laughter

"He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy." - Job 8:21

This verse was a good reminder for me.

what are you passionate about?

In today's day and age, the normal thing to do after graduating from college is to either find a job in what you majored in (or somewhat related to what you majored in) so that you can start your career or go to graduate school and get a Master's degree. Rarely is there passion in wanting to pursue either of those two (or somewhere along the way, that passion is lost).

Having been out of school for almost a year and having recently accepted a job offer, one of my biggest worries, now, is that I'll become someone who has lost focus of what my passions are. When I graduated in June 2012, all I remember thinking was that my next step was to get a job within a couple months of graduation and then maybe go back to graduate school a couple years after that. Of course, things didn't go as planned. I found myself having been graduated for over 4 months and jobless with my parents hovering over me with the plans that they had for me: "You should be job searching and preparing to take GREs so that you can apply to Graduate School at the same time. You need to have a backup plan."

Of course, getting pressure from my parents and the people around me on top of the pressure that I had on myself, things started to feel hopeless. What was I going to do with my life? Am I going to be jobless forever? When is this feeling of hopelessness ever going to go away? What am I even passionate about? Do I want to do Civil Engineering even? All these questions and doubts started popping up in my head and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I didn't have any answers (which only led to more frustration).

Now that it has been almost of year since I graduated, I want to say that one of the best advice I got was when someone told me: Enjoy the time that you have now while you don't have a job because you WILL get a job. And when you do get a job, there are going to be so many things you wish you did while you didn't have a job.

Also, having walked with some of my friends through this post-grad stage, I admire how some of them have pursued what their passions are. They've worked part-time at restaurants because they want to pursue a career in the food industry instead of an office job. They've picked up and moved to another country because they wanted to experience a different culture. They've quit their current full-time job so that they can be an intern somewhere else to pursue a completely different path. They took all these risks so that they could do what they were passionate about.  A year ago, I probably would have thought that they were crazy, but now, I know that they aren't. They may defy the norm of society but I know that they are all much happier doing what they enjoy and love.

What are you passionate about? Are you pursuing and fighting to do what you love?

<sorry if there are any typos or grammatical errors. it's late...haha goodnight!>

art and makeup

Since my blog is titled, My Road to Self Discovery, I thought I'd blog about something along those lines. Haha

So... since I graduated in June 2012, I've been trying to figure out what to do with my life (as most postgrads do) and what God's purpose is for me. With struggling to find a full-time job, I've had a lot of time to dabble in things. The main thing I'm trying to figure out now is whether these things that I've been doing are part of a phase that I'm going through or if it's actually something that I've found to be part of who I am.

From my previous posts, I'm sure you can tell that one of the things I've been doing is making cards and selling them for a special cause. At first, when I made them for MOCA, I thought I'd be a one time thing. Then when the opportunity came up to sell them at my new home church, I decided to do it again! Some people who purchased some from me at MOCA have also requested for more! :) I'm so grateful for the support that I've been getting from my friends and family. I've always really enjoyed art (whether it be painting, scrapbooking, graphics, crafts, etc.). I'm starting to see that art is part of who I am. I may not always have an idea when it comes to what to draw or make and I know I'm not the greatest at it but it's definitely something I enjoy.

Something else that I've been really into recently is makeup. I'm not sure if this is just a phase or not. It might be the endless possibilities of makeup that intrigues me but one thing is for sure, I love how one can express themselves through makeup. I currently follow a couple YouTube makeup gurus and I like how they can inspire you to try something new with makeup. Much like a painting, you don't need to have the exact colors or medium that the artist uses; in this case, you don't need to have the exact color or brand of eyeshadow. They are simply sharing with you their ideas which can help to inspire you into finding what you like or creating a new look.

I will end with two quotes from Bobbi Brown:

"Makeup is a way for a woman to look and feel like herself, only prettier and more confident."

"Beauty isn't about looking perfect. It's about celebrating your individuality."

Let's embrace our individuality and who God has created us to be! :)

joy

"Even on the worst days, there's a possibility for joy." - Beckett (for Castle)

One of the shows that I've been watching recently is Castle. It's about this writer, Richard Castle, who follows a detective, Kate Beckett, around on different cases for inspiration in writing his books. This quote stuck out to me because after thinking about it, it's so true! 

In the midst of all the bad things that can happen to us in a day, it makes us lose sight of the joy that can happen. 

norcal trip!

This was the third NorCal trip that I've taken with friends! It has always been nice to have a short getaway trip with friends to just relax and, in a way, escape reality.

Having been out of school for almost a year now, reality isn't the easiest thing to face. Still on the hunt for a job, thoughts of hopelessness creeps up quite easily and quickly. I still continue to tell myself that it's ok that I don't have a job since I have my internship which means that I'm still at least doing something in the meantime but it just doesn't feel like enough. It's easy for me to get caught into the lies of "I have no purpose in life" and "my life sucks." Ultimately, I truly do believe that God has a plan for me in all this, even though it's really hard to see when I find myself sulking in my misery. I just hope that I'm knocking on the right doors and hoping that one of those doors will be the right one.

