As 2023 comes to a close…

Hello again after eons! 

I know for a fact two things now coming to the end of 2023 and moving into the year I’ll turn 30. 

1. This blog will be alive as long as I live 

2. I want to record every memory I possibly can, before I forget them all. 


It’s funny to write into the internet multiverse like this but you know there is something cathartic about it. Next year I’m turning 30 and it’s honestly crazy to see how time has flew! Speaking with many friends, some of us find it dreadful, and some of us find it promising. I’d like to be on the hopeful side, I genuinely hope everyone can come to terms and embrace age. 

It’s only going to get better and our experiences and how we view the world could only get richer. (Provided we stay open of course) 

It’s so odd to see friends one by one getting married and being pregnant and welcoming their offspring into the world, and it’s odder to think I’m there too. 

Today I started writing an autobiography after abruptly abandoning my chores and it felt great :) Though I don’t worry about aging, I do worry about my memory and sometimes I’m bothered that I can’t remember things in the vivid colors they used to be. So while I still can, I thought hey it’s good to jog my memory and write it all down. (Honestly so bummed that Friendster un-existed before I could archive anything) the precious years before 2008! 

Some highlights in 2023:

Singapore Trip, January

Phuket Family Trip, January.


Annual Chay Combined Birthday Celebration, March




Korea Trip, March


Catchups and a visit to the MPO




Aunty Meetups + a Bridal Shower


Vera




Said goodbye to the best team, June



Gave a speech for Father's Day and made a song for Mother's Day






All the Pre-wed meetups.

Pre-wedding in Chinatown

 

July 8 2023


Honeymoon in Phuket, July



Bangkok family trip + Chiangs, July


Some things I’m thankful for now that I’m unemployed after moving to Folsom, CA after the wedding: 

I may never have so much free time again after this so I’m trying to appreciate and relish these golden months. That said, this is what I’ve been up to since August 2023: 


- Decorated my first display cabinets

- Regularly go on 1.5hour long walks (such time-luxury)

- Bought an electric guitar and most recently, my mic setup. 

- Got our first Christmas tree and introduced Russell to the Christmas traditions my family has

- Got new plant friends, and grew a plant out of a sweet potato ! Spring onions didn’t do so well however. 

- Read 5 books and more in the process. Also got into journaling what I read. 

- Visited an art / makers fair in the bay and got to see some artists who I follow online


- Draw, draw, draw 

- Cut my own fringe for the first time

- Visited Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park

- Visited many churches, including a Slavic church which felt so different yet familiar in that we are all immigrants. 





- Went to a concert featuring AJ Rafael (my youtube heroes)






What inspired this self-documenting somewhat was the show Daily Dose of Sunshine. In it a, a patient struggling with depression got an exercise from her doctor in which she would write an autobiography and highlight the parts that had negative feelings. And somehow as I started doing the same as a means of self exploration, I found that indeed my childhood had many happy memories. As I look into teen hood and beyond, perhaps it may be different. But altogether I feel grateful and as all my previous blogposts suggest, I found a way to be thankful to God to each time. And each time, after stepping back, I could see the lesson in the experience. 

Looking into 2024, I hope to continually be kind and to see the needs that are out there and meet them. As a good friend shared recently, an author had these words - 

“See the needs and meet them” - Laura Wifler and 

“Do the next thing” - Elisabeth Eliott , yes the famous lady. Context went like this (as per Brenda):

The backdrop of this saying is very beautiful. She was a young widow (Jim Elliot her husband died on the mission field) and she was struggling with her new life (she was back in the mission field evangelising to the same tribe that murdered her husband) so one day she decided to “do the next thing” even though she wasn’t always sure whether the next thing was necessarily the best thing. 

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/do-the-next-thing/


So yeah, keep doing the next thing, even when life is hard and it’s hard to see past hurt/ disappointment/ grief. 

Depend on God and He will bring you through the rest. 


Clucking out,

Turkey


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