The Forbidden City was where the emperor resided. It is a city within the city of Beijing, surrounded by a large moat for defense. The ground was made of many stones, which made for a bumpy walk. There were many stairways and colorful rooftops. On some of the stairways would be dragons carved in stone.
Shopping List on My Phone
We bought a big whiteboard from Costco for about $20. It was a great deal because it came with pens, an eraser, and it’s magnetic to boot.
We have three columns for stores we often frequent for shopping: WinCo, Freddies, and Costco. Whenever we think of something we need to buy, we just add on to the whiteboard. Ideally, I would use Outlook notes to do this, but Jenni and I find it easier to just write it on the whiteboard.
When it comes time to grocery shopping, I use the digital camera on my phone to take a snapshot of the list and reference it when we are shopping for groceries or household items.
My PDA Navigator
One of the best uses of the internet is getting directions. I’m glad that this technology came of age soon after I started driving. It’s very convenient and I can’t imagine finding places without it. MapQuest use to be the big one early on, and I use to print out directions through them. I would then fold them and tuck them away in the car after I reach my destination. I would have a collection of papers of directions to places, but unfortunately, I wouldn’t always label where they were to.
After I bought a PocketPC PDA, I used a better alternative, Yahoo Maps, to get directions. Then I would save the “Print-Friendly” version of the directions as a web page file on my PDA. The reason I use the “Print-Friendly” version is to remove all the ads and extra junk that’s on the web page.
Now I don’t have to print any directions, have the filename describe who I’m going to, and keep them saved on my PDA’s memory for future use.
Jennilyn and I had been dreaming of going to China since we’ve been married. I had an opportunity to visit China with my family in 2005, but I declined because Jennilyn had returned from Japan fairly ill. While I had no regrets in staying behind while my brother and parents had a great time in China, I looked forward to the day I would return to China.
Perhaps an over-spiritualization of the situation, but we got to bed around 1:30 AM after organizing and facilitating the Portland Swing Dance Club’s Spring Swing weekend. It had been a long day and we had no trouble falling asleep.
We woke up to a drum pattern rattling outside. Then it was a full on Mariachi band playing somewhere near the outside of our apartment at 5:30 in the morning. They played loud and proud. At an hour, possibly six hours from that point, we might have happily walked outside to enjoy the live music. At that hour of the morning, we were groaning at who would be so inconsiderate!
Jenni popped in her earplugs. They finished their song. The next drum beat started and we groaned. Then I prayed to God half-asleep, something along these lines:
Dear Lord,
Should I not be praying for the leaders in our congregation, our city, our country? Am I not to ask you to increase our faith? Why am I praying to you, oh God of the Universe, about silencing a Mariachi band outside our apartment? Please stop them from playing more music. We would like some sleep!
Thanks Lord. Amen.
After three lovely songs, I heard some shuffling from nearby apartments. The band stopped playing and we returned to sleep. I’m thankful that God answers prayers, and no prayer is too small—or too strange.
Our second year of marriage has strengthened our relationship with each other and with God. By now, we know each other’s faults and tendencies fairly well, but we both put effort to always think the best of each other. We’ve been committed to forgive and love as the Lord does for us. Sometimes it’s hard, but our closeness has been worth the effort.
When I visited Jennilyn twice a week during our courtship, I always had a fun time photographing her cat. She is the loudest purring machine I have ever met. As we visited her folks for the weekend, I couldn’t resist taking a few new snapshots of our favorite feline.
Coming up with my high school 10 year reunion, I wanted to see how the school has changed. The Benson Tech Show is a huge open house for the school. It’s an opportunity for the family and community see what makes Benson unique as a technical school.
I incorporated my father-in-law’s birthday gift certificate to Black Angus Steakhouse into his birthday card and wanted to share the final product.
The idea of going to my 10 year high school reunion seems foreign to me. While I’m excited to see where friends and classmates have gone since graduation, the idea that we’ve been out of high school for 10 years eclipses all that excitement.
I hadn’t explored my photography hobby for a while since we’ve got our new computer. I’ve noticed a pattern in my behavior that after I get a new computer, I’m into a season of video games.