Ficocello's
When hubby first saw this place right around the corner from our apartment, he thought it was some Italian restaurant...turns out it was a hair salon! LOL! On Friday, I went to get a haircut...a very cute one at that! You know how it is...lookin' all good in the salon, but once you take a step outside, all hell breaks loose! Haha, I hate that! But fortunately, the 'do remained flawless for the rest of the evening and well into the next day. Yah, I took picture of it! When I get it developed (um, yet to get a digital cam! sheesh, of all people, eh?!), I'll post it up! Btw: thanks to hubby for the day of pampering...much love!

Ain't Nothin' to Do in Minnesota!
Did I really say that?! I've been back a week as of today (Sunday) and already, I've been casted in 2 dances for an upcoming performance, I joined and sang (with my own mic!Eek!) with a praise team for the Fil-Am Church where Ran is drummer, too, AND as of last Friday, accepted Christ as my Savior! Honestly, it's really just a beginning for me. For the first time, I attended a small group meeting where we watched and discussed a video titled, "The Purpose Driven Life" by Pastor Rick Warren. There is this campaign at church called the "40 Days of Purpose." In a nutshell, we will be focusing on finding out our purpose in life and how it relates to God's purpose for us. Many of you probably know that I have struggled with and questioned my Catholic faith since college. Being that I was born and raised Catholic, Catholic was all I ever knew. I had learned the prayers, went to Masses every Sunday, recited the rosaries, was baptized, received holy communion, and was confirmed. I went through all the motions that all Catholic kids go through. But I never really understood or could explain WHY I did the things I did at Church. I just did them. This is not to say that my Catholic upbringing has been a waste- totally far from it! I am grateful to have been brought up the way I have been, modeled and guided to believe in the things I did, and set examples by parents, family, and Church on how to be a good person. It was NOT all done in vain. But as I got older, I began to think for myself (oh horrors!). During my SFState days and through my life experiences, I've questioned my faith one too many times. There had been a gap in my life that I could not quite explain. After meeting hubby and talking opening about Christianity, my eyes started to open. I began going to different non-denominational churches and found myself being "touched" in ways that I never felt at my own church. Needless to say, I knew that I was on the path to receiving Christ into my heart...it was more of a question of WHY, and not a question of WHEN. I wanted to make sure that I was choosing to be a Christian for the right reasons. At the small group meeting last Friday as we watched a video, Rick Warren recited a prayer via VHS. We all closed our eyes and prayed together. I prayed along wholeheartedly, asking Jesus to come into my heart. Now, I have watched those evangelistic shows before and I have prayed along during the part where we ask Jesus into our hearts. Yet, I never "felt" like it was significant. I guess because in the Catholic church, being baptized is a huge event and saying a prayer with a televised program just seemed semi-anticlimactic. According to hubby, there IS more than saying a prayer to becoming a Christian. There's the whole immersion during baptism, being reborn in Christ and having our sins washed away. As everyone shared about the moment or circumstance that led them to become Christians, I realized that YES, I have accepted Christ into my heart, BUT, I have still so much to learn about my relationship with Him. This is only my first step. I am hoping that during this "40 Days of Purpose" that I will have that chance to do just that. It is a life-changing decision and I am damn glad I did it.

49 Degrees
So I hear that back in the Bay Area the weather is HOT! How ironic that I was complaining of that very thing a couple of weeks ago here in Minnesota...not to mention the icky humidity. For the past few days, we have been reveling in this "Bay-Area-like" weather...overcast...rainy...49 degrees. Ahhhhhh...niiiicccceeeeee. It's really started to cool down over here, but was actually alarmed to find out that Fall doesn't last too long over here. I was all lookin' forward to the changing of the leaves and the beauty of it all....I STILL am, don't get me wrong, but according to the locals out here, "winter weather" (aka snow, ice, freezing cold weather) can begin anytime starting end of October and lasting until April! (can you guys re-read that last sentence again...."October until April!" Good Lord! NOT lookin' forward to that...40 below freezing, um, no thanks! But don't worry, we'll brace the freezing snow to take pics of snowmen and snow angels...haha, I've always wanted to make one!