27th Update

Things that have happened in the past year:

1) baby #2 - Charlotte, a little crippled, a bit of a merrower, a queen bee in her own right, mrs. wilbur...

2) a realization - of things to come, of where i am, of things i cannot change, of what i hope, of letting go...

Thing to come in the following year:

1) wedding - a lifelong companion, a witness for our lives, a compromise and acceptance of things things not understood, and a commitment to ideologies that must become reality. CAN"T WAIT! 

Year of the Pig

I was trying to think of a fitting title for this post and all i could think about was the chinese zodiac. As mundane as it is, it kinda has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Well, a least in contrast to the ordinary title,  this year has certaintly been extraordinary. Do you ever feel like, every once in a great while, say a paricular year in a group of years, there seems to be one that defines you, shapes you, and ultimately becomes a part of your soul? It's a year that you can look back at many years from now and think, "wow, so much happened in that one year...so many important things," and that one particular time in your life will always be a part of who you are.

I think this year, the year of the pig is that particular year for me. so much has happened during thi year that I still feel like I'm reeling from the novelty of it. So in an attempt to caputre this moment, this year, I've decided to create a list of the top 5 events that have touched my life the most during this year. In some ways I don't think I can even put a heirarchy to them. So in whichever order fate seems fit, the following is my list:

1) Our engagement

2) Our purchase of our very first place together

3) Seeing my childhood friend get married

4) Celebrating my mom's 60th birthday

5) Completing my first year at my first real job

With Thaksgiving around the corner and the holidays coming up, it seems fitting to think about the peple, things and events that mean so much to us; It's the events, like the ones above that make us feel alive and whole, like we're living for something greater and better and that were a part of something bigger. I think there's an innate desire within all humans that want to be a part of something...the feeling of belonging and recognition. It's strange but we never seem to question this longning. Why is that? is it because ultimately we really are meant to belong to some thing, to some group, to some one? Whatever the reasons are or is, I'm content to say that I'm happy I belong.

Happy year of the Pig!

so i've been averaging 5 or so weddings every year for the last few years including this year. (well, been to 3 so far this year, 1 more that I am go to for sure, and 1 more that i may or may not go to). in any case, i normally don't cry at weddings (strange cuz i'm pretty sentimental and a diehard romantic at heart) but this last one I went to on 9/1/07 I balled like a baby. Maybe it's because this wedding meant something. Or I should say the person getting married meant something to me. 

It's a strange feeling to see someone whom you've known since childhood stand as an adult at an altar so holy, and make an everlasting promise to love one person and one person only for all eternity. All i could see was this little girl that i grew up with. This girl that I spent countless days and nights reminiscing about just how exactly this day would be. I read this book once called The Elegant Universe. It's a bunch of scientific theories of how the universe came to be and the laws that govern space, motion, and time. I found something pretty fascinating in it. The author states that TIME is not a background where people and our lives get played out, like some act or scene in a play. Rather, TIME is just another actor amongst us. It isn't some backdrop that watches us and measures us but it's a force that moves through space just as we do. it is governed by the same law of physics that we as humans abide by. This view of time was very foreign to me. I think as children we are somehow taught and brought up to think time is this all powerful, omnipotent force that nothing can affect and nothing can alter; that time is a force that transcends every known power and authority on earth....and in a sense it does. But the more I think about this and the more I see my life and the lives around  me move through this world time becomes more real. By that I mean, that time is no longer this all enforcing power that we live by and die by, rather it is something that we can do something about. 

As i watched m friend go through the rituals of marriage and my mind raced through history, I realized that the memories that come with the passing of time isn't something that stays static and lost in the past, rather it changes with us...it changes with time. The way we remember our lives and the memories that we keep in our hearts aren't the same memories that we had when we were 5, 10, 20 years ago, rather those memories are remembered in the state of mind that we are currently in and it changes the memories, it changes us. I think it's important to reflect on our memories and time here on earth every once in a while. it helps us to appreciate life and helps us to understand that aging is all a part of the play. Life is one scene in an act and there are countless acts to be played out. It's amazing what life holds for us and as long as we can treasure each moment that we have it makes the memories that much more sweeter.

So, as inspired as I was and in an effort to recall buried memories of times yonder I resorted to digging through my old photo albums. and that's what I did this morning. I dug around in my plastic tupperware bin where I keep bits and pieces of my life and chuckled at myself and even shed a few tears. Life is Wonderful.

Fourth of July at our new condo on the rooftop

View from the rooftop

is he drunk already???

Pieces of my Life

Mr Wilbur, you're all grown up

New Orleans~ Too many Funs!

Mr Bartender, I want another one of those!

I feel your pain

Holiday Couples Dinner

DA BEARS! enough said

ma, pops, & galddie

You talking to me?

Smokin some Hookah

I cna't believe our friends are having babys! and I can't believe they're already having B-Days! Happy Birfday Jin-Wu~

Boy, Antioch 7 United. It was a long time coming...

Can we say the bridesmaids were DRUNK~!

Chewy's - OPEN for business. We're so proud of you GLEN!

Camping  - thank goodness there were no mountain lions

Bobby - "boppin em on the head"

Apollo! you must be having the time of your life!

Memorial Day BBQ at the Lakefront

Me & my Favorite white girl at Hogs & Honeys

Soaking up the West Coast Sun

me & my cousin...Taste of Chicago

MIAMI baby~i ate so much I had to hcange my top becuae i thought the buttons would pop off!