Waking up at 6am, leaving at 7, driving tons and sitting in court and in traffic, working at the Clinic all day and getting home at 9pm... it's been a rough day, not to mention a rough week. I really can't survive on 6 hrs of sleep.

But the small pleasures can make all the difference. I received two postcards from Jason! He has been doing a medical elective rotation in Oxford for about a month and enjoying the life of a scholarly Brit. He traveled to Edinburgh (yes, William Wallace!) last weekend, and those postcards illustrate that he's definitely working hard.

He told me a story from Scottish folklore on this postcard of mountain scenery with the title, "The 5 Sisters of Kintail."

"It was about a father who had 7 daughters and couldn't marry any of them off because they were too picky and found no one suitable. The daughters started getting older and still no suitors. One day, two Irish sailors came and fell in love with the two youngest daughters, and vice versa. The father, however, wouldn't allow them to marry them, and offered the oldest daughters instead. As a deal, the Irish sailors said they wanted to marry the 2 youngest daughters in Ireland, and in 2 months time, would return with their 5 older brothers. Well, they never came back and the father was distressed and asked a witch to preserve his 5 daughters' beauty until their return. The witch agreed, and turned them into the 5 mountains."

That story made me laugh! Thanks JY.

I look ahead at the next two weeks and do not know how it's possible to complete all of the things I need to complete before I head out to NYC. In short, I'm rather overwhelmed. The good news about our client (see post below) was a momentary boost, but otherwise, I feel like I must do the incredible in an impossibly short amount of time.

To-Do List
-Admin Law Journal assignment
-Admin Law Final
-Professional Responsibility Final
-Business Organizations Final
-Law Review Source-gathering assignment
-#1 Client for Immigration Clinic
-#2 Client for Immigraiion Clinic (nearly complete)
-Choosing a wedding ceremony & reception site
-Meet with a writer for Law Review, preliminary read/edit her student piece

I leave in the morning at 4:45am for the airport to fly down to OC for the weekend. So I need to pack and clean up... and hope to get some sleep tonight!

Stupendous news! We won our case - our client is no longer in removal proceedings! When the judge ruled to terminate the proceedings, my partner, supervising attorney and I were absolutely astounded. We had expected the hearing to be a mere formality, since there was no word on the results of the application we had submitted to the Citizenship & Immigration Services (formerly known as INS.) Instead, to our complete and dumbfounded surprise, the application had been granted! Therefore, the judge (acting in her discretion) told us it was over and our client could go home.

Believe me, this was no small thing and so unlikely to have occurred! Our attorney could barely contain herself from grinning like a Cheshire cat, she was so happy. I sat there outside the courtroom for a bit, just thanking God and feeling so relieved. After two long months, he was released from detention today and reunited with his family.

Now if only our other case would end so well....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACE!!!!

Here's a special greeting, just for you. (Don't forget to turn on your sound first!) Haha.

Grace is one of my best friends... we've been through thick and thin since 7th grade! She is a most splendid person - unbelievably optimistic, persevering and someone who lives life with spirit! An incredibly loyal friend, and a true work of... grace.

Grace - may God continue to bless you, lead you and teach you this year, and may you continue to be a blessing to others.

Back from San Jose! The bridal shower/quasi-slumber party for Elaine was a smashing success. (Bev and Janet, you two are awesome bridesmaids, and cute to boot.) Elaine and all the guests were great sports, following our directions to wear PJs and bring stuffed animals. We did a flashback of the '80s/early '90s to a time where girls just wanted to have fun, matching scrunchies were essential and Madonna and New Kids (NKOTB) reigned supreme. Good times!

I also had a chance to hang out with Grace and Chris & Linda (they are now an inseparable married couple and hence the ampersand symbol.) It was good to be with old friends. Grace, thanks for all your driving... do you suppose we are now near-experts on San Jose freeways after missing our exits three different times?

Fortunately, I still made my flight, the last one out to Seattle. Unfortunately, I am back to 2004, and a time where I am no longer a girl and must face my avalanche of school responsibilities. However, I did bring Madonna back with me (thanks Janet!)

After about 8 months of sweat and tears, I am happy to announce that my student piece ("The Paper" as I have not-so-affectionately dubbed it) is certified to be published in the August book of the Washington Law Review!

This, of course, does not mean that it WILL be published, as there are a couple things that could happen between now and then (mainly that someone else could pre-empt me on the topic and argument, or the Managing Editors could request that the Editor-in-Chief revoke my certification because they realize it would embarass the Law Review.)

In any case, I definitely didn't do it on my own. I recognize the love and support of Jason (who has been a steadfast trooper of forbearance, who has listened to me gripe, whine and cry about it since September), my mom (who printed out so many documents for me at 11pm during my winter break) and dad (who always told me I could do it) and Joy (who always brought me food). Grace, Ellen and Christine (sorry again for missing your bday! :( ) were also awesome for listening to me and being understanding when I wasn't the greatest friend or person to be around during the winter holidays.

