19 March 2013

Hullo! Primero parte :-D

안녕하세요 (Annyeonghaseyo = hello), curlies!

I know that it's been an eternity since I last posted, but I had good reason for it this time - school. I'm taking 15 credits this semester again, and I really wanted to focus on classes. So, I didn't just take a blog break, but a break from most social media in general. I feel bad for leaving y'all in the dark, though *sniffles* :-( Hopefully a few updates about everything will make up for it. Sooo, here we go!

1. Universidad (College/University): MUCH better this semester! By God's grace, I'm able to really buckle down and get things done this term. I know that God is a huge part of that, just because I was having emotional issues last semester. Every day hasn't been easy, and I have been tempted to skip classes some days, but I realised how disrespectful that is - especially since my classes are being paid for by my school. So I'm really trying to be more diligent this semester. 

Also, Korean is going really well! It makes Spanish seem like a walk in the park, but I LOVE Korean! It's so different, and yet makes perfect sense to me. King Sejong (credited with inventing hangul, the Korean writing system) and his advisors were geniuses! The entire alphabet was created based on nature and the structure of a person's throat and vocal organs. It's amazing to me that just looking at a word tells you how to pronounce it! It's so much simpler and more logical to me than English. Another cool thing about Korean is that all words are built from Consonant + Vowel (always in that order!) syllable blocks, so translating names is a bit easier. 

For instance, my first name in English is: KIM-ber-lee. Korean doesn't have the strongly emphasised "-er" that I have in my second syllable. But in Korean, my name is written as this: 킴벌리 and pronounced as KEEM-bul-lee

The force is still on that first syllable, because the first consonant (ㅋ) is an aspirated (spoken with air) consonant and commonly used for loanwords and non-Korean words/names. The "b" consonant (ㅂ) has a slight "p" sound to it, but it's softened by the previous syllable.  Also, the first two syllables have this nifty thing going on called Patchim (or what my sunsengnim [선생님] calls C-star). Patchim is when you add another consonant (or 2) to the original Consonant + Vowel block. It can change the pronunciation of that consonant - like in the middle syllable of my Korean name. The "ㄹ" has a slight rolling "r" sound (think like the double "r" in correr [Spanish]). As patchim, though, the "ㄹ" changes to an "l" sound. The "ㄹ" would have that rolling "r" in the last syllable ("ree"), but since there's another "ㄹ" right before it, the first one makes the second one take on it's "l" sound.

Also, in the word 선생님, there's patchim in every syllable. The "ㄴ" and "ㅁ" don't have sound changes, but the "ㅇ" does. Originally, "ㅇ" is a silent consonant (needed for words that start with vowel sounds but that need a sort of consonant placeholder), but with patchim, the silence is broken and "ㅇ" is pronounced as "ng" (like the "ng" in "ing"). Pretty cool, huh? Okay, going out of nerd mode...


2. Spiritual Health: I'm keeping on keeping on. I'm still in the same life group (small group/Sunday school) at my church, and we're supposed to be starting a new series in a couple of weeks. I guess I'm excited for it, but for a while now, I've been very dissatisfied with my church. Before y'all run away and condemn me for blaspheming Christ, please believe that my dissatisfaction is biblical, and not just nitpicky things like the music. I don't want to go on what seems like a whiny rant about it, but suffice it to say that I don't feel like I'm growing spiritually at the church I'm currently attending with my family. It's bothered me for quite a long time now (I think I started noticing around 11th or 12th grade), and I've continued going only because I'm on a ministry team with my sister and I can't just abandon them. Once I fulfill my obligations with them, however, I'll be praying about visiting other congregations. My personal devotions have been erratic (what's new? :-/), but the Holy Spirit is quick to remind me when I forget. Not a pleasant feeling, but needed, nonetheless.

3. Physical Health: I must say that this took a turn for the better! I'm taking nutrition this semester, and at first I was a tad skeptical. My professor assigned us to do a personal risk assessment; we had to interview our parents about their health, their siblings' health, their parents' health, and their parents' siblings' health. We also had to compose a family tree showing the birth and death of everybody (including ourselves and our siblings), and note any nutrition-related diseases that could've been prevented. I always "knew" that both sides of my family had health issues, but this assignment made it real to me. 

After interviewing my parents, I stared numbly at my paper as I saw that relative after relative suffered from Diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol), obesity/overweight and cancer. My dad, paternal uncle, paternal great uncle, maternal grandmother (deceased), maternal grandfather, maternal uncle, and maternal great aunts and uncles all have Diabetes. They also all have hypertension! Nearly everybody on my mom's side is obese or overweight, as am I. I inherited gallbladder disease from my maternal grandmother. It was just disease after disease, and I felt so overwhelmed! I wanted to cry. I was at a heightened risk for everything because it was so prevalent in my family! I already have gallbladder disease and obesity, but the one thing that freaks me out is Diabetes. After learning even more about (I picked up a lot from my dad) it during our carbohydrates chapter, I felt numb on the inside. My dad was slowly killing himself from the inside out with his horrible diet, and he didn't seem to care! He could literally keel over any day with the way he eats. It's only by God's grace that he's still alive (just like the rest of us, though, so...). He's already had a scare with clogged arteries a few years back; God provided a miracle then. But the way in which my Daddy doesn't seem to take care of his body really scared me. Death never seemed so close or mortality so real. 

