even better.

2009 was also a year of accomplishments and adventure. Although my plan at the beginning of the year was to complete three races, I ended up only doing one, the Santa Cruz 10K which was BEAUTIFUL! This is a race I would love to do every year. The reason that it was difficult for me to train this year is because I started going back to school. At the beginning of the year I took one class at the UCSC extension program in Molecular Biology. Then I applied to the Johns Hopkins Advance Academic program in April. I was accepted into the program and now have taken 2 semesters towards a Master's degree in Biotechnology. I am hoping to graduate in 2012.

This year I joined a Bikram yoga studio and it was a fun and different type of exercise. With my busy school schedule, I had to give it up in July. In September, my friend Valerie took me out to SF to enjoy a bike ride over the Golden Gate bridge. I had a wonderful time meeting her friends and having lunch in Sausalito. It was quite the adventure, as I never drive into SF, especially alone, and I don't bike. I fell off my bike and got a few scrapes when my tire got caught in the Muni Tracks, about five minutes into our bike ride.

I've also done plenty of trips this year: 2 year anniversary in Napa, a girl's trip to Vegas, another girl's trip to Seattle, a week vacation in Desert Springs, family vacation in Louisiana, and one last trip to Vegas with Scott, Brian and Krystle. I've eaten out to a few fancy restaurants. This year Scott and I have discovered Tapas, which when you say it, sounds a lot like "topless". I get a curious look when I say "Scott and I went to this awesome tapas restaurant." Haha! We had two Morton's dinners this year. When I went to Vegas with my girlfriends, we had a delicious buffet dinner at the Wynn with unlimited champagne, which proved to give quite the headache in the morning.

What an exhausting year!! I can't wait to see what 2010 will bring!

Berkeley

Berkeley wasn't my favorite two years of my life. Okay, most of it was dreadful. Luckily, I made some amazing friends while I was there and just yesterday a few of us got together and visited the campus. It was quite exciting and I'm glad that we were able to hang out :) Here's a "then" picture, taken in 2003 and here's a "now" picture in 2009. All other photos are on FB.

Here's one that will make you think: Telomeres and antiaging

This is not just for people in science, everyone should read this! It's really not that long :)

Scientific researchers who discovered the enzyme telomerase have recently received the Nobel Prize. Telomerase is the enzyme that helps protect the end cap, or telomeres, of DNA and prevents the DNA from unraveling. Research suggest that these telomeres are related to aging and cancer. If the telomere is short, the cell cannot replicate and the cell will die, which contributes to the natural progression of life. In cancerous cells, telomeres are long and keep the DNA intact, thus allowing cancerous cells to divide and replicate.

In my molecular biology class, we have been discussing telomeres and their relationship with aging and cancer. Here's my contribution to the class. It's about a girl who is 16 yrs old but she looks like a one year old. Doctors, scientist and the media have asked, Does she hold the secret to the fountain of youth.

The discussion of the "fountain of youth" and telomeres reminded me of a 20/20 episode about a girl named Brooke Greenberg. At this time she is a 16 yr. old girl, but hasn't grown since she was the age of one. The only things that have seemed to grown for this girl are her hair and nails, everything else has stayed the same. So far, she has been the only person in the world reported to have this condition. Does Brooke Greenberg's DNA hold the secret to the "Fountain of Youth"? Many TV specials and news articles have discussed this. The first article listed below suggest that doctors and researchers examine Brooke's telomeres on her DNA and compare it to children at 1 yr since it has been shown that telomeres and aging are related. The second link below is about testing that can be performed to determine a person's biological age vs. chronical age, based on the length of the telomere. The company SpectraCell laboratories measures the telomere length in lymphocytes to determine their biological age. With this information, scientists could test the Brooke's DNA to determine her biological age. This may open up many doors to further research on anti-aging and anti-cancer therapy.

The third link is the actual article on Brooke Greenberg's condition.

1. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2042375/brooke_greenberg_frozen_in_time_may_pg2_pg2.html?cat=2

2. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/spectracell-laboratories-introduces-telomere-testing-62053297.html

3. http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Health/Story?id=7880954&page=1

On a mission to find the best French fries: Part I

I've decided to turn my little addiction of French fries into a little mission. My current favorite fries are season curly fries from Jack in the Box, sweet potato fries from Taylor's Refreshers and regular fries from Cheesecake Factory.

There are many aspects that make a fry good. The crispiness, the fluffiness of the inside and most importantly, any seasoning or sauce. If you get a good batch of season curly fries from JITB, they're crispy, tender and have a great season. Also, they're good with some of their ranch or sweet and sour sauce. JITB used to have chili cheese curly fries that were super delicious but they don't sell those anymore. Taylor's has a nice crispy sweet potato fry with a chili seasoning and a really yummy sauce. The regular fries from Cheesecake Factory are shoestring fries and my favorite sauce to dip it in is the chipotle mayo that comes with the crispy chicken sandwich.

I can't say no to a good French fry and there are some places I want to try. This place in New York has French fries that has tons of different sauces. The line goes out the door and down the street. I can't wait till the day that that happens :)

Today's review is of the Nordstrom Bistro at Valley Fair Mall. My co-worker and I split a turkey club with fries and I had a crab bisque. The bisque was delicious and it came with Parmesan cheese bread. The club sandwich was very fancy: tomato, avocado, bacon and green beans. The fries were seasoned with parsley and came with a Klamata Olive sauce that was really tasty. I would definitely say one of the tastier fries I've ever had, but coupled with the crab bisque, it seemed like a very salty lunch. On my fry scale, I'll give it an 8 out of 10. So not too bad Nordstrom's.

