Saddleback Church!

Alrighty so last week me and my family visited Saddleback Church since my mom was such a big fan of Pastor Rick Warren. We drove two hours to the place, and it was definitely worth it.
Pastor Rick's sermon was really great, and I liked the way he preached, but that's not the only thing that blew us away. The church itself was by far the biggest church we've ever seen. Ever. It had about 5 worship services going on for just the adults at the same times! And the kid's worship centers? Amazing. The children must be so happy to be there. There was a whole aquarium full of really cool looking fish that kids could gaze at before and after service and there were also turtles and an alligator. An alligator! In a church! Now that was something we had never seen before.

It was nice to see what different kinds of churches there were! It was a really interesting experience and although the church was a lot bigger than I usually liked, it was something that I would've wanted to do sooner or later.

I'm really glad that I was blessed enough to visit such an honored church, and I hope that all of you will at least once have the chance to visit Saddleback!

My First Basketball Game

So as you all know, yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. day; a day off from school!

I had been looking forward to this day for quite some time now, because we had received three tickets to VIP seats at the staples center to watch the Clippers v.s. Nets game.

Now I am not one of those extreme basketball fans who know every single stat of every single team (I'm not kidding; there are people like this!!), but I do enjoy a good basketball game. And I had an even better time watching the game from our VIP seats!!

It was a great experience, I gotta' say. There was so much food there, and I feasted on everything throughout the entire game, rushing from the food tables to my seat to make sure that I didn't miss any of the game. And boy, was I full after eating to my heart's content. I really felt that if I ate even one more bite, I would've burst.

I realize that I was extremely lucky to go to a basketball game for the first time and be seated in the VIP section; at Staples center!!

Anyways, I just wanted to share with you guys how great of a long weekend that was for me! I was so blessed to be able to go there! I hope that all of you had as enjoyable of a weekend as I did!

Thanks for tuning in once again folks!

Happy New Year!!

Wow.
That year went by faster than I'd ever imagined possible. It's crazy how time flies...

But it was a great year. It was a year of change, goodbyes, new friends, and many many fun moments.
I honestly don't think that I've ever sat down and thought about the year that I was about to bid farewell forever. Now that I'm older and realize that every moment that you spend is so precious because it only happens once, I more reluctantly let the passing year go.
2011 was really a year worth remembering. There was a lot of world history made this year, many remarkable moments, and also many melancholy times.
Overall, I think that I can confidently look back on the year that I've spent and be proud of what I've accomplished and look on the things I've done with laughter and smiles.
Here's to another great year filled with joyous moments and success!
Happy New Year, everyone!

Sick...

First of all, I feel the need to start with an apology.
Sorry for the lack of posts, everyone...

I even was planning on doing a holiday post for you guys, but I didn't get the chance to do that. Now the reason behind all that is that I have been down and out with the flu for the past week and a half. It was horrible. I practically just came back from the dead.
Anyways, I am back now, free to blog for all of you, so you can come back to my blog every now and then once again because there will be a post every few days now.
So, how was my Christmas, you ask?
It was actually quite enjoyable, considering I spent it in bed, sick. I was pleased to see that Christmas went on like normal even though I was sick, however. We exchanged presents and had christmas dinner (most of which didn't stay down =.=).
I got a rabito iPhone case which I absolutely love, and two cute notebooks that I had eyed in a store in the mall a few weeks before christmas.
Thankfully, Christmas was still Christmas. :)

I am also extremely thankful that I am finally, after a week or two of absolute wretchedness.

Anyways, please comment below and let me know how your Christmas went! Tell me all about what you got too~~

Thanks for tuning in once again everybody!

