Leadership Retreat & Diana's 25th Birthday Bash!

We had a Baptist Student Ministry (BSM) Leadership Retreat last Saturday. The BSM director's wife, Jonya made the super yummy cinnamon rolls and sausage and cheese balls from scratch! She's really a great cook! It was really nice discussing and planning activities for the upcoming semester. The BSM director, Chris reminded us of the importance of servanthood in our lives.

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come. All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. " (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)

Among the activities planned are helping the freshmen and students move in to their dorms this week before college starts, the FOCUS conference that we will be going to from Sept. 7-9, mission projects at the Rescue Mission (a place for the homeless), the free lunch given to all students on Wednesdays, etc... After that, we went out for lunch at San Francisco Oven (BSM gave us a treat! hehehe!).

Group photo of all the ladies! (Yes, we outnumbered the guys!!!)

My lunch... Coastline BBQ Chicken Panini with pasta as a side order... simply deliciousssss!

Back to the leadership retreat... At the end of the one-day retreat, we went around the UTEP campus in pairs and just prayed as we walked around (they called it Prayer Walk). We walked and prayed for the school, students, professors, and almost everything in our 30 minutes walk. It was really neat because we were the only ones on campus that time (remember, it's still summer vacation and it's a Saturday!). It was a peaceful feeling knowing that God is walking with us and all we have to do is just commit everything into His hands... Trust and have faith in Him.

After the leadership retreat, I went back with Eliana and Noemi to Eliana's house because we had 2 hours before Diana's party. Eliana straightened our hair for us! She's really a pro! (p/s: it's my 1st time straightening my hair! hehe!)

Left to right: Eliana, Me, Noemi

The pictures below were taken at the party:

Left to right: Noemi, Me, Diana (the birthday gal!)

Left to right: Christina, Me, Justin (they're a cute couple!)

Top row from left to right: Noemi, Paloma
Bottom row from left to right: Eliana, Me

Top row from left to right: Josh, Noemi, Steven
Bottom row from left to right: Eliana, Me

There's more of us in the BSM but I didn't get a chance to take all of their pictures. Maybe next time!

Tucson, AZ: Part 1

This is a short summary on my last vacation to Tucson, Arizona.

Day 1:

It took us 5 hours to go from El Paso, TX to Tucson, AZ. We crossed the New Mexico state on our way. We took the Interstate-10 highway all the way. Thank God they don't have toll booths along this highway. Here's a picture taken at one of the rest area:



We arrived at Tucson in Mark's apartment around noon. He gave us a brief tour around his place and after settling our stuff, he suggested that we go for lunch at this Chinese restaurant. Coincidentally, they serve dim sum during the weekends. So we're in luck! hehe! I have to say that the highlight of the trip was having DIM SUM for lunch! That was really the best treat ever! I've been deprived of 'char siew pao', 'har gao', 'siew mai', 'chee cheong fun', and 'tau fu fa' (sweet soybean curd) for two years and finally, my dream came true! hehe!

After that, we went to Tempe which was about an hour away from Tucson. IKEA was the first shopping place we visited. I haven't been to IKEA for two years. The IKEA here was similar to the one in Damansara in terms of items sold and the floor plan. However, the main difference was that we paid in terms of US dollars instead of Malaysian Ringgit lar...lol! Next, we went to Lee Lee Supermarket (also in Tempe). It's a huge oriental store and they had a small jewelry shop (like Poh Kong), roast duck, roast pork and I even saw cendol there...was tempted to get it but I didn't...sigh... Well, one can't have everything in the world right? After all, I already got the dim sum treat! hehe!

We went for dinner at Chandler (one of the major suburbs of Phoenix) after shopping at the oriental supermarket. Unfortunately, Olive Garden had a long waiting list before we could get a seat for dinner. So we went across the street to Chili's.

Day 2:

Mount Lemmon was our first destination for the day. It was an hour drive and the view was simply magnificent! Here are some pictures of Mt. Lemmon:



Here's a bird's eye view of Tucson city from Mt. Lemmon.



There were many cyclists that cycled all the way up to Mt. Lemmon like this guy in the pic.








See the black patch? That's the spot where there was a fire a few years ago.




There's a skyride as we approached the peak of Mt. Lemmon but it costs $9 for an adult. We all agreed that's it not worth it.



All of us felt dizzy going up and down Mt. Lemmon because the road was winding but I think it was worth it in the end. We also enjoyed the cool breeze at the peak of Mt. Lemmon.

We headed for lunch after that. Too bad the Japanese restaurant was closed on Sunday. So we decided to go back to the Chinese restaurant again...hehe! This time, we had the dishes and rice. It was so good!!!

We went back to Mark's apartment for awhile and then, we went to the Foothills Mall. This mall was just a block away from his apartment and it is an outlet mall. They sell branded stuff for less. After that, we went home to cook Nasi Lemak and Sambal Udang!!! yay! we managed to get some ingredients from the oriental supermarket but they didn't have ikan bilis. In a way, it was a blessing because it would have smelt very fishy in his apartment....After dinner, we went back to the mall because they had a cinema there.

We watched Rush Hour 3. It was a great movie but a tad too short for me...only 1.5 hours. It was also more expensive in that cinema. Mark mentioned that they give students a discount in all the cinemas throughout The States ( I wish I knew that before...). I showed my student ID and it was $8 for me and $9 for the rest of them. I don't even want to convert this amount to RM...

To be continued...

My Last Vacation

Destination: Tucson, Arizona
Duration: August 11-14, 2007

Yes, this will be my last vacation during the summer vacation before the Fall semester starts on August 27th...sigh... Well, I can't wait to go there because it'll be my first time in Arizona a.k.a. The Grand Canyon State! We will also visit Mount Lemmon in Tucson.

That's all for now! I'll definitely come back with dozens of pictures! Y'all have a great weekend!