Van and Hai's Wedding pics!

111508_VanHaiWed-SealingUT077, originally uploaded by xanghe.

Mawwiage. Mawwiage iss what bwings us togever today.

Lost in the Wilderness. And Found

It's finally over. The biggest election in history (or so I heard, over and over and over) is finally over and my life has returned to normal. Registrars and elections officials across the country still have to finish up the counts on remaining ballots, check provisional ballots for qualifications, complete the post-election canvass and hand count 1% of all ballots cast (all the stuff you don't hear about on Fox and CNN) before the election is certified, but for all intents and purposes, the election is over. I got home at 4:30 yesterday. Life is good.

For the last year, I've felt some serious changes a'brewin in my life and I now's the time to implement them. I was sorting through some pictures last night and found this one from when we went hiking up in O'Neill park last spring (I did not photoshop the orange stuff in - it was this stringy stuff that covered half of the vegetation out there, kind of like War of the Worlds or something). I felt that it was very indicative of my current situation, lost as can be out in the middle of the wilderness but now free to finally start moving again. I'm going to go back to school for a masters in Environmental Science and Public Policy. I'm intrigued with energy and how we as humans can tap into the huge reservoirs of energy all around us, without burning all the oil in our lamps. We'll see how far that road takes me.

I was praying last night and wondering why 3-4 years ago I got everything I wanted without even asking. I've been applying for jobs here and there lately and nothing has worked out, but back then I applied for one job and just got it. I applied to one university and I just got it. I applied for one wife and just got her (I might get smacked for saying that, but it's true :P ). Back then, I had no clue what I was doing, I didn't have a direction, I could care less about making money, and I thought school was just so interesting but I never took the time to figure how it would translate into a career. The only thing I really put any stock into was my church and the youth I was called to serve. I feel so much more established now, I've laid out my path, I know what I want and I have a direction, but everything's moving like molasses and I haven't seen really any progress at all! Last night, I was perplexed: how could an oblivious, uneducated, naive person like me 3 years ago with no plans of his own just fall into fortune's path... then it hit. Duh. Oblivious: not impeded by his own thoughts. Uneducated: not stuck to what he thinks is right. Naive: not stopped by his own pride. No plans of his own: ready to accept the plans from Someone higher. I was being led because all my all was directed towards serving others. Now I have my big plans, but I'm so involved in them that I don't reach out like I used to. There's the answer. Hope I learn it this time.

By the way, there's going to be a big earthquake: