23 Lessons I Learned for the Past 23 years

Happy Birthday to me. This girl turns 23 today. 

I can't believe, I am 23!! Time went fast. I don't feel like I am that old (mature), yet. Inside I feel very young (less mature). As I grow older, I suppose to get wiser, right? For this post, I am going to share 23 life lessons from 23 years of living. I hope you will enjoy.

1. Just Follow Your Heart: Making the decisions and choosing the right things are hard sometimes, but if we just listen to our hearts, the best answers would come out. I believe our hearts will always tell us what is right to do. Whenever you feel lost or confused during your lifetime, just follow your heart.

2. Keep Calm and Carry On: There are ups and downs in our lives, so we have to learn to be always "Keep Calm" for whatever happens. The part "Carry On" can be anything you like to do or something that will help you release your stress. I usually "Keep Calm and Take a Walk" or "Keep Calm and Bake Something."

3. Only Person You Can Change Is Yourself: Sadly, this is very true. We can never change other people. Seriously, don't even think about changing your friends, relatives, co-workers or bosses. In the same way, only person can change you is YOU. From that, I should not blame someone else for I became or I did. 

4. Just Do It: Don't waste  too much time on thinking about making a decision. A not so good decision can turn into a better decision during your work. Time moves fast, so there are not a lot of time to waste in thinking. Life is about risks and adventures. Do it! It's now or never.

5. You Always Have a Choice: Some of the sad events in life are can not be chosen, but we can choose to how to react with them. That is always a choice. We can always be happy whatever happens.  

6. Write Everything Down: This is one of the lesson my mother taught me. She has a great habit of writing stuff down like appointments and important dates. That is why she never forgets things. Writing things done can help people remember and keep track the daily life.

7. Always Consider Quality Over Quantity: I had a habit of focus on the quantity. I was into the philosophy of "more the merrier." However, sometime it is not true because the large quantity does not guarantee the good quality. Small quantity is still acceptable if it has the better quality. 

8. Your Biggest Enemy Is You: This is a lesson my mother has been always telling me. I should have to be responsible for myself. I have to choose my own battle and fight with it. Win or lose is up to me. Other people's actions and external instances are never an excuse.

9. Doing Anything at the Last Minute Would NOT Work: I used to be a last minute person, and it was a very bad habit. I worked hard to change it. Whatever the to-do-thing is, start it early. Even it is small or easy, there is no guarantee that accident would not  happen in the last minute. Trust me, accidents always happen in the last minute. 

10. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: I really like this famous phrase because I believe no matter how bad the situation is, there is always something to be glad about. Even for failure, at least you learned you will not make it happen again. 

11. Don't Run Away, and Just Face It: I like one of Mariah Carey's songs "Through the Rain." Part of the lyrics states: "Don't be afraid, there is NOTHING you can't face. " I believe it is true. Also when there is a problem, running away from it would not solve it. Only facing it can solve it.

12. Doing the Best Is Better than Being the Best: I might not the best, but I am always doing my best. Do not be afraid to make a mistake, the key is to learn from it. Also there is no such a thing is the "best." I should always consider getting better and trying to improve. 

13. You Are Never Alone: No body should consider himself/herself as alone in the world because there is always someone she/he can love. Reach out to a friend or family for help. Remember good people are beside you when you need them, and bad people are beside you when they need you. 

14. Set a Date and Have a Plan: I learned this when I was studying for GRE exam. Set a date can motivate people. When I set a date for something, I would not put off anymore. Sometimes I would not start doing something until I set a date. When the date is set, then make a plan and stick with it. It is a way to manage time.  

15. Never Say Never and Practice Make It Perfect: This is from Justin Bieber's song "Never Say Never." That song inspired me. I felt it is important to believe in myself and never give up.  When I have a dream, I will do anything to make it come true. I believe nothing is "impossible" and practice makes it perfect. 

16. People Come to This World to Get "Trained": This is a famous idea of Buddhism. Life is hard for all people in this world. When they are young, they have to study. When they grow older, they have to work, make money, raise family etc. Beside education and work, there are difficult life events to face as well. That is why we deal with a lot "trainings" during life time. Whenever my life gets tough, I will consider it as part of my trainings.

17. An Apple + a Treat per Day = Better Physical and Mental Health: This lesson comes from "one apple a day keeps the doctor away." I love apples. It not only makes me healthier, but also makes me smarter by motivating my brain. Besides an apple a day, I also need at least one sweet treat per day to indulge myself. Eating too much sweets can be a problem, but a small portion a day would not hurt.   

