sunshine bloggers

alas, here goes another belated post! 

apologies and thank you to wander to wonder, speak style rock and buddy the mutt for tagging me as a sunshine blogger {such a cute name!}. there seems to be varying rules with this as well so i'll tweak a bit -- stating 5 random facts, answering 5 questions, tagging 5 bloggers and asking 5 of my own questions. 

random facts: 

01 //  i trained all my childhood as a flautist at the manhattan school of music. it was actually my mama's dream to see me on stage. few months before auditioning to juilliard's pre-college division.. i quit. thankfully my mama didn't hold it against me. 

02 // back then i wasn't afraid of being on stage, in front of people and judges, but as i got older it began to terrify me. i guess it's different than playing an instrument, but i really don't enjoy speaking in public {but my previous jobs required it..! needless to say, i had a lot of sucking up to do.}

03 // i used to have this obsessive habit of memorizing things from the olympics.. like the figure skaters from the 1988 calgary games and gymnasts from the 1992 barcelona olympics. when we had to move to the dc area in 2010, i picked silver spring, maryland, because i remembered that dominique dawes was from there. i thought .. hmm.. she's from there.. it must be a good place. i'm so simple minded. when i told yangkyu my reasoning he was floored. he's more of a google research guy. 

04 // piri is not my first cocker spaniel! i had one as a child. i named him bobby after a boy in my second grade class. 

05 // yangkyu and i met at a non-profit where i worked {he was a long-time member}. he drove me to my hotel after my interview for the position and afterwards i gushed to my friend about how i thought he was really cute. 8 years after being friends, dating other people, living in different cities, reuniting in new york and finally dating each other, we were married in new rochelle, new york, overlooking the beautiful long island sound. it was one of the happiest days of my life.

questions from speak style rock

01 // what is your life motto? 

treat others the way you like to be treated. i try to take bad experiences and learn from it. we've all probably been there - fall out with a friend, nasty work environments, lonely days at school. i think if people go through being hurt, they wouldn't want others to feel that way. i'm not perfect, but i try to be more conscious about my actions based on my experience. i also try to practice giving the benefit of the doubt. i've come to realize that people may not always have bad intentions behind their actions and words. i've been misunderstood and it's one of the most frustrating feelings i've felt. so before i react to a negative situation, i take a step back and think if i may be misunderstanding them. 

02 // who is your role model? 

my parents. my mama gave up her job to raise me and my brother. sometimes stay at home moms get a bad rap, but i think being a mom is the hardest job out there. it doesn't start at 9 am and end at 5 pm. and my mama has been living with a mental illness for a number of years now but she still teaches me life's most important values. and my papa - he was once a big corporate person but our life's difficulties has changed him. now he lives a minimal, humble life. there were many moments in my life when my parents could not be there for me and my papa always thanks me for turning out alright. but i always tell him i wouldn't be who i am without them. 

03 // has this year 2013 so far been better than last year? 

we had some downs this year. yangkyu lost his mother in february, which was really hard on him. subsequently we had to stop plans on some things we were working towards, like buying a house due to our pregnancy issue. but there were definitely great moments as well. not sure if it was better than last year, but we'll count our blessings for all the good things in our lives. 

question from buddy the mutt 

04 // what do you like most about your current pet(s)? dislike?

i like everything about piri. his sniffs, wet nose, cuddles but also his fierce independence. i don't dislike anything about him. how can i? look at his face! 

05 // if you could go anywhere in the world for free, where would you go? 

i want to go the obvious places like japan, france, finland, norway, sweden, great britain and italy, but there is also a place i learned about during a class in college - kizhi pogost. there is a church there that was built without using a single nail. i've always been intrigued and wanted to go. i love beautiful, unique architecture. 

***

thank you for reading! i'm passing on the sunshine and tagging the following blogs that i currently enjoying reading -- the cat you and us, kid granny, true my lens, hello ellie and us on cloud 9. 

my questions to you bloggers -- 

01 // where is your happy place?

02 // how do you unwind from a stressful day? 

03 // what is the one act of kindness that you still remember to this day?

04 // what is a cause that is near and dear to you? and why?

05 // share one tip or advice on anything - life, school, work, on living a happy life, etc.