I decided then that I couldn't let that happen to myself. I finally read that last chunk of Eat to Live, and for the past few weeks, I've been eating raw vegan. Before you think I've gone off my rocker, it's actually been a great way for me to eat! My normal, incredibly nauseating post-nasal drip has all but vanished. My sniffles are gone. My stomach is no longer bloated. My gallbladder no longer aches trying to provide bile for foods I had no business eating. I feel more energetic than I have in a couple of years, and my skin looks healthier, too. Typically, I have smoothies for breakfast, a salad with raw crunchy veggies for lunch, and a salad and cooked veggies for dinner (huge, huge, huge salads - about 1/2 pound of lettuce per meal). It's amazing! It's not easy, and I have succumbed to temptation several times, but I'm continuing on. I have to do this not just to look good, but to make sure that I'm taking care of the temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells. To put it frankly, I was being (and still am sometimes) a glutton and acting foolish about my health. It was unwise to treat my body in such a manner. But better late than never, right? I'd rather change my habits before a crisis hits my body.

I'll definitely be updating you guys with my progress! I'm a work in progress, but I can't ever go back to eating the way I was. It's too risky.


Y'all's eyes have taken enough of a hit this AM, haven't they? I thought so lol. Tomorrow I shall continue, dahlings! I'll be updating y'all about the hurr - what's been going on and where I'm thinking of going next. Spoiler alert: my CG days might be over for good *cue Twilight Zone music* Lmbo!

Anywho, how have y'all been? I've missed you (even those that don't comment; every view is greatly appreciated)! I tried to keep up with blogs, and I have to say that Dee, you and AuCurls have done amazing jobs with TC, as usual. Such pretty coils! Raven, your articles and advice are as fascinating and insightful as usual :-) GoldenBlaze, your product reviews have me drooling over here! And Valerie from Curls2Envy - great devos as always, and drop dead gawjus hurr of late! What's in those products of yours? Lol.

안녕! (Annyeong! = Adios/Ciao/Aloha/Bye)




10 comments:

  1. thank you so much for this article sis, your posts are so informative!!!
    OMG! that RAW DISH, made me swallow my saliva LOL
    i am in love with celery and carrots ^_^

    I so badly want to learn an Asian language. but it seems so difficult :/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hola, chica! Aw thanks for that :-)
    Doesn't it look yummilicious? I found it on Google and I had to post it here :-D

    I won't lie, they usually aren't very easy, but don't let that intimidate you :-) If your first language isn't English, you actually might have an easier time with Asiatic languages (many of the sounds in Asiatic and Altaic languages don't even exist in English). Which one(s) were you thinking of learning? I'm sure that you can find plenty of info for it on YT :-D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Chica! So good to hear from you and thanks for the update on what's going on with u! Glad you are studying hard and taking notice of your health by eating better. Oh, and don't get into condemnation about ur church and whatnot. Me and my family went thru the same thing. We ended up leaving but guess what?? We found a deeper, more intimate relationship with the Lord...nothing coming between me and Him, no one telling me what the bible doesn't/does say, no more hypocrisy to wade thru...just pure, unadulterated relationship...wonderful and awesome!! Anyway, just follow what the Holy Spirit tells u and don't be afraid to step out of the box if that is the way He leads. Jesus was born out of the box, lived and ministered on earth outside the realm of the religious institution of the day(out of the box)...I'm beginning to think He was showing us a pattern(it's not about the institution of 'church'...it's about true relationship with HIm...worshipping Him in spirit and truth..as He told the woman at the well...didn't mean to preach but the Lord is my passion!!! Also, your curls are pretty awesome and lovely as well, my dear!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ciao, Ms. Dee! :-D

    Thanks for the encouragement, btdubs. It's so easy to become discouraged. There have been times where I wonder if it's just me, because my church has a sizable congregation (approx. 350-450 people), and I can't be the only one who has a problem with it. But you're right; Jesus wasn't an in-the-box type of person. I've been praying about which church to try out, and there are a couple relatively close to my house that I like. I also know people in both congregations, have been to at least one service, etc. Thanks again for your comforting words, bella! :-D

    Grazie molte! I think that they're actually growing, too! Lol. You and AuCurls have me itching to go back to the TC method...those coils and spirals have been popping! :-D

    Ooh, random side note: I got some math books recently for my siblings (5th and 9th grade), and I'm soo excited for them to come! I want to do reviews on them after I do one myself lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ooooo I love new books...although now in our homeschool journey I'm trying to get away from allowing curriculum to be my master....but anyway, what company are the books from? What books were they?

      Delete
    2. They're published by Polka Dot Publishing, methinks. They're from a series called the Life of Fred. The advanced algebra books are for my sister (she's just about to finish the beginning algebra books), and then I got one from the elementary series called "Ice Cream" for my younger brother. The one for my brother is mostly just to give him some type of straightforward math while my mom gets less frazzled. And my sister has been waiting to finish the second half of algebra for a while. They were pretty inexpensive - $53 (including shipping) for all of the books.

      Delete
  5. Ooh, btdubs, what do you use for history? I'm helping my mom plan for next school year, and the options aren't looking too hot right now :-/

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes, I've heard of Life of Fred...don't have any of them though. For history I am having my kids just read some biographies of historical figures. I am thinking of pulling out The Light and The Glory by Peter Marshall for my daughter to begin her history studies for her first high school year this July.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I used it for trig in 12th grade, & my mom decided to give it a go with my sister. Makes me wish I was back in high school again sometimes...
    Thanks! Do you have them do outlines or summaries or narrations of the biographies?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have them do oral summaries. For written work I have them write on some real-life activities that happen in their everyday life and then I use those written activities to teach grammar and spelling, when needed.

    ReplyDelete