18. Only Dislike the Character, Do Not Dislike the Person: We should never completely dislike someone. There is no one who is 100% awful person. He or she just has part of his or her personality that is not acceptable. That is caused by how she or he was raised and educated. All humans come to this world innocent, and the outside world shaped their characters. 

19. One Door Closes, then Another Opens: Get over with something is hard for a person like me, so I have to remember this lesson. The another door might take a long time to appear, but I believe someday I will find it. There will be a lot of gains and losses I will face in my life, so I have to be willing to accept the losses and moving on.

20. Education Never Ends:  My University Principal told us this message on the commencement when I graduated from college. I strongly remember it. Education does not only from books. It can be "everything." I believe if I live one more day, I will learn at least one more "thing."

21. Just Be Yourself: When I was in high school, I tried very hard to be like the smart and cute people. Recently, I realized it is OK to just be myself because I learned that everything in life is about finding the right fit. Do not try to be somebody else, just find the fit that is best for you or let the right fit find you. 

22. Always Have Plan B: It is very important to always have a back up plan no matter how good the original plan is. Stick with one plan is good sometimes, but the plan cannot guarantee that is the best or it will be successful. Keep more options open will expand opportunities. 

23. Life Is Wonderful, and It Is Short: If you can embrace everything you have, you will be happiest person in the world. Happiness comes from only focus on what you have, not think about what you do not have. Also life is too short to be mad at someone or something. Don't waste any time, and make every moment worthy it.

I hope you learned something from this post. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you like what I post, it is the BEST birthday gift ever. Also thanks for everyone who wished me "Happy Birthday" on Facebook. I could not ask anything more. 

This birthday girl is looking forward to learn more about the world. Remember "education never ends." 

Aquarius 1/20-2/19

I can't believe it's already February. Time flies. I like the way the weather is getting warmer. When February comes, my birthday is just around the corner. My birthday is February 11th, which will be next Saturday. I feel happy that it will fall on weekend this year. I am an Aquarius. Aquarius' birthdays are around this time of the year, so I decide to blog about what I believe in describing an Aquarius.

1. Stubborn in a good way: Aquarius are stubborn sometimes because they have the wills for never giving up. When they want something, it can be a goal, dream, award, honor, etc., they are willing to do anything to make it come true. Some aquarius like to dream bigger, and no matter how hard it is, they will never give up. They have strong self-esteem.   

2. Funny and sweet: On the other hand of being stubborn, aquarius are usually funny and sweet. They are kind to people and like to make others laugh. People find aquarius are nice and fun to be with. Aquarius have the best combination of soft and hard because they have a gentle heart and vigorous mind. 

3. People friendly: Most aquarius are easy to talk to and very sociable. They like to make friends with many people, and they have the skills for building a good relationship with their co-workers, teachers, and bosses. Funny and sweet personality makes aquarius attractive in the public and community. This helps most aquarius succeed in making friends at school and cooperating with other people at work. 

4. Compatible with Libra: I don't know anything about that because I never dated a libra. If you are an aquarius and your boyfriend/girlfriend is Libra, both of you must be very good for each other. I don't rely on compatible signs, I just read it for fun. Just like I said previously, aquarius are people friendly, so aquarius people should be compatible to any signs. 

FYI: Famous Aquarius and they have the same birthday with me

Jennifer Aniston (Exactly 20 years older than me) 

Brandy (Exactly 10 years older than me)


Taylor Lautner

Sarah Palin

Thomas Edison

The Lucky Food = Perfect Chinese New Year Dish

Chinese New Year was last Monday. My family and I had fun celebrating it last weekend. Although there are a lot of traditions for celebrating it, we did not do much besides eating a lot of the traditional Chinese New Year food. Eating is one of the important things in Chinese culture, I am sure it is almost the same wither other cultures. My mother is a great cook. This is my everyday dinner looks like. 

Food we eat during New Years is considered as "food that brings luck to us." I am going to introduce five kinds of lucky food that my family eat during Chinese New Year. Each of them has its own meaning and hope.

1. Fish

During Chinese New Year, all the families HAVE to eat fish, and it has to be the WHOLE fish. It is hard to cook the whole fish at home, so we usually eat it at the restaurant. This one was SO good. (The one on the photo is from Taste of Sichuan)

The reason we eat fish is that the "fish" has the same pronunciation as the "extra" in Chinese. We believe if we eat fish in the New Year, we will have in excess of something like money and/or food for the upcoming year.

