My dress is from Shopbop, from 9/25-9/30 use Code: STOCKUP18 for 20% off orders under $500 and 25% off orders $500+ (or go to my shop, I’m selling this dress, brand new!

Sunday best from last Sunday(my mom’s birthday), thought I should post it before another Sunday rolls around.

Have you read my blog post Why you should never ask where are you from to non-white people from 2 years ago? It talks about the ignorant comments I’ve had to deal with my whole life while growing up in Utah. The last story I share is so crazy and so sad, of what happened to Jay on his way home from work. I had so many good comments but I accidentally deleted them all.

I thought of my blog post after watching Crazy Rich Asians today with my mom. It was such a good movie, everybody go see it! I honestly didn’t expect the movie to be this good, but it’s one of my all time favorite chick-flicks ever. I was taken back at how many times I cried during the movie because I was so proud, but also sad at the underrepresentation all minorities here in the U.S feel to this day. As a female, minority, Latter-Day Saint, living in Utah, I feel the underrepresentation immensely. We can all do better, starting with me.

Who’s seen the movie? Or have you felt underrepresented in your own life? How so?

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This week was a 1-year mark of my dad’s passing.

When my dad was a College student, he was baptized as a Christian into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In his blessing, he was promised that if he obeyed God’s commandments with exactness, his future children would be greatly blessed and they’d all become large statures in society.

So as a young College student, he would get up in the early hours of morning on Sunday, drink barley water for breakfast(since the cafeteria wasn’t yet open), take the train for several hours to get to church. He ate the crusts of the leftover sacrament bread for lunch, then take the train for several hours back to arrive in his dormitory around 9 pm. The cafeteria would be closed by then so having had nothing to eat but the crusts of the bread many hours earlier, he’d go to bed in an empty stomach. He did this every single Sunday without fail, in order to keep the Sabbath day holy and not spend money on this day.

My sister Pearl is very sweet, kind, giving, selfless, and hard working. Her beautiful aura calms me & her spiritual wisdom feeds my soul on the regular. Everybody wants to be around her and wants to be her friend & many call her an Angel, for she truly is one. She is a super mom/woman & my best friend.

Joseph is like my dad, he keeps the commandments with exactness. When he was 8 years old & it was a Fast Sunday, he walked up to our mom all distraught. My mom asked him what was wrong and he told her he was distraught because he accidentally swallowed his saliva and broke his fast. He went on to Cornell & got his Ph.D in Optics & invented invisible cloaking(read the article here about his invention) and now works for Raytheon, who specializes in world’s cybersecurity.

Jacob is like a Buddha. Always quiet, calm, patient & a Spiritual giant. He graduated top of his class from Harvard and he is one of the most noble, humble & kind person I know. He now works for the Embassy as the 1st counselor of the State, on his way to become a Diplomat. He speaks 6 languages & will be moving to Russia after living in Turkmenistan the past two years.

Michael is sweet, intelligent, driven & highly ambitious. After attending Cal Tech & getting a MBA at Stanford, he started a highly rated & successful coding school, Coding Dojo which operates 7 coding schools across the Nation.

But most importantly, they’re giving, kind, righteous, honest & good. So pure and good. If the world was full of only people like them, there would be no war, hunger, or dishonesty but truly world peace.

I know my dad smiles down at my siblings with pride. I hope to live my life so his promise of all his children can be fulfilled.

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“Sixteen years ago I learned an important life lesson, in the back of a New York City taxi cab.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.

My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by mere inches! The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was actually friendly!

So, I asked him, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and could’ve sent us to the hospital!” And this is when my taxi driver told me about what I now call, “The Law of Garbage Trucks.” “Many people are like Garbage Trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it, and if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Instead, just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You’ll be happier because you did.”

-The Law of the Garbage Truck

Have you ran into people who tried to dump their garbage on you lately? Have you been the one to dump your garbage on them? As a mother, I feel I dump my garbage on my kids or my husband frequently, like a few days ago when I went to bed at 5 a.m., they got the crankiest mom for the day.😅 I’m trying to take care of myself and make sure I’m happy and well-rested so that my kids will get the best version of me as their mother. And sleep is #1!

But it’s so hard because I love staying up late in silence where no one is calling my name every 5 seconds or needing me. I don’t need to listen, do something for someone else, help, feed, listen, wash, change, entertain, listen(SO MUCH listening all day long) to anyone but me. So that’s my biggest struggle, going to bed early. What is your #1 obstacle from being the best version of yourself?

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Read part one here first before reading part two.

Thick Skin Part Two

 Even though they protest our #tyausunday photos by wearing paper bags over their heads, I know they’ll thank me one day.

Last week I got a mean comment on a FB video that featured my work, comparing me to another seamstress and how she was way better than I was. As an empath, when I read comments I feel that person’s intent & energy when they wrote it so it affects me initially.

My first reaction was to comment back and say something sassy but reacting is never a good idea. It’s only when you don’t fight the emotion you feel by getting defensive or attacking back, but sit on it instead and accepting the unpleasant emotion, that it then turns into wisdom. Then you can act with that wisdom that you gained, instead of reacting which you most likely will always regret saying or doing.

So as I accepted the present as is, I realized my sewing skills do not define who I am or my value. My level of sewing skills is not stagnant. If I’m not that good, I have the potential to get better! I can take lessons and practice more to improve so there’s no offense taken! My sewing skills are separate from who I am or my worth.

It’s easy to identify ourselves and judge our worth by where we are at in our present moment. But God looks at us and values us by our full potential over the course of our whole life, not just this life but life beyond. And we all have the same, exact potential. That is why we are all truly equal in worth and value.

Part 3 anyone? I have so much more to say on this subject!

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