a plan.

not ours, but His.

⁹ However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him— ¹⁰ these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit."

-1 Corinthians 2:9-10

I read the above verses countless times throughout my Christian life and meditated on the same last week.  It's crazy how the Bible really speaks to you..... God tells you all the right things at the right times, seriously.

They say your early to mid-20s are a crucial time of change, transition, and opportunity. You must make the right choices, meet the right people, etc.  I myself, am turning 24 in a little less than 4 months and much change is happening around me. Family-related changes, friends-related changes, myself-related changes, yikes! Every time I stress out about the decisions I make or about what my future holds, I stop and allow a minute to remind myself that really, only God knows and prayer is the only way to unfold His plan.

He really does have magical, wonderful, exciting things planned for those who love Him. It’s a struggle having faith knowing that these things may not be according to my personal plan, but I’m trusting in Him and trying to be patient. I see Him working in my life and when I think back on the changes going on right now, I realize how almighty He truly is; everything fits and makes sense.

I was never very good at waiting; I usually just DO then deal with the consequences later. I feel so geub-hae but I guess all good things take time.

Must pray more.

Cheers,

Cheryl

mommy's skills.

but i made 'em my own ;)

From time-to-time I make dinner for my roommates and/or my boyfriend.  It is usually pasta.  I've made a variety of pastas for the girls and each and every time it was bomb.  As in, "the."  More recently, I've made a variety of jjigaes and soojaebi and other random korean dishes for the manfriend and I shock and amaze myself at how delicious everything is! 

It's such a good feeling when people 'ooh' and 'aah' over food you've made and eat it maht-eet-gae (dunno how to say this in english...).  Last night, in celebration of my manfriend's H-1B visa being approved, I made vodka sauce with chicken, onions, and peppers over roasted garlic fettucine aaaaaand a major flavor explosion ensued in my mouth and that was that.

I've definitely taken after my mom's cooking skills and now I know why she loves to feed people the way she does.

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." -Virginia Woolf

Amen to that!

Cheers,

Cheryl

mirror, mirror, on the wall.

obsessed with my reflection.

I'm sure most girls are, but they don't readily admit it.  I've been noticing lately that I cannot pass by a reflective surface without glancing into it.  I think the image sans braces has something to do with it, but even before I got them chains off, I was always looking into mirrors every few minutes.  Especially when I knew I looked good.

I know people are thinking, "conceited beeatch" but admit it; girls can't help themselves when they know they look good that day.  And I know everyone has a "mirror face."  I've seen all my girlfriends, even my boyfriend, make their "mirror face."  Some girls pucker up, some girls widen their eyes, some girls suck in their cheeks (some boys do, too *ahem* DAVE) and some girls prefer their profiles.  It's essentially people putting their "best face forward."  Sometimes I wonder if people see me the way I see myself in the mirror.  Sometimes I wish they saw me the way I saw me, but I guess that's my ego speaking.  Sometimes I hope they see me bigger, better, more beautiful than I see me and I guess that's my insecurity speaking.

Even at the office, sitting in my cubicle, I'll pick up my compact and just glance into it.  Why?  I'm not really sure.  I'll just subconsciously grab my little pocket mirror, open it up, make a little face, rub my lips together, pat my hair and I'm done. 

This may sound completely stupid or completely obvious, but doesn't it feel good when you look into the mirror and like what you see?  It's almost like a little pick-me-up.  When you look good, you feel good and your day is that much better.  When you look like sh*t, you feel like sh*t and your day gets that much worse. 

Especially for us ladies; make-up & dress-up are so so SO important.

Just sayin'.

Cheers,

Cheryl

cheeeeeesin'.

like a foo.

Got them braces off!  I dindunnit!  Peektures to come later.

Gotta blog about something else for a quick second.

Check this out #1. - It's a video taken in Pyongyang, North Korea by a slick photographer, Steve Gong.  It truly gives you a different perspective on life over there in the unknown and he was really able to capture a lot of angles despite the strict regulations the NK government has on photography and videotaping.  My description is doing nothing for the video.  Just watch.

Check this out #2. - This is a video taken in Japan by a few reporters.  These days, everywhere you turn, you see and hear about the destruction and horror of all the disastrous things happening in Japan right now, but this video really hits home for me.  Not just because I have dogs and because I'm a dog-lover but if the animals are suffering and lost like this, one can only imagine the emotional distraught of the humans there.

