Life Decisions

I've been overwhelmed by big decisions that have entered my life. As I pray in the midst of this time, I came across such great reminders from an article of Desiring God. Future Yvette: please refer back to this article when you feel lost or confused, or when the distractions of the world become too much. A lot of times I need constant reminding because I forget so easily that my anchor is in God and not anything else.

"If you live your life not on the basis of spiritual wisdom but on the basis of external revelations, you are not compelled to deal so deeply with the corruption of your own heart and mind. It is possible for a servant to hear the commands of his master and do them without really loving his master or being like him. But if the master refrains from telling the servant the details of what he wants done, and simply says, "Go now, and be a good representative for me in what you choose," then the servant is forced to consider what his master is really like and how deeply his own heart and mind conform to the heart and mind of the master.

God wants conformity to his Son Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29), not just external compliance with instructions. He wants us to see the way he sees and desire the way he desires and assess the way he assesses and be repelled by what repels him. And so he does not short-circuit all this inner transformation of likeness to Christ when he calls us to do his will."

I will end with a verse that gave me great encouragement.

2 Corinthians 4:16–18, "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

50 states

One of the things on my bucket list is to visit all 50 states. So far, I've been to 23 which is almost half! 46% to be exact... I found this nifty site that lets you see visually where you've been so far:

Although I've spent almost all my life in the northeast, I find it funny how I've covered all the southern states of the US. Maybe that means that's where my heart is being pulled. I really do love the south. I find it very endearing- the people and their warmth, the food, the culture, everything.

God's funny way of comfort

Yesterday, my mom went through a procedure to take out growth in her uterus. She had an operation a few years back to get rid of them, but they returned. I don't know too much about it because my parents don't give me details. My mom has still yet to tell me directly; I heard everything through my dad. As a friend said, parents tend to think that they're only supposed to worry about us and that we shouldn't worry about them. I understand that my mom didn't tell me because I am far away and didn't want me to dwell on it. But still...

I'm glad my sister's school is near them, so she drove home for the weekend to accompany my dad taking my mom in for the surgery. While Yuri was there, she told me something so candidly funny and unexpected-

While the doctor was prepping my mom,Yuri found out that this doctor (Dr. Yoon) in charge of the procedure was the same doctor who delivered Yuri as a baby! He also delivered my brother Gene! I could imagine the sense of awe as you meet the person who helped you enter this world. *cue emotional music and praise* How very awesome.

As an extra, Yuri found out that Dr. Yoon's brother was the one who delivered me! Sibling doctors deliver siblings! I hope to meet him one day! God surely has a sense of humor when he is comforting people. This occurance and realization probably brought out laughs in the room and relaxed the atmosphere. Thank you Spirit for being with my family during a tense, worrisome time!

All in all, my mom's procedure went well. Please pray for her fast recovery. I can't wait to go home for Thanksgiving.

The day I almost bought a BMW

As my lease on my Hyundai accent is winding down, I need to decide what my next step will be. These are my 3 options:

1. Buy it out
2. Lease another Hyundai
3. Return it and walk away

I'm open to options 1 and 3. I will either buy my car out or buy a used car.

I recently found out Schlumberger has it's own classifieds, kind of like an internal craigslist. Because so many employees are relocated all the time, it only makes sense to sell your furniture and car to other employees who may have just gotten there. 

I was looking on the site and came across a guy who was selling his 2007 BMW 3 series that he's only driven 25,000 miles for $9999. Wowza, what a deal!

I got in contact with him and wanted to meet him next week to physically check the car and test drive. He had posted a link to his actual craigslist ad for additional info, and good thing I went to check. Under his info, his odometer was at 99,300. I emailed him back and asked him to please explain.

It turns out that he bought the car with 74,000 miles on it originally, and in the past years he's had it, he's only driven about 25,000 miles. Wording is everything, people. Technically, what he put on his ad is not a lie, but I don't know about you sir, that is very misleading.

All is to say, I rescinded my request. I do not buy cars from tricksters.

Do you remember your first slow dance?

I suddenly had an urge to listen to K-Ci & JoJo's "All My Life" and it instantly it took me back to the dimly lit gymnasium of my middle school. Every month on a Friday we would have dances called "Teen Canteens" when I would beg my mom to buy me a new top for it every month. Bless her heart, she put up with my Hollister and BeBe obsession and got me a shirt every time. My priorities in life were new shirts, cool screen names and Maybelline eyeliner.

Alas, my crush asked me to dance during one Teen Canteen as my friends were awkwardly huddled behind me and giggling.We were two stick figures dancing rigidly, unaware of all our joints. His neck was really sweaty but I barely noticed because I was so ecstatic. I can't recall if we spoke during the song, because I hope we didn't look away the entire time or even worse, just awkwardly stare into each other's eyes. I still remember the song we danced to as it will be lodged into my memory forever- Hero by Enrique Iglesias. Immediately I came home after the dance and wrote in my diary about it- along with his name written around the frame of the entry. I would later download it on limewire and replay the song secretly in my room and slow dance with the invisible being in front of me. Oh, the joys of revisiting 7th grade.

Amy's Kitchen

One thing about working in the oilfield is that you will soon embrace the life of fast food and gas station pick ups. My friends know me as a junkie when it comes to those types of food, and I'm not particularly proud of it...but sometimes there just isn't a choice when you get off work in the middle of the night because the only thing open are McD's and Waffle House. Once in a while, you can try to premake your meals and bring it out on jobs, but good luck...that will last only a few days. 

Tonight I am writing from a job, a 2 well pad in Jal, NM, my favorite part being the empty vast fields that meet the sky. There are no buildings anywhere and you can imagine the beautiful sunrise and sunset not obstructed by any construction. 

Because we are in the middle of nowhere, there are no restaurants or a grocery shop nearby. I went to Walmart which was almost an hour away, and indulged in frozen meals. I haven't had one since my college days, so I went all out. In college, I was a devoted to Lean Cuisine. It wasn't particularly good, but my college student wallet was what determined the brand of choice. This time around, I veered away from Lean Cuisine to try other things that were out there.

Side note: My wallet is like an onion. Every time I open it, it makes me cry.

My love for thai food remains thai hot... it's been too long since I had my thai fix. When I saw Amy's Thai Red Curry in the aisle, I was excited and decided to give it a shot. Boy, what a meal! I had it for dinner and it warmed my tummy. It was the perfect blend of savory and creamy with good veggies and jasmine rice. The flavor was on point and everything seemed fresh, considering it was a frozen meal. I definitely recommend it, if you ever come across it. 

Don't tell anyone but...

I am not a Harry Potter fan. I was never a Harry Potter fan. As a reader, I feel a little confused about this, because, what was I doing while all my other friends were reading HP!? I remember I picked up the 1st and 2nd book of the series at my friend's place, but it just didn't capture my attention. Then for Christmas, my friend tried to sneakily change my view by giving me the 7th Harry Potter book as a gift. Needless to say, I don't know where that book is right now...

I seem to have missed a lot of the big legacy series. LOTR, Matrix, Star Wars, to name a few. I am proud to say I watched Terminator 1, 2, 3 though! Not sure if it stands with the classics, but I still acknowledge it.

When my friends would dress up and go to the showings, or stay up until midnight (even if it was on a school day) to pick up the next book of the series, it never entered my mind that I should give Harry and his wizardly friends another try.