2. Dumpling

Besides a plate of fish, a bowl of warm dumplings are also a dish that must appear on the New Year's dinner table. They are not only delicious to eat, but also fun to make. Making them takes time and energy, so some people choose to buy them from the store. Take my advice, making them from scratch is more healthy and delicious than buying the frozen ones. It is so worthy for making them at home. This phrase is can be used all over the world "Nothing Better Than Home Made." 

Making dumplings requires the work of the entire family. The main purpose of celebrating new year is to spend time with the family. Cooking together is a great way to mingle with each other. Each family has their own recipe for making the filling. My mother has her own recipe as well. Although I tasted many different kinds of filling from restaurants, my mother's filling is always my favorite. Dumplings can be boiled or fried. I love both style. They are ONLY BEST to eat on the making day. Sadly, they would not taste good when they become cold, even reheating them would not carry out the same taste.

Legend tells that "the more dumplings you eat, the more money you will make in the upcoming year." The reason for that is dumplings are look like little baby gold bags. I ate WAY too much of these for the past week, so I am looking forward to making a lot of money.

3. Rice Cake


Rice cake is another "Chinese New Year Must-Have." The top one is made from sweet rice. They can be made into soups by boiling them. I like to eat them in the noodle soup. They also can be eaten like sweets by dip them into sugar or honey after they are cooked. The bottom one is made from regular rice. We usually stir fry them with meat and vegetable. All of the rice cake dishes are yummy in the tummy.

The name of rice cake in Chinese means "growing up." Growing up does not only mean the hopes for the young children will grow taller in the New Year. It can be raise in salaries, better living condition, higher grades etc. They are the luck of more successes in the upcoming year.

4. Apple

After nice dinner, lucky fruits are also necessary for dessert. Apple is the number one lucky fruit in China. Apple in Chinese sounds similar to the word "peaceful," so it symbolizes "peace." We eat apple everyday no matter during the New Year or not. We are happy that we found big apples from Costco.

5. Orange

Same as apple, orange is another lucky fruit. It is not popular as apple, but it has its own meaning. Orange in Chinese sounds like "auspicious." My family loves oranges. Not only the flavor, but also the smell. Whenever we peel the orange, its smell will fill up the entire house. Therefore, my mother likes to keep some of the orange skin and put them on the kitchen counter. I hope smell of "auspicious" will remain in the house.

I hope you will eat some of those food, and they will bring luck to you.

Martin Luther King Jr. Quote and Langston Hughes Poem

This blog post will take me back to high school because I had many class discussions about Martin Luther King Jr. back then. When I was in high school, I studied about African American history in Social Studies classes and read a lot of literature work in English classes. I still remember whenever MLK Day came closer, almost all of my classes had MLK discussion. I enjoyed talking about his life, works, quotes, and ideas with my teachers and classmates. I also liked to read many literary works from African American authors. When I hit college, none of the classes I took had to deal with MLK or African American culture, so this post will refresh my memory. 

People have to remember Dr. King for what he did for us. I admire him a lot because he changed the world. He had a lot of famous quotes, and this one is my favorite.


"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." 

I agree that hate cannot resolve hate, but love can. It is very true because when one person hates another person, and the another person hates him/her back, their conflict will get bigger and bigger. Only if the another person shows his/her love back to the person who hate him/her, their conflict might be solved. Hates and violences are NEVER the solution to any kinds of conflicts. ONLY love and forgiveness are the ways to resolve the conflict. Dr. King used "Darkness and Light" to describe the conflict and resolution. They are the perfect metaphors. From this quote I learned if I want to reconcile with someone, I have to forgive the person first. Actually love someone is easier than hate someone. Seriously, I can love someone much easier than hate someone because I need a reason to hate someone. I do not need a specific reason to love someone. People who did not get enough love are more likely to hate than love others. People need to be loved in order give love to others.


You can find more Martin Luther King Jr.'s quotes from this website:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/martin_luther_king_jr.html#ixzz1jev8Iv4P


Besides Martin Luther King Jr., one of my favorite African American authors is Langston Hughes. I like his "Dream Deferred".






What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load. Or does it explode?
This poem explains what it will look like when a person's dream was destroyed. There are many metaphors describe the sadness of the destroyed dream in the poem. Dream will dry like raisins, and then it becomes pain and stinky meat. Destroying the dream like weakening the hope and walking toward despair. I strongly remember this poem because I like how he used common objects to illustrate the dream deferred feeling. They can easily touch people's hearts. 

