Lots of icecream, chicken wings and sappy K-dramas. Can you tell I'm an emotional eater?
   

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Did you ever watch the movie Pay It Forward with the once-cute-lil-kid Haley Joel Osment, Helen Hunt and Kevin Spacey? I don't remember too much from the movie but I really like the concept of paying it forward and remember how each character in the movie touched another character and asked them to pay it forward. Since I've moved up to the NYC area I've really been trying to put this into practice.

The hubs and I have been the recipients of many acts of kindness in the past year and a half. My hubs was offered a job rather suddenly and had to start immediately. So he had to come up first while I stayed behind to pack up the apt and finish some projects at the company I was with in FL.  While we were super excited to move up here, without much knowledge of the area and due to the lack of funds it would have been pretty hard to find a decent place to live in such a short amount of time.

I was super worried about this but then a good friend of mine from college heard about our predicament and offered to let the hubs stay with him for a month so I could finish my job in FL and the hubs could save some money and search for a decent apt. My friend was super generous to let the hubs crash with him, especially considering he really didn't know my husband that well.

After we left his apt (I ended up living there for a week as well), I thought about how I could pay my friend back for his kindness and boy was it hard to think of a suitable enough gesture.  Sure we've invited him over to our place for dinner and gave him gifts on Christmas and birthdays but how can you put a monetary value on his generosity? He'd never let us pay him half a month's rent or the utilities. In fact he never expected anything from us.

So instead of trying to do all these things to try and pay our friend back, we've been trying to pay it forward.

Since we've settled into our apt and got our bearings (i.e. job and furniture) we have opened our place up to all our friends that needed a place to crash while they job hunted, grad school hunted or for vacay. I think at last count we've had 27 guests (many of them repeated visitors so who knows maybe we've had around 40ppl) stay about 179 nights in the past 18 months in our apt. Many have tried to pay us back with money and food but we just ask they pay it forward. One day they'll be settled somewhere and someone is going to need their help.

Not only with the housing situation but in other areas of our life people have really reached out and helped when they didn't have to. For instance, getting this job at Xanga wouldn't have been possible if one of my coworkers didn't tell me about it when I was job hunting. Her thoughtfulness and concern toward me, someone she barely knew at the time, was something you rarely see.  I love my job and am totally thankful to her for helping me out. So in return I'm trying to help out other folks that are looking for jobs by proofreading resumes or asking the network of people I've met here if they have available positions at their companies.

I could go on and on about the acts of kindness I've received and how the people that have given of themselves wanted nothing in return,  but what I guess I'm trying to say is that paying it forward is the way to go. If everyone practiced this concept who knows what would happen.

My friend Jeanee and fellow Xanga team member Ayca recommended I check out the movie The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. This movie is probably the best movie I've watched in a looong time. I highly recommend it. It was heart warming, thought provoking, tear jerking and funny. The movie is also based on a true story. For more info go here.

Has anyone else watched it? What did you think?

It finally happened to me after 6 years of immunity.

I caught a cold. A minor cold but still a cold with the full blown symptoms of stuffy nose, headache, sore throat and body aches.

I vowed back in winter of 2001 to never catch a cold or the flu again if I could help it. That winter I came down with the worst flu of my life thus far. I mean, the type of flu where you are so sick with fever you're delirious, and practically unconscious. I remember that I was lying on the couch of my college apt, sick as a dog and the next thing I know it was 2 days later and I was at home in my parents house. I had no idea how I got there or who picked me up from school. When I woke up my throat burned (to the point I couldn't swallow anything without crying) and every 10 minutes I felt like I was having hot flashes and then all of a sudden the room felt 60 degrees colder. I was so miserable but the worst feeling was knowing I totally brought it upon myself.

You see, the week leading up to my illness, I pulled several all nighters, then hung out with friends because finals were over and celebrated the graduation of several close friends. Basically, I didn't sleep for 5 days and I was constantly doing something or going somewhere. Big mistake

So after the killer flu of winter 2001 I decided that I would do everything in my power not to get sick again like that. And with this mindset I have been pretty successful until Wedneday morning when I succumbed to the nastiness going around the office.

I'm doing a lot better today. I really hope if anyone reading this is sick they will get well with the quickness. Here are simple my tips for making a speedy recovery, which I think can be used to prevent sickness as well...

1. Drink lots of water. Juice isn't bad either, but drink more water.
2. Make sure to take meds that will minimize the symptoms. I really like Advil Cold and Sinus, non-drowsy.
3. Eat well. I think eating warm, hearty meals will help bring back your strength. Don't skip meals.
4. Sleep! This is the most important in my opinion. I got sick this week because I wasn't getting enough sleep and when you're exposed to lots of yucky germs, the lack of sleep is what gets you in trouble.

This stuff is probably nothing you haven't heard before but I had to remind myself this is what I need to do to get well. I'm hoping by Monday the nastiness will be completely out of my system.

Have a great weekend everyone and stay well!

I hate to blame things on the weather when I'm in a bad mood but I definitely think a cool, clear and sunny day with a light breeze always puts me in a great mood.

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

1. I answer to 4 different pronounciations of my name on a daily basis.
2. I am addicted to Coke Zero.
3. I bleed orange and blue.
4. I have 6 Hello Kitty items on my desk (I love Hello Kitty!)
5. My initials are EEK. =P
   

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

Yay for a new year!

Some things I'm excited about for 2008:
   
    -trying out some new hobbies: I'd like to try sewing, web design and biking
    -going on vacation with my good friends from college in the summer
    -seeing my baby brother graduate from high school
    -visiting my family and friends in South Korea
    -watching my Florida Gators in action on the basketball court and football field
    -working on new and exciting projects at Xanga

What are you all excited for this year?

Everyone ages, it's a fact of life. I know this and I hope one day I'll be an 80 year old grandmother and look back on life and be able to say it was full and wonderful. However, lately I'm a lil scared because I can feel myself age. I don't know if that makes sense but is it possible to feel age set in suddenly? Or maybe my mind and body are finally catching up to each other and I'm just more aware now?? Hmmm...

I guess I'm being a little silly because I'm in my mid-twenties and things could be worse but starting a couple of months ago I started noticing some unusual things. I noticed my eyes are not sharp as they used to be, my knees ache when it rains or is chilly outside, my body bruises easily (the first time in my life I ever saw a bruise on myself!) and I fall asleep before midnight with ease.

I know these things aren't serious but it just surprised me that I could feel the differences in my body. I thought maybe I wouldn't feel this way until I was 40. Maybe I should take this as a wake up call to take better care of myself.

I never realized how self-centered I was until I got involved in a serious relationship. I always thought I was giving and generous and focused on the needs of others. However, when I fell in love and let my guard down I discovered that I wasn't as nice as I thought I was. It's hard to explain but it's as if the other person reflected the good in me but also made the bad come out. I realized that letting someone in that close to see you for who you really are, including your flaws, wasn't easy.  But I was fortunate because the other person loved me for the good and bad. The other person made me want to be a better woman and was worth the effort.

Very slowly and sometimes painfully, I came to understand the meaning of compromise. And as cheesy as this sounds I learned that love can overcome a million things.

When you really love someone I believe you put the other person's interests before your own. I believe that even though you may have to sacrifice something, be it time, comfort or money, you would willingly do it because you want the person you love to be happy, loved, successful- whatever it may be.  I believe that sacrificial, unconditional love isn't natural between two people, except maybe for a parent and child, but that with practice, patience and time it happens.

I know I am loved but I think I've only begun to really love those around me. I believe now is the time to put all that I've learned to practice...