Abbie

My newfound love from Oregon!
She's such a cutie-pa-tootie!

MOOD: unhappy, dissapointed, angry, upset
At this point, I can choose to be the friendliest or your worse enemy. I really choose not to be on the far meaner end spectrum bc i love you way too much.

I just found out Dale's middle name is... reginald. I had a fun time trying to pronounce his name today. We'll continue this tongue twister another time you!

Things change, people grow. I understand that..but I still can't grasp how someone just changes....utterly..completely.

I'm enjoying my vacation. are you?

Where's Mimi? working...argh!

Spent an entire day with hung and no mimi. --> Wasn't that awkward afterall..Had Tiff & Brit with me too. We had fun poking at him while he was chained to the haircut seat! Papparazi pictures!

Fused out?!?

Amanda and I blew a fuse out today. Too many hairdryers?!?

you're far more cuter and attractive than before. ;)

Work much? Taken your vacays yet?

SIGH!!!!!!


Work much anyone? Taken your vacays yet? Argh! Fun-ness starts in 9 days...yet soooooo much workload to do. I have like a foot high of paperwork on my desk to complete and like 20+ plus job tasks to complete before I am "allowed" to breathe again! My cousins and friends are calling me up every possible hour or so....when they are luckily enough to get me to answer the phone to say hello to...yet I am way too cranky and beeeezy to enjoy their company! Sorry guys, I love you but I am way too overworked right now. Forgive my mean-ness and crank-iness but I'll see you in a week with a big cheery Smiley face & happy mood soon!

Amazing Circles!

These are my new love of the moment!





photos courtesy of flickr memebers.

VIETNAMESE AMERICAN IDENTITY

FOB-TWINKIES-EGG-BANANA-

UNIT STRUCTURE IS NOT THE FAMILY, BUT THE INDIVIDUAL
THEY'VE INVESTED SO MUCH SO THEY SHOULD REAP THEIR REWARDS IN US
DEBTS OWED TO FAMILY WHO FINANCED THE JOURNEY HERE
AMERICA HISTORY IS STILL BECOMING

It's been exactly six weeks since......

My comment for Tami from my Friendster account

My say on Tami Nguyen (friendster.com)
Elizabeth
Posted
document.write(11/17/2003 6:09 pm)


Tami's my best buddy! We've known each other since birth but didn't become best buddies till the sixth grade!!! She's the coolest person you'll ever meet. Sweet, sensible, caring, helpful, and responsible! This girl knows what she wants in life and she'll go after it no matter what! Tami & I have been through lots...from guys, to school, life, and oh lord....my near death-drowning at the YMCA swimming pool! Haha! She's up for anything....prolly one of the msot adventurous ppl I know, she's also into athletics! She's very a very well-rounded gal and very VERY active in school activities. Her only prob is she's got to slow down and take a few breathes here and there! She can be quite clumsy sometimes....forgetting things or doing the most random stuff ever. I can see this girl going places already and she hasn't even graduated!

--------------------------------------

Of course it is six years since the posting. She has graduated college and although we have not kept in touch as much as I would like, we do stay in touch thru emails, phonecalls, and nowadays...facebook. She's a professional photog and teacher. I am so proud of who she has become....and happy to see her attain the independence she'd always sought when we were both younger.

May 17, 2009 4.7 Earthquake

It was around 8:30pm and my mother and I was hanging out at Aunt Nena's place watching Vietnam DVDs. I had just walked out from the restroom when Aunt Nena yelled" OMG, earthquake Anh!" I told her it couldn't be because I didn't feel it and that it may have just been me making heavy thumps from my walking. Nope, she was right. It was a 4.7 magnitude earthquake centered somewhere 10 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles.

(Picture courtesy of Getty Images from knsd.com)

Meanest Managers?!?

I just heard from Robin that some people at work thinks I'm one of the meanest bosses at work. LOL. Meanest boss vs. Bossy Boss with High Expectations for everyone....I'd say I'm more of the latter. Thanks Blanca for making such a good point about what differentiates me from being meanest boss vs bossy boss! :P

Frankie V from Channel 933

Guess what celeb was at my store yesterday?!?

Frankie V from Channel 933!

I walked around with him around the store for an hour to help launch our Stockman & Dakota premium beef label-Channel 933 giveaway promotion! It was fun and best part was when he got on the intercom and did those pages!

Pic taken from : http://www.channel933.com/pages/frankiev.html

MINA HAS GONE MIA

Oh my gosh, look who ran away from home again!

Here was Mina's big opportunity to escape (when I let go of her leash)

Luckily mother got to her leash just in time.

