on Fox 5

A lady just approached me asking me questions. I had no idea it was Fox 5 news. I didn't even know I was going to be on TV! It wasn't til Emily texted me saying she saw me on TV did I find out. I had to take a screenshot just for memory hahaha =D

Age 24: learned how to jump rope

I have all this time on my hands now and one of the main things I've really been working on is exercising and eating right. I've tried different forms of exercise and experimented with different workout equipments to find out favorite ones to work with. Currently I found that I love yoga, kick boxing, and sports as a form of exercise. I've also come to hate the tedious treadmill, elliptical, pilates, and weights. They're either too boring or too painful for me to bear haha. Anyway, last week when I was babysitting Emily, she kept wanting to do a jump rope contest. Being that I eat all day at their house, I took advantage of this chance to exercise. All my life, I've never really liked the way I jump roped. I've always took two jumps per one turn. I've always seen people jump once per turn and couldn't seem to be able to do it. Jump roping with Emily was the first time I jump roped in what seemed like years. It felt great! I made a note to myself to get myself a jump rope and get better at it!

I just found a jump rope laying around in the pantry and started to do some jumps. I asked my brother to jump rope and he jumped the "correct" way. So just 15 minutes ago, he taught me how to jump and now I finally know how to jump one jump per rope turn. I guess all this time I've been jumping too high (bending my knees)! Kinda weird, I mean.... did I really just learn how to jump rope? (I still don't even understand how double dutch works)

(I just looked on youtube because I wanted to try to find a video of how I used to jump and how I jump now, but instead I found a video of a dog jump roping! I want to teach Nala to jump rope!)

I also realized that there are so many things I don't know how to do. To this day, I still can't hoola-hoop, whistle, snap my fingers, or roll my R's. I can't even close my lips and blow and make that perpetual rumbling lips sound if anyone knows what I'm talking about. At least I can roll my tongue!...but that's a genetic thing.

My plan now's to master the jump rope and do cool tricks!!!

Hachiko: A Dog's Story

While eating hot pot (I love hot pot!) at Jay's apartment last week, he told us about a movie called, Hachiko: A Dog's Story, starring Richard Gere. He compared it to Marley & Me and said that this movie would get you crying (bawling) 10 times more. I finally watched it and absolutely loved it. Here's the trailer:

It was based on a true story. Here's the story behind it: http://hubpages.com/hub/Hachiko. The story just touches me so much because just recently I've learned how much more a canine can give you. They're more than just a cute, furry "toy"... I cried so much throughout the movie. I just got Nala a little less than 4 months ago and already I love her to death. Philip and I decided to get a dog and originally I didn't really want one. I was afraid I'd grow tired of her and just wasn't ready to commit. Now that we have her, I love her more than anything. Nala gives such unconditional love, so loyal, and even if I yell at her for her wrong-doings, she's always forgiving. I know why people love dogs so much now. Like my cousin told me yesterday, "You've become a dog person!" YESSS... I absolutely LOVE dogs now. I think they're the most amazing creatures! I couldn't have asked for a better first dog. Nala's the best best best best dog ever!

Leaving in 3.5 months to.....

.... the beautiful island of Grenada!

Thank you, school, for responding in a timely manner. I won't have to pay my second $500 deposit for Ross University. Bye, bye Ross! Hello St. George's University!

Becca Lee

SHOUT OUT TO BECCA LEE!!!!

Just wanted to say I love you.

:-)
(that's the face you always use)

Pollen Pollen Everywhere

Is it just me or is pollen even worse this year? I've never really been a victim of allergies and not til this week have I ever been affected by pollen. My throat is getting itchy and my nose is runny. I keep sneezing too. Just being outside is making me itch my eyes out. I'm scratching and swishing my eyeballs so hard it's tearing up and turning red. I'm one of those scratchers that have to scratch when something itches. If I had the chicken pox, I'd probably be scratching as I please. I can't stand itchiness! Speaking of chicken pox, I don't know if I've ever had it. I got vaccinated for it though, so I won't ever get it. I used to want the chicken pox haha, is that weird? It's just one of those things I wanted just because other kids had it. When I think back on my childhood days, I can't even begin how badly I tried to assimilate with my other American friends. But I'll get into a post about that another time. For now, I'm just gonna enjoy tonight indoors with the AC on. And I guess another Hello to pollen tomorrow!

