To start off, I want to wish you a happy Chinese New Year! If you’re Mandarin speaking, Xin Nian Kuai Le! If you’re Cantonese speaking, Kung Hei Fat Choi! (sorry about my sucky pinyin skills). As a child I used to love this time of year (it comes third after Christmas and my birthday), because of the wonderful food and the red envelopes of money we’d get! Click here for more information on one of the biggest holidays of the year.

And of course, it is the year of the dog:

Ushering the new year, I had originaly intended to clean my house beforehand (a great excuse to get my butt going on this) but ended up not having enough time to do so. That’s ok, at least I got to do something different - it was my first time making traditional sticky rice cake from scratch (nian gao): YUMMY!

With the celebrations, I was able to also get some knitting done too:

A couple close-ups:

I’m feeling alot more comfortable with mohair. Lace is quite addicting - I love how detailed it is (I’m never bored with it) and when I look back at what I’ve done, I love how it looks!

P.S. If you’ve noticed, I’ve changed my template once again. I think I’ll stick with this for now - it’s functional and clean. =) I have also joined the Frappr bandwagon too, come put yourself on my map! =)

As if you didn’t know me already, here’s another bit about me that you can chew on. I’ve been tagged by Estee, Judy, and Cyndi with the same meme at the same time!

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Office Administrator at a startup company in Santa Clara. My first job out of college. Great boss who taught me work ethics, finance, and a little bit of faith.
2. Maryhouse staff - homeless shelter here in Sacramento. A great experience that opened my eyes to the struggles of those who have limited options, and the big mess that we call “charity”. I won’t say anymore but I quit after a couple months - mostly because of my experience with the staff.
3. Lobbyist intern here in Sacramento. Great stuff. Exciting to be running around the capital acting like my head just got cut off, but looking great in my grey power suit and pumps while doing it.
4. Research assistant. At Sac State. Boring as hell. While I love research (the analysis part of it), gathering data was the boring grunt work and I felt like an idiot doing it. I might as well have been another monkey.

Four movies you could watch over and over:
1. When Harry Met Sally
2. Office Space
3. Any of Hayao Miyazaki’s films
4. Any of the Godfather movies

Four places you have lived:
1. Corvallis, Oregon
2. Fountain Valley, CA (Orange County)
3. Saratoga, CA (Santa Clara County)
4. Sacramento, CA

Four tv shows you love to watch:
1. Gilmore Girls
2. Project Runway
3. Oprah
4. Everyday Italian (Food Network)

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Maui
2. Asia: Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand (Nepal and China don’t count - I wasn’t on vacation at the time)
3. Canada (Vancouver and Toronto)
4. Up and down the California coast, Oregon coast, and Washington (Seattle)

Four websites you visit daily:
1. My bloglines subscriptions
2. My xanga subscriptions
3. My email
4. Yahoo news

Four of your favorite foods:
1. Pasta
2. Oxtail stew
3. Warm Soups
4. Osso Bucco

Four places you would rather be right now:
1. Maui
2. a LYS
3. in my knitting spot
4. with Wayne (hubby) =)

Four Bloggers you are tagging:
I’m going to do it again. Sorry! (And again, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to) =)
1. Karen
2. Jen
3. Caitlyn
4. Gail