Here she is happy that we didn't have to run after the dog this time
Eh, so Mina wasn't quite too happy about it.

See her stick her tongue out at me, the photographer?

Seeking for a second chance to escape

Mina, knowing mom's wrist was still recovering from her injury,

decides to use all her might to pull mom for a walk

Unfortunately for Mina,

mom thought it would be a better idea to anchor herself to the ground.

See how happy mom is from her "bright idea?"

Mina desperately wants a WALK.

So she ahem...decided to give mom a present...smelly farts! LOL

Mina's farts were sooooo bad that mom she ran back inside & abandoned the WALK! Here's Mina...wondering if the WALK was ever going to happen.

*Note* Mina's golden moment to run away since her leash was not held.

Mina is seen here pondering whether she should head for the left or right direction.

Mina: "Maybe Mimi's in the car and will want to take me for a walk!"

Mina: "Hmm...nobody in the car..

So Mina runs away. She looks left then right to cross the street.

She tinkles a bit here and there every 2-3 houses to mark her "way back home"

Mina: "Hi mom & Dad. I had a fabulous walk and running away. Thanks!

Time for dinner..spoonfed style--> Just how it should be! Here's Mina sticking her tongue out bc someone is spoon- fedding her for dinner

Yummy in my Tummy! Mmm....hmmm!

Mina thinking about another walk..

You're Just STERN Liz!

We have this new hire at work who has a "job coach." That's all the details I will say about him. Anyways, there's been a couple times where I've tried to talk to him and teach him how to do things the proper way. Whatever I say, whether it's just from asking him to do things a certain way without saying it with so much pessimism & negativity, he takes it the wrong way becasue he's very sensitive...

So earlier today I found out that the entire 3 weeks since he's hired, he's not doing such a good job; missing floor sweeps and really just "wandering" around the store doing nothing. So I decided to pull him into the office and try to understand and help him do a better job.. I asked Dale to be present while I speak to the new hire due to the "there's always two sides to the story" thing. Guess what happens in the office? I haven't even said much to the new hire and you can see him becoming really upset. I tell the new hire I can't help you if you can't help me understand why you're not performing well the past weeks. Of course, things don't get settled when he leaves and he ends up being upset with this sort of creepy glaring eyes towards me for the rest of the day. Afterwards, I said to Dale, "I can't say anything to him because he'll just get upset before we'd ever come to some point of resolution." Dale couldn't believe what just happened when the new hire got really upset. I told him, see i can't say anything to him...good or bad because he'll just cry." As Dale left the office he said, "Liz...you're just stern...you have a stern voice."

The point is ...when my voice becomes ahem...stern...watch out because I can make you cry!

Visiting Ong Ba 7 in Santa Ana

May 2nd, 2009:

My parents and I paid a visit to a very dear old family elder. Ong ba 7 in Santa Ana. It has been more than 10 years since I've been to their home. It was something I had looked forward to ever since I heard that my Seventh Gpa had open heart surgery. It has been about 6 weeks since the surgery. He looked so much different from the gpa i once knew growing up. It has been years since we've rekindled our relationship and I must say it brought back some fond memories I had with them and the numerous fun I've had inside that home.

Here's Ba 7 & Mom in front of the house

Zachary (Co Oanh's Son) The baby I fell in love with while visiting Ong Ba 7.

Ba 7 giving us some "la cam" to make purple sweet rice xoi. I also love how huge this red flower was! We have one at home but not this huge.

Ong 7 seemed so tiny to me. It's as if he's shrunken in size over the years. Glad he's recovering quite well.

Dad giving Ba 7 some tree trimming advice
Really hot magenta pink flower that I am so in love with for its beautifying color

Phan Boi Chau Street in Nha Trang Vietnam

Ong Phan Boi Chau
A part of Vietnamese history that took me 26 years to learn. I never knew this till today when my uncle posted pictures of Vietnamese emperors on webshots. I was wiki-ing out who those ancient people were in the pictures and came across three words "Phan Boi Chau." Those words suddenly pulled me into a strong urge for curiosity. My maternal grandparents lived on this street in Vietnam. All this time I thought it was just like a name....that translated into something like "--- --- Pearl" when in fact it was actually named after someone famous, a nationalist leader: Phan Boi Chau. He seems like a name long lost in Vietnam history to me. You know that feeling that overcomes you when you discover something relative & profounding that makes you who you are today. Well, I felt that.......and I was proud to know somehow it's quite relative to my culture and past.