Dang, Georgia's in the "HIGH" range!

Nanny Tax?

Along with tutoring, I've started babysitting as well. Yesterday while babysitting, the mother told me something about "deducting taxes" from my paycheck. Immediately I was thinking, "uhhh what?" ... I've never really babysat on a regular basis, but from what I know, when it comes to babysitting, you just come to babysit and leave with either a check or cash. When did taxes get involved?

I asked Philip and a couple friends and they all thought it was weird that she'd take taxes from me. Who does that? Friends told me that "That's stupid", "She's not a company..." or even "She's trying to jip you.." And although I found it really weird to not treat me like a "normal" babysitter, I didn't think she'd try to jip me or treat me unfairly, cheat, or just anything negative. She's such a sweet lady!

So I googled it up, and apparently there's a law, often referred to as the "Nanny Tax", that I've never heard of. Being a nanny, babysitter, or just anything of that nature is still considered a household employeee. Even if a babysitter only works part time or comes in just once a month, as long as they make at least $1500 a year, the Nanny Tax is required. Tons of people don't know about it and a huge percentage don't even pay it. And although chances of catching someone not paying are slim, it's still a law!

I'm glad I know now. Looks like the folks I babysit for are law-abiding citizens ... good people hehe.

I got a check today though, and nothing was taken away. So now I'm more confused. Maybe I'll pay something at the end of the year. I feel really clueless when it comes to this stuff. She mentioned W2 forms and not once in my life have I ever filled out such a thing. Welp, now's the time to learn I guess? It's not even a real job, it's just babysitting!!! hahaha... Tja!!

("Tja" is German for "Oh well")

Nguyen Family Photos

Inspired by my nephew's blog (http://ralphnguyen.wordpress.com), I've decided to create a "blog" that holds all the pictures taken of the Nguyen Family. We hold a gathering for almost every holiday and birthday throughout the year. We all upload them to our individual Picasa accounts and send invitations to everybody to share. But these invitations just stay in my inbox (or mine at least) and through years, I forget what all invitations I have to which set of pictures. In fact, most of the pictures, I've completely forgotten!

To make things easier, for my mom at least who looks at Ralph's blog all the time and clicks back to days to look at pictures when he was just born, I created a wordpress account for Nguyen Family Photos. I kinda like this idea, because not only can I link the pictures to it, but I can even blog about the event itself. I've linked back all the pictures since 2003 and I was amazed at how much my family/cousins have grown and how many gatherings we have!

8 years worth of pictures and it'll surely continue on...

http://nguyenfamilyphotos.wordpress.com

I'm a Tutor Now

TutorExcel called me the other day to interview me to become a tutor in Biology. There is a female student, 9th grader, taking AP Biology and her concern is passing the AP Final Exam at the end of the year. Being that it's just 9th grade Biology (well, AP) and I, myself, have actually graduated with a degree in Biology, it shouldn't be hard at all, eh? I've actually never tutored before and I made sure to tell TutorExcel that. After meeting with me, they said they believed I could do it and said I'd make a good tutor for this student.

So I'm glad I have a job now. This is actually something I'd like to do before starting medical school. I've been jobless and not in school for 3 months now. After all the interviews, applications, and stressful waiting is over with, I'm finally able to do anything I want to do. Not only is the pay great, but this opportunity not only lets me help someone else, but it's actually a challenge for me to try to make some improvements in this girl. Do I think I can do it?

Well, I've frantically searched online for AP Biology Cliffs book to download haha. It's 419 pages. It's spring break next week and I start tutoring the week after. That gives me one week to finish that book to brush up on the details within Biology I. Whoo... so far I've gotten through the first 30 pages. At least all of it is review for me and I'm able to just skim. Afterall, I DID just take the MCAT not too long ago. This Biology stuff should be fresh on my mind. Why am I so scared?

Welp, goals are always nice to make. My goal is to get this girl a 5 on her AP exam! hah. Ah, well I'll just do the best I can.

Happy 82 Degrees April Fool's Day!

It's 82 degrees outside today.... NICE!!! Today marks the first day this year that I wore shorts outside. It's so hot that Nala can hardly run. She's constantly looking for shaded spots, poor her. It's getting so hot, I'm starting to miss winter. Not..! I'm loving every bit of this! Let's just hope allergies won't creep up on me...