Stay away from strangers

Yesterday I was filling up my car at the gas station close to my work.  I was approached by one of those guys who sells car cleaners, you know, the one that you spray on and all that nasty dirt comes off your car.  I was in a pretty good mood after work, so I decided, “What the heck?”, also, I was the only car there and I figured I should be nice to this guy, or he might attack me.   The demonstration wasn’t terrible and when he mentioned that it cleans shower windows, I was pretty interested.  I realized that another car with two men in their late 30’s had pulled up to fill up and I think they might have been making fun of this guy.  I let the guy finish his little demo even after I was done pumping my gas and from my peripheral view the two guys in the other car shook their head at me as they pulled away.  Not in a “Wow, you’re stupid, girl,” but more of a “Don’t listen to this guy, he’s an idiot.”  I chuckled inside and told the guy I wasn’t interested. 

I learned two things during this little encounter.  #1 Sales guys suck.  This guy was kind of rude when he was doing his demo.  He made me hold the little can of cleaner a couple of times and instead of, “Can you hold this please?” he basically said, “Hold this” and threw the can at me.  What the heck? I know it’s probably some sort of marketing strategy for me to hold the product and read about it or something, but you don’t have to be rude about it.  #2 Never let someone do a demo about cleaning your car, unless they’re planning on doing the whole thing.  Now I have like two clean spots on my car and the rest of it is extremely dirty.  Okay, well maybe I SHOULD go get it washed, but it’s annoying that I have to do it b/c of this guy.  BLAH!

Review and Preview

So, I know I was supposed to write in my blog more, but I guess it's not really working out.  January was a busy month for me, unexpectedly, so I didn't have time to write much.  Shockingly, things at work have slowed down some, so I'll take some time to write.  

January was filled with birthdays and work.  My family celebrated my younger brother's 21st birthday at the Cheesecake factory.  Trying to find seats for 20 people in a restaurant was hard work and hopefully next time we go out with that many people it will be planned better.  

Scott and I went to Stephanie's surprise birthday party at Lightner and Maxwell's and it was lots of fun.  I think Steph was actually surprised and Scott and I were able to meet some new people and hang out with good friends.

  

 Right after Steph's birthday was Paige's birthday.  We went to a couple of wineries with Paige, some friends and her family.  After that we went to Campo di Boccie in Los Gatos.  I learned how to perfect my amazing boccie skills and ate some really Delicious food and cupcakes.  

We celebrated my mom's birthday in Morgan Hill with my family.  We decided to do our own Japanese food for lunch, so my dad went to Mitsua in Saratoga and bought some sashimi and I made chicken teriyaki.  That same day, my co-workers threw Cuong a surprise 30th birthday party at Kendall and Reed's place.  We also surprised him with a MagicSing Karaoke machine and we sang the night away.  

January was also a crazy month for me at work.  The first two weeks weren't so bad because I was just catching up with some paperwork from 2008 and getting ready for my next project.  That project started mid-January and I had to put in some overtime hours.  I even had to work on Superbowl Sunday.  It was hard work and tiring but I got through it okay.  I also started to take night classes at the UCSC extension program and I hope to get a Certificate in Biotechnology.  I've had class only 3 times now and I have come to the conclusion that it is very difficult to take classes and work at the same time.  I commend all people who have done and are doing this!

 Work is slowing down, still busy but not nearly as stressful as January, but I think it's a little deceiving because it'll pick up again soon.  Luckily I have a few distractions to make it easier on me.  This Thursday I'm going to see Wicked with my high school friends, Friday Scott and I are watching the Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament in Monterey, Saturday we're spending the Valentine's night in and Sunday we're having dinner with our college friends. I'm excited for everything going on and hopefully I'll still have sometime to write on this thing... Now back to work for me!

Catching up

So I'm pretty bad at keeping up with this blog, and I'm sure no one even reads it, but this year I will try harder to write up a few things when I have the time.  2008 was definitely an interesting year.  I did a lot of things I have never done, like run a half marathon, be a bridesmaid for the first time, see Phantom of the Opera, donate my hair to Charity and TURN 25!  I'm hoping for another memorable year in 2009.  This year I plan on doing another 3 runs, hopefully including Pat's run in April, the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in San Jose and another one I need to look up.  Also, this year I'll be going on my first EVER girls trip to VEGAS! I am so unbelievably excited for this. I'd also like to plan a girls trip to Disneyland too.  It'll be a different vacation from the Vegas trip, but it'll be fun nonetheless!

Other things I'd like to do this year are to find a new church, eat out at some fancy restaurants, read at least 12 books, grow out my hair, spend more time with my family and try to stay organized all year long.  My hardest new years resolution is probably to stay away from French Fries as long as I can.  I've already made it 7 and a half days! HAHA If you know me, you  know I love my French Fries.

This year Scott and I are spending our anniversary in Napa, going to Louisiana for an LSU football game and New Orleans and maybe go on a family trip with either my parents or his.  I also hope we grow even closer to each other this year! 

Hopefully, I'll be able to do at least 50% of what I just said, but let's push for 100% (maybe even 120%!)

Here's my favorite picture from the holiday season.  It's my family on Christmas Eve