1. I was born in Corvallis, Oregon.
2. I spent most of my life in California.
3. I prefer Northern California over Southern (sorry!).
4. I used to live in Orange County.
5. I am the oldest among my siblings.
6. My sister and I are 10 years apart.
7. My brother and I are 16 months apart.
8. I am Chinese-American.
9. I can understand spoken converational Mandarin, but I can barely speak it.
10. When I was younger, I wanted to be a teacher, a missionary, and a registered nurse (in that order).
11. I went to UC Davis for undergrad.
12. I went to Sac State for my MSW (Masters in Social Work).
13. My Myers-Briggs profile is INFJ.
14. I love eating out and trying out different types of food.
15. I love to cook and try out new recipes.
16. My KitchenAid stand mixer is one of my favorite appliances.
17. I prefer tea over coffee.
18. I learned to cook several years ago by watching Rachael Ray on Food Network (who says TV is good for nothing?!?).
19. My dad taught me how to knit when I was still in grade school.
20. I re-taught myself (knitting) again in 2004.
21. I’ve set foot in the following countries: Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, Hong Kong (when it was still under Britain rule), Macau (when it was still under Portugal rule), China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Nepal.
22. I didn’t include Japan in the list because I’ve never actually stepped out of the airport.
23. I’ve set foot in the following states: Oregon, California, Washington, Nevada, Arizona (scarce, isn’t it).
24. I love to knit.
25. I love to eat.
26. I hate cleaning house.
27. I’m a housewife/homemaker.
28. I think I’m more American than Chinese.
29. I think my family of origin is more Chinese than American.
30. My parents and I are currently not on “friendly” terms.
31. My husband was my very first (and only) boyfriend.
32. I love being married to my husband.
33. I am obsessed with handbags.
34. I refuse to eat peas, beans, bitter melon, and durian.
35. I will pick out peas from fried rice. One. by. One.
36. I absolutely abhor dancing (I’m not a kinesthetic person of any kind).
37. I’m a people person.
38. I’m a closeted Sanrio/Hello Kitty fan.
39. I’ve been stalked before.
40. I am a born-again Christian.
41. I hate all religious stereotypes imposed on me.
42. I refuse to participate in any “pro-marriage”/”anti-gay” movement.
43. I also refuse to participate in any “pro-life” movement as well.
44. Pat Robertson embarrasses me.
45. I love potato chips.
46. I hate crying in public.
47. I cry easily when watching the news or Oprah (when I’m by myself, of course).
48. Philip Yancey is one of my favorite (and most respected) Christian authors.
49. Rick Warren is a close second.
50. I love dark chocolate.
51. I hate horror movies, or anything with too much suspense.
52. I’m very sensitive to what I watch (so I self-censor what I see).
53. My husband is my best friend.
54. I prefer Jay Leno over David Letterman.
55. I love ska music.
56. I am teaching myself how to crochet.
57. I am also teaching myself how to sew with my sewing machine.
58. I love Doraemon cartoons.
59. I also love Ranma 1/2 anime.
60. I still sleep/play with stuffed animals.
61. Clancy the bear (from Pottery Barn Kids) is my favorite stuffed animal.
62. I have many good/close friends.
63. Yet I still consider myself a very private person (see #13 above).
64. I love to sing, but think I have a very average chorus voice.
65. I’m a 2nd alto.
66. I used to write poetry in high school.
67. I also wrote a short story piece in high school.
68. Growing up, I was a bookworm - I absolutely LOVED to read.
69. I’m a terrible gardener (I have a black thumb).
70. My faith is very important to me.
71. My husband thinks I am fiesty.
72. I have a temper, if you push me too far.
73. I can also be a pushover at times.
74. World events deeply affect me (see #47).
75. Missions has had a presence in my heart since I was in high school.
76. I try to live my life deliberately and purposefully.
77. I believe everything in my life has a purpose.
78. I love having people over my house (I love hosting).
79. My biggest petpeeve: People who treat me like I’m a child or like I’m stupid.
80. My primary love language is “acts of service”.
81. I am comfortable having just as many male friends as female friends.
82. I hate it when people look down on me because of my age (see #79).
83. I can be very stubborn sometimes.
84. I love spicy food!!
85. Moving out of my parents house (after college) was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
86. I love ramen noodles.
87. People say that I wear alot of expressions on my face.
88. That’s why I can’t play poker very well (it’s easy to read everything on my face).
89. I also make alot of noises/motions when I can’t articulate my thoughts into words.
90. I’m a little nervous about having children.
91. In college, I tried to learn how to make the perfect cheesecake.
92. I keep my distance from people who don’t respect my boundaries.
93. I also keep my distance from people I don’t trust.
94. On my wedding day, my brother walked me down the aisle.
95. I’ve been blogging since May 2002.
96. I’ve been forced to take piano lessons for 10 years.
97. I’ve been forced to take Chinese School for almost 10 years.
98. I get squeamish on anything too sappy (movies, music, anything).
99. My favorite flower: gardenias.
100. I love to travel and explore different countries and cultures.