Greetings from LA

So here I am, finally in Los Angeles, California.
Now it has come to my attention that I haven't been blogging for quite some time now, however, I must say, I've underestimated how hectic moving to a whole new country can be.
The first week or so of being here was absolute chaos. We were unpacking, buying furniture, buying food, and applying for countless things.
I have finally found the time to sit myself down and blog about the new chapter of my life that begins in L.A.
So far, I'm loving it here. I must admit, I miss Vancouver terribly, and all my friends I've left there, but it is quite enjoyable here. Living in LA has it's advantages. For one, the weather is absolutely magnificent. Although the some might find the sun beating down on you annoying, I love it. I bask in the sun all the time. We get the heat here in December that we never got in Vancouver in the summertime.
However, I do miss the cleanliness and nature centeredness of Vancouver. Here, it's completely different. The highways are tangled and confusing like a spider's webs, unlike Vancouver. There are cars everywhere, no matter where you go. There is also lots of litter and graffiti everywhere, disappointingly. I never realized how wonderful Vancouver was until now.
I've begun to go to my new school, David Starr Jordan Middle School. It was a huge change for me to go through, since we didn't have middle school in Vancouver. (For those who are confused, the grades go like this: Grades 1~7 Elementary school, and Grades 8~12 Highschool.)
There was no such thing as middle school, so I did have quite a lot of adjusting to do.
I was quite intimidated being faced with the fact that I had to move on to middle school.
However, despite all my fears, everybody at the school gave me a warm welcome and was happy with "the new girl." I was so relieved that I was accepted into the school environment.
And I was also happy with all my classes. It was so much more different than Vancouver, but it was a good different.
Anyways, I just thought that it was time I let you know that I made it to L.A. and am surviving the hectic chain of events that life is throwing at me.
I hope that my viewers will forgive me for not posting for so long, but I also hope that they will be understanding about my situation right now!
Thank you once again for tuning in to Sitting By The Ocean - from L.A.!!

Los Angeles, California, USA                       Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Mentorship ~ Meeting Mr. Harris

Today, I was privilidged enough to meet Mr. Harris, the lawyer. This was because I am part of the mentorship program. Ms. Milden, the head of the mentorship program, introduced me to Mr. Harris. Even though it was a one time experience, I thought it was magnificent! I had all of my questions answered, and really enjoyed it when he gave me a tour of the courthouse. It was a wonderful thing to do before I left for L.A., and I'm so happy that I was given the chance to do this. I loved every minute of our session!  When we first got there, he told me a lot about what it was to be a lawyer, and different types of lawyers, and all the basics. Then he started to answer all the questions that I had; he answered them with great detail, which was helpful for me since I don't know much about law. Then after a while of questions and answers, we made our way over to see his assistant, Goldie. I have to say, I kind of felt bad for her when I saw all the paperwork that she had to do. There was even more on the computer, and when she started to explain things to me, I could see how crucial her job was to Mr. Harris. After meeting Goldie, (and a brief hello to Cathy, and also what was leftover of the Halloween party) we went downstairs to see Miss Harry. It was actually pretty cool to meet a female lawyer, seeing from her point of view what it was like to be a lawyer. Everybody was really friendly and open to my being there, and I loved that about the place!! So after seeing everyone, we left to go to the courthouse. 

I always wanted to be inside the courthouse, for I walked past it many, many times, and I finally got to be in there! I got to see the end of a court session, and everything was very official. Yes... official. That's the best way to put it. After seeing that, we got to see the library in the courthouse. It was filled with books as thick as dictionaries that were titled with very official titles. What was really cool was that there was a book that Mr. Harris wrote in the library! It was huge and heavy-I don't know how he managed to write all of it... I bet everything you need to know about law is in that library. A few weeks  (Who am I kidding) months of reading in that library, and I think that I could answer the many questions that I have myself!! That was the end of our session, but despite it being short, it was a great experience; I loved everything about it!! All in all, everybody I met really inspired me and made me think more about being a lawyer. The experience was really helpful and informative!!

Book Review #23 ~ Fever 1793

Alright so I realized that I haven't done a book review in quite some time, so I decided to write up another one. This book is actually quite an intriguing one, and although the beginning may be boring, don't be fooled; it's actually a quite wonderful story.
Fever 1793 ~ Laurie Halse Anderson

13-year-old Matilda is a confident and independent young girl who helps her mother run their coffeehouse. She lives in the hustle and bustle of Philidelphia, but then disaster strikes. People everywhere, all over the country start to fall over dead from the deadly Yellow Fever. It starts out as a topic for small talk at the coffehouse, then makes it's way up to the point where it's an epidemic. The once hustling, bustling Philidelphia now appears to be a ghost town, for everybody who isn't deathly ill has fled the town, fearing that they too may be a victim of the treacherous disease. Matilda also comes down with it eventually, and struggles to recover. She keeps fighting so that she may regain her well beign, and her strength of mind gives her strength of body, which makes her well again. When she recovers, she is with no one but her grandfather, who isn't in perfect condition either. They make their way back to the city after being attacked by highway men when they were fleeing. When she returns to the city, she starts helping with others that are sick, and as the people are slowly regaining their strength, Matilda faithfully presses on towards the deay when all of Philidelphia will be free from the horrible fever.

This book is actually based on a real event, and it has all the information about it at the back of the book. The book has quite a gripping plot, and it hooks you on to the story. However, it didn't hook you on immediately, as I would've liked, but later on in the book. It was still a great story, and I do recommend everyone to read it.

Thank you for tuning in, and come back next time for more!!