I'll miss you, Yonge Street Mission!

Observation #16: You know you're spoiled silly when you get three different baby showers at work.

I know just how lucky I am to be able to say with utter honesty, "I love my job!" I don't have any hard stats on this, but it seems like the majority of people I know think of their job as just a job and not necessarily a place of fulfillment or community. It's the place they go to get their pay checks, and the other spheres of life are where that fulfillment is found. Which is totally understandable as well, and I expect that at one point I'll be holding a job like that too.

But I must say, my work at Yonge Street Mission during the past two years was not "just a job". Maybe quoting you what we're asked to agree to during our Staff Consecration will give you a better idea of what I'm talking about...

"Charge to: Jennifer Yoon. In joining the staff of Yonge Street Mission you have entered into a special calling. In becoming a member of this Christian faith community, you have agreed to demonstrate God's love, peace and justice to people living in economic, social and spiritual poverty in Toronto. Do you recognize that this is the vocation God has chosen for you at this particular phase of your life? Do you commit to upholding the values of God's Kingdom through this ministry? Do you acknowledge that every person is created in the image of God and has inherent value and dignity? Will you maintain a healthy lifestyle that includes the development of spiritual disciplines?

If this is your desire, then respond with a resounding 'YES!' "

To which, of course, I did respond resoundingly.

My work with the seniors and adults in the community of Regent Park/Moss Park and St. Jamestown has stretched me, challenged me, spoiled me (I repeat, 3 separate baby showers! One from the seniors, one from our adult drop in called "New Hope Fellowship", one from the staff. Not to mention the bridal shower I got last year...) and taught me much about being in community. It was also amazing to work in a Christian organization that nurtured my faith, as well as made me ask new questions about my faith journey. My coworkers are the kindest, most warm-hearted people you'll meet and I've learned a lot from each of them. I'll miss everyone!

The long commute is what I won't miss, which is also why I won't be returning to work after my maternity leave, but as I've heard often around the Mission, "no one really ever leaves the Mission." My heart and prayers will be with YSM!

not being able to sleep...

Observation #15: Having a cold + Being 31 weeks pregnant = no sleep

I've very rarely had trouble sleeping and have been told by so many that I should enjoy my sleep now (since it'll be greatly lacking in about 9 weeks), but here I am, up at midnight not able to shut my brain off. The combination of a stuffy nose, sore throat and increasing discomfort to my back no matter which way I lie down means I'd rather be up than trying to coax sleep to visit me... it's been two nights now that I haven't been able to rest the way I want to, but hopefully this will be the last night.

Thank goodness I have tomorrow off, which means I can sleep in. Though at the same time, it's sad to think I only have 2 more weeks of work left... So many changes will be happening in the next few months. I'll have to blog about that another day.

Well, I guess I'll just surf around the net for random things until my eyelids can't stay up anymore. I hope that's soon...

Gift giving

Observation #14: Apparently I'm not a great gift-giver after all...

So I think quite a few people out there have heard of the notion of "love languages".

"Of the countless ways we can show love to one another, five key categories, or five love languages, proved to be universal and comprehensive—everyone has a love language, and we all identify primarily with one of the five love languages: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch." (www.5lovelanguages.com).

I had always thought that one of my top love languages was giving and receiving gifts. Even as a kid, I loved giving away stuff. Unfortunately for my sister, sometimes that stuff included her stuff, and she'd pout and get upset when I'd offer her long-forgotten-stuffed-animal-from-the-back-of-the-closet to another little girl who was over at our house and seemed to enjoy playing with it. But even with my own possessions, I liked being able to give that certain gift I thought the other person would just love to receive. I would never be able to wait for the actual birthday or Mother's day to come -- if I bought the gift a week in advance, usually by mid-week I would crack and give it to the person -- just for the sheer joy of seeing their face when they opened it.

But... ever since I have been together with Kevin, I'm becoming more and more doubtful of my ability to give gifts. He is by far the more generous, the more thoughtful gift-giver. He thinks of giving gifts to people on occasions I would have just glossed over and he thinks of giving bigger and more meaningful gifts than I often have the energy or the generosity to think of.

Which is why this month I am racking my brain all the more. February includes both V-Day and Kevin's birthday. And it included my birthday, when I got the coolest gift ever from Kev. He got me a telescope! I don't know the exact model number, which is why I am uploading a random telescope pic (just so you get the idea) but it is very cool and I look forward to gazing at many stars through it. I just have to figure out how to do that first...

What do I get him??? V-day is right around the corner and I am still drawing a blank... boo.

The new Lee residence!

Observation #13: Moving takes longer than you anticipate...

So our big move was on Saturday and now we are living in the chaos of boxes, not-yet-placed furniture, sawdust and paint cans. Our hope is that we'll exit our chaos by Wednesday. But like K said right before falling off to sleep last night, "I'm so happy... I couldn't be happier." I agree. It's a blessing to be starting off our family in a home we can dream of making our own (still a long to-do list of renovations ahead of us) over the next 5, 10 years.

So, moving. We decided to have movers come in to do the move, as Kevin was unbelievably busy with dealing with contractors for our kitchen the past week and would have to be at home on-site on the day of, and I am of course pregnant and therefore not much use with lifting anything. We figured that the 4-hours we allotted to professional movers would be sufficient, since we thought we don't have too much stuff. I still don't think we have that much stuff, but long story short, the move took twice that amount of time. Maybe it was too many smoke breaks those guys went on... I don't know. I wonder what our next move will be like, with so much more stuff I'm sure we'll accumulate in the years to come.

As crazy as my house is right now, I can't wait to go home today! 1.5 hours left... Time, fly please.

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By the way, we found out last week, it's a girl! Chloe Joowon Lee... Can't wait to see her pretty face.

Boy or girl?

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, I was scheduled for my second ultrasound yesterday. We had big hopes to find out if our baby was a boy or a girl and..............

(drum roll please)

.....we don't know yet.

Our baby apparently had the umbilical cord between its legs so we couldn't determine if there was something else there or not... The technician says to us, "Seeing that there's just a line here, I think it might be a girl. I'd say there's a 50% chance it's a girl." Ummm... no duh. I could have told you that myself!

So Kevin and I left feeling pretty disappointed, but happy to hear that the baby looks healthy so far. I'm just passing the half-way mark now, so so far so good!

He/she's been kicking quite actively lately, so that's been an awesome experience. Kevin was able to feel a kick with his hand for the first time last night. Big smile on his face. :)

2010, here we come!

What a year 2009 was! I think by any standard it was an overwhelmingly eventful year. It included: planning a wedding, getting married, getting pregnant, selling our condo, buying a house and all the other fun stuff in between.

I can't imagine 2010 being any crazier, but then again, I've never been a new parent before. I'm sure giving birth and raising a child with my husband will be full of surprises and unexpected situations/emotions. But like I said, here we come! I'm excited for all the upcoming events...

Today Kevin and I will be getting the anatomical ultrasound for our baby. Hopefully we can find out today whether it's a boy or a girl. We've been looking forward to today all holiday long, so I'm just counting down the hours!

Wishing everyone a truly happy, crazy 2010!