Celeb: Davis Buster

Guess who visited me at my workplace today? Charger footballer David Buster. Funny thing was I was talking to him and had no idea he was somebody special until Joel personally called me on my phone to clue me in.
BTW, I purchased myself a ton loads of new earrings today!

Lizzie reporting to work.....3 hours late!

I'm such a terrible terrible worker! I've really outdone myself today. I totally overslept way over and showed up to work 3 hours late! This weekend sucks. I was on Overtime yesterday already too with a 10 hour workday! So much to do and yet still more piles of paperwork to go through!!!!!!

Here's a pic from March 29th at the San Diego Airport with my sister. We were seeing my parents off to Vietnam!

WELCOME HOME!

Here are a few pics of my parents leaving from SD Airport

Yay! The parents are coming home today!!!!

It felt like they were gone for the longest time!
Mina will be so ecstatic!

Economic Recession 2009

This recession makes everyone (no matter what industry you work in) worried. You don't know waking up the next day that yesterday was your last day at work...

Does love for someone change or does he love less

Is there a difference in loving someone less and when you have different views towards someone that sways your love for them?

First Severe Cold of 2009

It so inconveniently happened on my day off that I became severely sick with flu-like symptons late last nite. Mother must have passed it onto me..or maybe it was from Matt.... :(

Forgive me for not crediting whose this is for I've misplaced the person's name somwhere.

I was browsing the web and came across this quote I find so fitting for some people I've worked with and have become acquaintances with.

"RETAIN SIMPLICITY OF HUMANITY"

Passion Can Drive Your Career

Passion Can Drive Your Career
By John Rossheim, Monster Senior Contributing Writer 


Whether it last happened today or 20 years ago, most of us have been hit with that pit-of-the-stomach, Monday-morning moment of questioning: Why do I work here? Is this all there is?
What's missing for many American workers is passion, a positive emotional connection to our work -- often our most energy-consuming pursuit. The good news is that with introspection, planning, action and support, you can redirect your career to incorporate what truly excites and invigorates you.
Passion Drives the Most Successful Careers
In the context of work, passion is more than a best-seller buzzword, according to Sally Hogshead, author of Radical Careering. "The word ‘passion' has a cheesy connotation, but you have to see it as a nonnegotiable element of your career success," she says. "In fact, if you're going to be your most successful, you have to be passionate."
To put the drive back into your career, you first must get back in touch with what energizes you. "Look back over the course of your life -- even back to when you were 12 years old -- and seek patterns in what you like about what you've done," says Lawler Kang, author of Passion at Work. "Try to come up with a high-level passion, even a mission. Then ask, ‘Does this job meet my personal mission?' whatever that mission is."
Your passion may take many forms: working with people, grappling with an organizational puzzle, telling stories or building that better mousetrap. It's wise to come up with more than one endeavor that energizes you, because some passions don't lend themselves easily to a career.
Put Passion into Your Work
Don't make the mistake of assuming that any work activity that touches on your passion will automatically gratify you. "Even if you're interested in golf, it's unlikely you'll stay interested in working in a golf store and selling equipment," says Julie Jansen, author of I Don't Know What I Want, But I Know It's Not This.
Suppose you've got the talent and decide you want to be a golf pro. For a successful candidacy, you need to lay out a plan that will help you put all the pieces together. "You've got to get some substantial stuff on your resume -- fill in the blanks, repackage yourself, get training," says Jansen. A reality check with professionals in your target occupation is key.
Inject Passion into Your Job Opportunistically
Of course, many of us don't have the time and money to undertake a total career change. Big changes typically come with big expenses. But some professionals develop creative ways to infuse their careers with a passion that has been a long-term avocation.
"A client of mine, an account executive at a global ad agency, is passionate about health," says William Arruda, a consultant with Reach Communications Consulting. "So she came up with several ways to inject her passion into the daily grind." The account executive worked with the on-site cafeteria to design healthful menus, led after-work yoga and kickboxing courses and gained a healthcare company as a client.
That's one way to serve up a career with a side of passion.



http://career-advice.monster.com/in-the-office/Work-Life-Balance/Passion-Can-Drive-Your-Career/article.aspx Feb 6,2009

Chuc Mung Nam Moi!
Happy 2009 : Year of the Ox

Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

Happy 2009: Year of the Ox!

Dinner with--42 Albie Crew!

Robin & me....can you tell I'm a lil' buzzed?!?

Sue Ann and myself trying to avoid the Patron shot!

This is probably the best thing I needed last nite! A xmas dinner/reunion. All thanks to Robin! Soo much fun and "buzzed"! hehe