Five Strategic Goals MUST-BE Accomplished in 2012

Every beginning of the year, I'd like to make a long list of resolutions. I think there are a lot of people who doing the same thing like me. The number of my resolutions are usually 20 or more. 

However, for this year, I decided not making any resolutions because I could never keep them, and most of resolutions were the same as the year before. I did some problem and solution analysis for my old new year's resolutions.

Problems: 
1) My resolutions were TOO many. There was NO way I could achieve 20 or more resolutions within a year. 
2) I only MADE resolutions, but I never CONSIDERED HOW I could achieve them.  

Solutions:
1) I condensed my resolutions by combining and grouping several things together.
2) I planned my ways for achieve them. If the resolution is NOT achievable, it is pointless to make it.

Therefore, this year, I am doing something different. Instead of having 20 or more resolutions, I made five strategic goals that must-be accomplished this year.
1. Build Better Body Shape and Stay Healthy

•    Lose 10 to 15lb.
•    Be better on flexibility and balance and able to lift heavier weights
•    Eat healthy food

Ways to Achieve

• Go to the gym 4 to 5 times for intense cardio, and attend at least one weight training and yoga classes a week . 
• Eat a lot of fresh fruits and raw vegetables.

2. Get Into A Graduate School and Find A Job

•     Become better at writing essays
•     Achieve higher GRE score
•     Learn how to market myself

Ways to Achieve

• Study at least 4 hours and memorize at least 10 new vocabularies everyday, review math formulas, and take a lot of practice tests. 
• Practice writing cover letter and resume, attend job fairs, keep update blog and Linked-In regularly.

3. Pay Attention to Neatness and Details

•     Have my room organized 
•     Keep all of my belonging cleaned 
•     Make sure my writings are free from mistakes

Ways to Achieve

• Do weekly duties for organizing my room and belongings. 
• Check my writings before I submit, send, or publish. 

4. Involve Society and Engage Networking

•     Do some volunteer work
•     Hang out with friends
•     Participate in community based activities

Ways to Achieve

• Volunteer at Cash Oregon during tax season and Blanchet House during holiday season. 
• Keep in touch with my friends regularly. Pay attention to the activities of the local community.

5. Develop My Passion and Study Music and Literature 

•     Become better at baking, blogging, photography, fashion, and craft
•     Improve my piano skills and memorize several songs
•     Watch more movies and read more books

Ways to Achieve

• Make about one hour each day to perform one of my passionate things and/or practice piano.
• Watch two to three good movies a week. 

How to achieve them within a year? The key is TIME MANAGEMENT that will be my main goal for this year. Now, all the long list of resolutions became ONE goal.

GOAL FOR THE YEAR -- "BE BETTER ON TIME MANAGEMENT"

How simple that is!! I am tired of breaking my resolutions. It would be easier to achieve one goal than 20 resolutions, wouldn't it?

2011 Review

I can't believe 2011 is over. The year went super fast. I still remember how I spend my last new year. It was just like yesterday. Although I feel last year was short, there are SO MANY memorable moments. 2011 was one of the special years in my life. I hope it was for you, too. I'd like to remember it. I am looking forward for more funs, excitements, improvements, and successes in 2012. 

1. Visited New York City and Boston

It was my first time traveling to East Side of America. Both places were AMAZING!! They are very different compared to Portland Oregon. The building structures were filled history; street views were very unique; food was delicious with big portion; people looked very smart; everything was expensive. Thanks Jiajia for traveling with me. I am glad that I met Yang Jing and Yanzi. Also thanks Conrad for giving us tour when we visited BU. The trip was very short because it was only a week. There are many places I want to visit and visit again in both places. I will definitely come back!! I hope that will be very soon.

2. Graduated from College

 

  

Graduation was the most exciting moment in 2011. It was the main highlight of this year. I will never forget that moment. When I started college four years ago, I thought the graduation was far away in the future, but it was not. Four years of college was splendid. I grew up a lot from gaining knowledge, meeting people, and developing myself. Throughout the four years, I learned more about myself and the real world. I'd like to thank Portland State University for giving me the opportunity for better education and self-improvement. Now, I miss college already.

3. Reconnected with High School Friends and Made More College Friends

 

It was nice to be connect again with friends from high school. When I was in high school, I did not know how to speak English, so I was sad that my communication with them was limited. Reunions gave me a second chance. It was funny that I got know more people from high school after I graduated. I am also happy that I made more friends in college. Friends made my college life more joyful. Thank you very much, my friends. I feel lucky to have you all. I used to be very shy, but I have changed because you gave me confidence.

