1/13-1/19 in pictures.

friday night i met up with becky at eatalian for dinner.



after dinner i still had some steam...so i ran to lowes, came home, and constructed this chandelier with old light covers I bought at a flea market and some rope. i didn't construct the cage lamps!



saturday was redondo condo day with these girls. we celebrated tina's birthday with breakfast at original pancake house, succulents, and rummikub!



sunday was newsong (church) with the crew...followed by spoonhouse! tried the carbonara finally...it did not disappoint.



monday was the mlk holiday. i stayed home and constructed a window valance. cary and aileen came over and lended a helping hand....we ran to malaga cove ranch market for lunch. i had a reuben.



tuesday...i didn't take any pics. so fast forward to wednesday. dawn had us girls over for dinner. she made us cioppino!



thursday i redeemed my free chick-fil-a breakfast coupon. yum. when i got to the office my "donors choose" items had been delivered. best day ever. i am so blessed to have family and friends who support me and my work. THANK YOU.

PA here we come!

these two kids are having a baby in a month ALL the way in Pennsylvania...





















...so these three girls are coming to visit!















we bought our tickets tonight on the phone together and couldn't be more happy to spend spring break adoring baby audrey.



lo- i was looking through iphoto and was laughing at how many hair styles i've had over our 11-year friendship.

donors choose.

There's an awesome online charity called donorschoose.org that allows people from all over to donate towards projects supporting public school students. Teachers are able to submit projects and upon approval they are posted on their website. My project is requesting technology to enhance the learning experience of my special needs students. Check out how I am planning on integrating a tablet into my daily routine!

http://www.donorschoose.org/misskarinmoore

I only need to raise half of my projects cost because the Wasserman Foundation will match 50%!!

Check it out!

new years.

i've never had one of those midnight kisses...but i can't say i don't feel the love on new years eve. the past few years i've spent it with some of my dearest friends down in san diego. the few of us that are in the so cal area get to ring in the new year together. we dance, play games, eat, drink, and relax in the hot tub. i love it. westmont brought me some of the best friends i could ever dream of having. the worst part about leaving westmont was the physical distance that separated me from all of them. now some of them live in oregon, pennsylvania, colorado, and well....anywhere other than LA is hard to catch face to face time with. at the tail end of 2011 i took a break from facebook and tried really hard to find quality time to see, call, or write to friends that i hadn't been so good at keeping in touch with. it was awesome. 2012 is going to be filled with a lot more of that. intentional relationships.

2012!

here we are ringing in 2011.

food!

japan. part 1.

i reckon it's going to take me more than this one post to get through my trip to japan. i'll start at the top. first stop: hiroshima. this is where my grandfather's family is originally from...i think. since family lineage is taken from the father's side (and my dad isn't japanese) i guess i can't really claim 5th generation...but i do. mom, grandma, and i visited the hiroshima memorial. the museum was intense, i have actually been haunted by some of the images ever since i first visited in 1993. one image i don't mind remembering is the beautiful displays of thousands of colorful cranes. these cranes are a symbol of innocent victims of war. the cranes are brought from around the world to honor innocent children who have been taken from us. the story of the cranes starts with a young girl named sadako. sadako was living one mile from the point where the atomic bomb hit. she died as a result of radiation and in her final months attempted to fold 1,000 cranes to fulfill the japanese folk tale that anyone who folds 1,000 cranes will be granted a wish from the gods. it's been said that she didn't complete all 1,000 but her friends finished them for her and buried them with her. the memorial is beautiful and the story even more so.

this was one of the only standing buildings after the a-bomb hit.

this is the famous
itsukushima shrine near hiroshima on the island of miyajima.













mom and grandma. looking all smiley.























these little guys roam the island free.


























they are so cute!

blog title explained.

it's been fun for the past few years to create a motto for the upcoming year. a resolution of sorts. 2010 was "friends again in 2010." that year was dedicated towards reconciliation and repairing broken relationships (kinda heavy....) but 2011 was "match made in heaven in 2011." unfortunately 2011 wasn't as successful as the previous year. sigh.

2012 is rough...there's only two words that even rhyme with twelve. i'm toying with "into the present i will delve in 2012."

justification: i've noticed that i'm always making decisions based on how (i think) things are supposed to go. as if there is a life rule book that states the order your life is supposed to follow:
1. childhood (playing without a care in the world)
2. adolescence (learning how the world works)
3. teen years (experiencing the extremes of love and hate)
4. college (figuring out what you actually believe)
5. single life (making it on your own or struggling to do so)
6. career (finding a passion hopefully sooner than later)
7. marriage (learning to compromise)
8. parenthood (learning to be selfless)
9. home ownership (spending more responsibly)
10. mid life crisis (spending less responsibly)
11. empty nest (falling in love again...with your spouse)
12. grandparenthood (doing all the things you didn't do in stage 8)
13. sandwich stage (taking care of aging parents and grandkids...without grumbling hopefully)
14. retirement (doing all the things you wish you had done during stage 5 but you didn't have the money for)
15. living independently in your home until you die peacefully in your sleep (wishful thinking)

but what if i stopped and just embraced the life stage i was in....instead of living in anticipation of the next? or counting the amount i have fallen behind my friends? and what does it really matter if they go out of order....i mean....it doesn't right? 8 can come before 7 (i'm not referring to the accidental kind). and 10 can certainly come prematurely....

so this blog is dedicated towards chronicling stages five, six, and nine. because that's where i am....and i'm pretty sure i love it...i just haven't allowed myself to, until now.