Man.  And here I am giggling and laughing about getting my braces taken off.  Watching these videos really makes me reflect on my life and what I've been so blessed to have.  Let's really cherish and thank God for every. little. thing.

Cheers,

A Braces-Free Cheryl

sucka mcccccccc.

GETTING MY BRACES OFF IN TWO NIGHTS.

WHAT WHAT in the BUTT.

I'm actually pretty worried that it may not happen because my orthodontist mentioned that there is still a small gap between two of my teeth and if that gap doesn't close up, I will have to wear my braces for a little while longer.  GASP!  However, the gap has been extremely stubborn for the past few months (it's actually the only reason why I haven't gotten my braces off sooner) so I'm thinking I'll give in to its stubbornness and accept that the gap and I were just meant to be.  Fall into the gap. (sorry) 

Gaw, I just want to get them off already and not have to worry about biting into ggahkdoogi and having a brace come off, or biting into a sandwich and have remnants of the lettuce, ham, and bread stuck in each individual brace, or eating something colored and have my braces stained red and blue all day, or posing for a picture whilst cleverly disguising the fact that I have braces, or laughing with my mouth open and wondering if people are staring at my braces, orrr pretty much eat anything and have to rinse and/or toothpick my teeth to liberation from food chunks...

Anyone else excited to see my tiger-print and purple-glitter retainers?

Cheers,

Cheryl

don't be foolish.

"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."

²⁶ Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

-1 Corinthians 1:26-31

The above verses actually remind me of that new show on ABC, "Secret Millionaire."  For those who've never heard of it, the show, which originated in the UK, I believe, is about millionaires who hide their true identity to go live with and amongst the poor in various less-than-fortunate towns.  In each scenario, the millionaire is genuinely touched by the volunteers and the locals in the respective areas and chooses an organization or an individual to whom they reveal their true identity and donate a minimum of a hundred thousand dollars.  Many of these millionaires (the "strong") are incredibly humbled by the impoverished (the "weak") and each episode truly exemplifies what God means in the above passage.

Nothing is by our power, our strength, our knowledge, or our will; let's take pride in knowing He lives in us and we through Him. 

This past weekend, I had originally planned nights full of fun and rage-tastic memories with my girlfriends but instead, I went to Jersey on Friday night to have dinner at home and, completely comatose from the feast, passed out early.  I woke up at 5:30am on Saturday, went to early morning service and prayed until tears flooded every hole in my face (that's kind of gross, eh?) then golfed with my parents and the manfriend.  That night, I had an early dinner and passed out at home despite the urges to rage.  Sunday, I went to church then went to Bible study and again came home, had an early dinner, watched Toy Story 3 and went to bed. 

How radically different from the weekend I had planned/imagined...

Let's not be ashamed to be broken before God and humble ourselves knowing He is truly omnipotent and omnipresent.  He draws us near to Him when we least expect it and calms our hearts when we most need it. 

Lord, may even the most boastful of us be humbled by Your grace.

Cheers,

Cheryl
 

PFW

oh, if only.

In light of PFW, I wanted to finish this post. I started it as a draft knowing that this photo really really struck a chord in me, but not knowing where, exactly, I wanted to take it.

This is a shot taken by Scott Schuman from Preen's SS 2011 line. He commented on the beauty of the dress and the model herself, but I wanted to point out something entirely different; her feet.

Her feet are way. too. big. for those shoes and 'tis a haute couture runway model's life.  Her toes are curling over the tips of the 5-6 inch stilletto-heeled shoes and the strap of the heels are so tightly wound 'round the backs of her ankles.  Do you see how the toes on her right foot are literally touching the runway as she walks?  The shoes, however beautiful they are, are clearly at least two sizes too small for this model.  Yet, look at her face, her poise, her elegance and, as the great Sartorialist himself pointed out, the way the dress moves, unnerved by the obvious pain shooting through her entire body from the much-too-tight shoes.  Some may say that's the price models pay, but no, I think this is the price many of us pay on a daily basis.

We hide our insecurities, our sorrows, our angst to display a facade of poised confidence. Sometimes it works like a charm, sometimes it doesn't.  I'm sure no one noticed the model's poor poor feet and only saw how beautifully she sashayed down that runway.  The image as a whole is worth hiding a few flaws bit of pain for, I'd say. 

We're all models.

Cheers,

Cheryl

EDIT: "flaws" was a horrible word choice.  I don't think insecurity, pain, anxiety, sadness, or anything of the sort is a flaw in any way.