4. Became Addicted to Baking, Blogging, and Fashion


I was inspired by all the food and fashion bloggers around the world. I loved getting recipes and fashion tips from them. My inspiration from those bloggers was also the reason of I started this blog. I hope I can inspire other people, too. Blogging was fun. Additionally, it helped practice my writing.

I baked a lot of different kinds of treats for the past year. Followings are some of my family's favorites.

     

 

Following outfits are some of my favorite tops, dresses, jeans, scarfs, and sweaters I wore for the past year.

Besides all of the great moments, 2011 was also a tough year. However, I worked hard to accomplish as best as I can. I believe difficult times would go as the year ends, and only the good times will stay with me forever. It's time to move on.

Lastly, I'd like to thank my mother for being my wonderful baking assistant, blog reader, and fashion reference. 

Happy New Year!!

 2012 will be awesome!!

Christmas Week Recap: Cleaning, Shopping, Baking, Birthday Celebrating

Sorry, there was no post last week. I was very busy. I will have TWO posts for this week. SO many things happened for the past week (I called it Christmas Week). There are a lot to share. 


First, I hope you all had a great Christmas. I can't believe 2011 is almost over. This year went WAY TOO fast. I hope you are enjoying this last a few moments of 2011.

Last week was a CRAZY week.

Monday: I cleaned my room. It was a hard work. I also made a BIG mess before it came a neat space. I rearranged my desk, so it became more study friendly. I also found a lot of things from elementary school, middle school and high school.

I found some books my classmates and I made in elementary school and middle school. I also found year book pictures, student IDs, homecoming tickets etc. from high school. They bring back a lot of memories.

On the other hand, I also threw away a lot of things. Isn't it fun to throw away a lot of unnecessary stuff?

Tuesday: I went to Christmas shopping with my mother. Shopping was long and tiring, but it was fun. Both of us got some new clothes.



I brought new jeans, scarf, and sweater. I like the fact that my scarf is red and my sweater is green. They go well together, and they really show the Christmas Spirit.

My mother brought a new red sweater. Both of us wanted something red for Christmas. Also next year will be dragon year, and my mom was born in the year of dragon. It is part of Chinese tradition, people tend to wear a lot red when it is their animal year.

Wednesday: I made the handcrafted Christmas gift for my mother. I am glad that she liked it. She did not let me photograph it.

Thursday: I rearranged my computer. I organized pictures, documents and recipes. I can't believe I have so many pictures I have!! The documents and recipes are more in order now, so I can find things easily. I have not finished cleaning the computer yet, so I have to finish it this week.

Friday: I wrote some Christmas Cards for my friends.

Saturday (Christmas Eve): We celebrated my mother's birthday that day. Before we head out, we took some photos with the tree.

Of course we wore the new clothes we brought.

We went to Tom's Pancake House for lunch. It serves the BEST pancakes ever. It is a cute diner, and everything is made from scratch. After lunch, we went to Washington Park; I am glad that it was a great weather. The temperature was very good for December. We enjoyed the sunshine.  We also watched movie"Descendants" it was a great movie. I hope you will watch it, too. For dinner, we went to Olive Garden my mother's favorite place to eat.

The drinks were great!!

My mom had a free dessert with a cute candle from the restaurant. I forgot the name of the dessert, but it was yummy. It was made from strawberry and white chocolate.

Sunday (Christmas Day): I baked cakes and cookies. It was a LONG baking day. I admit that I was tired, but I enjoyed. I made sugar cookies and my mother's birthday cake.

These are some traditional sugar cookies I have been making them for years.

I got some new cookie cutters this year. I like them because it let me write message on the cookies. However, the cookie cutters are hard to use. It will make my life easier if those letters are easy to put in and get out.

My mother's birthday cake!! I made it from scratch. We used buy cakes from stores, but my mother did not like the cakes because they were either too big or too sweet. If I bake at home, I can control the sweetness and size. I have been making my mother's birthday cakes for several years. I think this year was the BEST.

I am glad that she liked it. The sweetness and size was just what she wanted.

For this week, I have to continue organize my computer, update linked-in and blog, and hang out with some of my friends. I hope this week would not crazy as last week. Remember 12 Days of Christmas? It was a to do list for winter break. Several items from the list are done, and I am still trying to finish them up. I guess most of the fun parts are done now, it is time to get into the not fun parts.

What did you do for Christmas?