I've gotten the advice from people around me that I need to know that I will get a job (just now sure when) and that I should fully enjoy the free time that I have now. I just hope my impatience doesn't get the best of me!

Anyway, enough babbling! Onto my NorCal Trip! :)

Here are some pictures that captured some of my favorite moments of the trip! :)

Since graduating, I've learned the importance of keeping in touch with people in my women's community. I met Iris when I was a freshmen but it wasn't until our senior year that we started to really get to know each other. After tons of emails back and forth, this was only the second time I got to see her after graduating! 

Bouchon! :) The line was well worth the wait for the Portobello sandwich!

Isn't the dog such a cutie?

Drool....

It was such a joy to spend the day with these girls (and Emma) in Napa! It seriously felt like freshmen year again when we all first met!

All grown up!

Candid moments are the best!

These girls always make me smile!

We spent some time enjoying these flowers, taking a lot of pictures of them and with them! It was nice to just sit in the shade, talk, and just relax.

Tehehe I really like this picture!

:)

Hope you enjoyed these pictures! 

thank you!

I just wanted to say thank you for those who have been so supportive in purchasing my handmade cards and for your kind words of encouragement! :) MOCA was very successful and I enjoyed everyone's performance! I have to say, it felt weird going back (in a good way). I got to see a few familiar faces along with many fresh faces. Even though I know a lot of time has passed, The Edge and Newsong always have a way of making me feel at home.

Since moving back home, I have been going to Epicentre Church and they're trying to raise money to buy the Malawi team a car since they will be there for another 2 to 5 years. I'm currently in the process of talking to Epicentre about helping them fundraise by selling my handmade cards! :) We'll see what happens!! :) In the midst of struggling with my job search process, it's great to see that my passion for arts and crafts can be used to help people.

weddings!

Maybe it's because it's spring and summer are just around the quarter, but it seems like a lot of people having been either getting engaged or married! It's crazy seeing my facebook news feed filled with all these pictures of people at weddings and such! It didn't really hit me that I should make congratulation cards for newlyweds, but someone asked if I had some and so I decided to make them! :)

This is what it looks like!

I'm also really excited for MOCA! I've actually already started selling my cards since I thought it wouldn't hurt to start early since the profits will be going to a good cause! :) Special thanks to those who have been really supportive and those who've already bought some of cards!

200+

Yesterday, I randomly decided to count the amount of cards that I've made because people have been asking. I knew I had made more than 100 but who knew I was already past the 200 mark! I got really excited and I can't believe it didn't even feel like I made that many. Guess that's what happens when I do something that I really enjoy doing.

Can you tell from the picture that there are over 200 cards?!

When it comes to card making (or anything related to art), I always find myself lost in what I'm doing. I tend to lose track of time. I accidentally stayed up til 4am once working on making cards and scrapbooking! So bad...

If only I were this focused when it comes to job searching...

owls galore!

I've been having a minor obsession with owls after I realized how cute they were! So of course, I've been making cards with owls on them!

My previous post, showed an image of a card design that I wanted to make and below is a picture of the actual card that I made! As of now, I've only made a Mother's Day version. It may be difficult to see through the picture but the smaller owl is actually an owl that has been glued together onto the card to give the card some sort of dimension (each of the small owls vary in color) while the rest of the design has been printed on.

Having a lot of friends who are still in college, I decided to make graduation cards as well! It's a vary simple card that can be for just about anyone who's graduation in May/June! 

Can any of you guys tell that I used Pooh to hold my cards?  :D

parents

No matter how old we get, our parents will always treat us like we're their babies. They will always want to protect us from harm, whether it's something as big as our first heartbreak or something as small as shielding us from the rain so that we won't get sick.

Father's Day/Mother's Day card designed using Illustrator

(the actual card will be posted when it's made!)

first blog post!

So let's jump right into it...

While I was at UCI, I was part of a church called Newsong and their college group, The Edge. Every year they would host an event called Movement of Creative Arts (MOCA) to celebrate the creativity of art (whether it's music, acting, or showcasing art pieces) while raising money for a cause. This year, they have chosen to help raise money for an organization called HelpLive, an organization for at-risk children.

Each year there are performances, raffles, and vendors. This year, I have the privilege of being a vendor! :) I will be selling handmade cards! See some of them below:

Teddy Bear Card:

 

Cupcake Birthday Card: 

 

Micky and Minnie Card:

 Thank You Card:

 

Hope you liked the cards! :) Between now and the event on April 6th, I'll be posting more images of cards as I make them! Please comment below with suggestions on cards that you would like to see! :)