You guys are the best, thank you!

This afternoon I attended a choral concert. A girl (or young lady? she is growing up and tall so quickly!) from church is involved with the Seattle Children's Chorus, and she invited me to attend.

It was beautiful. The concert was held in a large, cathedral-like church. There were nearly 200 kids, ages 7-18 in the Chorus, split into four different chorale groups. Their singing was so pure and bright, and their voices rose high to fill the cavernous hall.

While I was sitting there, it struck me that long ago, about 15 years ago, I sang in a choir rather similar! The North Orange County Children's Choir (NOCCC), led by Mr. Liwei Chen. It is still in existence today.

Actually, you can see both Joy and I in their photo gallery pictures. Check out this one. Can you find me? Or Joy? Give you a hint. We are both standing close to Mickey Mouse. Look closely.... to Mickey's right, that's me! And in front of us, that's Joy! Another one. Joy & I are standing together in the back row, center. Look how I tower over her. This one is awesome! I am posing, right in the middle, with my Lion King hair. Joy looks darling, with her typical Chinese-bangs cut.

Both of us even wrote short little entries in the 1989-1990 NOCCC yearbook. (You need to scroll down a bit to get there.) Hilarious! What memories... I remember how much I hated going to practices, getting dressed up in our choir uniforms, and standing up on stage for such long stretches.

But you know, I failed to appreciate at that time that singing...SINGING... is joyous and wonderful and lifts one's heart closer to God. In fact, it's a reflection of His goodness and beauty, and the simple pleasures He gives us. In C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan creates the world.. by word, yes, but through singing! He sings the world into existence. Could that be the way it really happened....?

Thank You Lord for the brief respite from the daily grind and the reminder that all that You created is good, particularly music and the ability to sing!

An excerpt from an email I wrote today:

You know, I probably would've reacted similarly to you in that situation at the bible study. And perhaps part of me just always thinks of the arguments for the other side. However, I was wondering if I was imposing a different standard on you than I have on me regarding doctrine and fellowship, etc.

For instance, I think you are generally more say, black-and-white "conservative" than I am in issues of doctrine and theology. (Not to say that we differ so radically or anything.) And it's funny what you said about wanting to be in a Biblical church, but at the same time, criticizing it. Perhaps that's me too. Like I want to be able to critique the ways that it's too rigid, but at the same time, the structure needs to be there or what holds us back from slippery slope? It's almost like the security of knowing that the opposing sides will keep you from drifting into heresy-land. Like a checks and balances idea. So, maybe it's really a charge against the extremes or excesses/abuses of a particular position, rather than the position itself. E.g. it's good that the pastor guy said that we need to memorize verses to fight against our natural sinful inclinations, but that perhaps he should also take into account that may not be the only thing that needs to happen. the Bible does give us strength and provides direction for us to remember how we are to act, but at the same time, it's not the only thing... perhaps we need accountability and encouragment and example from other believers. and perhaps those avenues will be more sensitive to the unique circumstances of X's (and our own) issues.

Anyway, back to my point. I guess perhaps sometimes I think that you are to be the counterbalance to my excesses... let's say, e.g. my tendency to make things too relative or subjective, you could point me back to the objective and hard lines... while at the same time, recognizing that not all falls within those objective and hard line issues. does that make sense?

in some sense, I don't want you to be corrupted by what is ironically, an area that sometimes i pride myself in (thinking outside the theological box)... and at the same time, i'm also afraid of my own heresy and inclination towards disbelief and apostasy. does that make sense?

okay, these are just initial thoughts on what was bothering me earlier today. it kinda also goes back to the same feelings of, what am I doing and is this pleasing in God's sight? am I just blinded to my own justifications? am I really following God anymore? was i ever, or just thought i did? and wondering if you are in the same cloud/fog that I'm possibly in?

I've lost nearly all of my saved emails in my email program. :( So I apologize if I don't respond to any emails you may have sent more than a week ago. If you can, please resend. Thanks.

Anyone know how to recover this material? I use an AOL program.

WE DID IT!

I'm pleased to announce that Jason Yip and I got engaged this past Saturday!

I've attached the link to some of the photos from that day, and a running commentary of the proposal and other events.

Our Engagement Day Photos

[For those of you who have already seen these, I added a few of the actual proposal photos, courtesy of Seth and Julian's parents.]

To all of you that helped out and just showed up, thank you for blessing us with your hard work and presence! To those who are away from Seattle, we consider your support, love, encouragement and prayers indispensable for helping us make it to this point! (And we need it still.) We thank God for all of you.