Monday, May 21, 2012

Good Ways to Start a Monday Morning

Happy Monday, everybody!! How are you this morning? I am feeling FANTASTIC!! Even though it is raining outside, I am still feeling good because weather has been sunny for a long time, and it is about time to give some rain. Plus, my mother just planted some flowers, so rain will help them grow. I was wondering how can I share my feeling? And I decided to blog about it. Then I realized, what a great idea!! Monday morning or any mornings during the week will start right by following those steps. 


1. Make sure to sleep well on Sunday:  First, never party hard on Sunday night. Try to get to come home early and go to sleep. Also make sure to have good night sleep. Drink a glass milk and/or do some work out before would help.  Starting of the week should not feel tired. 


2. Dress nice: I usually like to wear something that I like the most or shows my personality. Looking good can make me feel confident.  I think it is the same as everyone else. Don't hesitate to wear fancy and show off to people at work or school.  


3. Eat a healthy breakfast: This is a very important. Every morning deserves a great breakfast.  I recommend to have comfort food for breakfast. Something warm and/or soft such as toast, muffin, pancakes, etc. Also make sure to have a piece of fruit or vegetable and a glass of milk or tea. I usually have warm buns with bowl of congee with a piece of fruit and tea. 


4. Ignore all the negative news: If I have time in the morning,  I will open my computer and check e-mails and news. Sometimes I receive negative news about myself or the society in the morning. Those news can be rejection from anything I applied and/or tragic events happened somewhere. I can't choose what I see, but I can choose how to react. I try to stay positive for whatever happens at anytime. 


5.  Listen to exciting music on the way out: Music motivates me for everything. I like listen something that is teach me to be look forward, but you can choose any music that you like and motivates you. I like Katy Perry's "Firework" and Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston' s "When You Believe". I listen to them in the car on the way to work, school, or gym. 


I hope everyone will have a wonderful week!!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Five Things I Admire About My Mother

Happy Mother's Day. 
Be thankful that you have someone who cooks, cleans, and does laundary for you. 
Because of her, you always have warm food to eat, organized room to study, and clean cloth to wear. 
All those things she does every day seems easy for us, but they are not easy for her.  
Let's show our appreciations to all the great moms in the world. 





This is my mother. Isn't she beautiful? The photo was taken when she was my age. Aren't we look alike? I hope so. 








Since I was a little girl, my mother and I were very close. This is one is my favorite photo from childhood.








And today, we are best friends. This is one is my favorite photo from recent. 








Last year, I shared Five Life Lessons My Mother Taught Me. If you have not read that post, I strongly recommend you to read it. They are all very useful. This year, I decide to share five things I admire about my mother. 

1. She is always on the top of everything: She says there are no people who are naturally smart. If you want to be smart, you just need to prioritize what to do first. Only smart people know how to manage time. She is always well planned and ahead of everything, and she never do things at the last minute. I can always depend on her. 

2. She is capable of performing any task: She can multitask. She can also do a mass of difficult work fast and accurate. These parts of her I get very jealous. I can never multitask, I am a slow person, and sometimes I even make mistakes. Believe or not, she can do the work of three people. She is a super woman. 

3. She is good at keeping her goals: Once she made a decision in doing something, she will accomplish it no matter how much time it will take or how difficult it is. I am weak sometimes. If I set my goal too tough to achieve, I would easily give up. I have to change. I need to learn to not give up. 

4. She is always calm and stay positive for whatever happens: Every time I panic, she can calm me down. Whenever I fail, she encourages me to stand up and tells me to look on the bright side. I like her positive thinking and never shows her desperation. She is such a strong person. Someday, I will be a mom, too. I hope I can be a great example to my children as she did to me.  

5. She is a perfectionist: She is very neat. She likes to make our house clean and organized. She always make sure what she wears are washed and no wrinkles. She hates messy places and dirty things. She is a perfect house wife. Someday, I will have place on my own. I hope I can make my place as neat as my mom cleaned my room.  


I love you, mom. I feel lucky to be your daughter. 

Lastly, to all the great moms in the world, I hope you will have a wonderful day, and feel grateful for everything you do for your family. 



Sunday, May 6, 2012

Perfect Portland Day = Beautiful Tulips

As the weather is getting better in Oregon, my family started to explore some fun places to see and play in our town. We are lucky that there are many beautiful parks and gardens near our home. Couple of weeks ago, we went to Woodburn Tulip Festival. The day was very hot and the place was very crowed. There must a lot of tulip lovers. Tulips were just beautiful. 
My mother and I enjoyed taking pictures with the blanket of flowers. 
 
Speaking of tulips, I have some childhood art memories with them. My first drawing assignment back in elementary school was tulips. My class took a little field trip to a local park near from our school, and we scratched the full blooming tulips. It was a very fun day. Tulip is probably the first and only flower that I actually learned how to draw. Since then every time I want to add flowers in a picture, I'd draw tulips because they are the only flower I feel confident painting. I took some paintings throughout elementary to high school, but I do photography more than painting, now. May be I will start to paint again because I still have paints left over in my closet, and I don't want to waste them.     
My mother is beautiful as the flowers. She is an absolute flower lover. She does not only love them, she also love to plant them. She can spend hours working in the garden. She told me there were different types of tulips in the garden. Then I realized that not all tulips look identical. There are different colors, shapes and sizes. She'd like to study and research about flowers. Her knowledge and passion for flowers are expanding. 

Here is an another photo of me with the tulips. This one is my favorite. Aren't they lovely?
Bye Bye Tulips, See you next year.