Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!!!

We have been blessed so much all year long, but it's that time of year to give extra thanks to God. We have to be faithful, love the Lord, and he will continue to bless us beyond our imagination. I was asked to speak at the Ambassador Church Women's Gathering on November 14, 2009. The theme was "How God Brings Comfort To Our Souls". At first, I was really worried about what I would say. With a lot of prayers, I felt God tugging at my heart to share my life with this group of wonderful women. It helped to know that my sisters in Christ, Tiffany Graham-Wright and Melodie Carroll also shared about their trials and comfort. After they spoke, I shared about how God had prepared me for the fight of my life, medically speaking.

It was rough going through the cancer treatments and surgeries. But, I knew God was in control of my life. No matter what the outcome, I was prepared, spiritually anyway. Throughout the whole ordeal, I was never alone, nor did I ever feel forsaken. He surrounded me with angels, in the form of family and friends 24/7. I've been blessed beyond my imagination. I know God has so much more in store for me. I am truly comforted knowing that God has the better plan for my life. I look forward to the day I can rest at his feet, but for now, I'm enjoying life!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Surf City Tittys Cancer Walk - November 20, 2009
(website: www.runsurfcity.com)
Surf City Tittys Breast Cancer Walk Hannah Brown (front left holding the sign) walked for:
IN MEMORY OF: Debbie Harrington, Phyllis Zeff, Brenda Sunshine, Christine Mustoe, Tom Morton, Don Johnson, Mike Rabener, Gene Whitzel, Uncle John McClure, Dawn Galante, Gary Moore, Grammy’s friend Tony, Darrel Lynch, Cinnabon, Luna, and Kathy Keane
IN HONOR OF:
Diane Padilla, Nancy Carlson, Anne Lemaire, Elaine Sunshine, Auntie Heather Karr, Pat Forrester, Jane Nishioka, Jerry King, Teresa Walker, Joeanne Newman, Sandra Wilkinson, Berda SooHoo, Rev. Dan Hudson, Erika Keese, Scotty Shintaku, Ron Nakamura, Kelly Vanderlans, Neil Butschke, Calamity Jane, Debbie McCarron, and Pam Tate

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone!!! As always, we gather together with our loved ones to give thanks to our Lord and Savior for all the blessings he has given us. Everyday I am surrounded by God's love, even in a quick smile from the face of a stranger. I like meeting new people, although it's a challenge for me to remember their names (chemo brain strikes again). But I am most thankful for the many loving familiar faces in my family and close friends.

I love the holidays, for it brings back many family traditions. This year, for our pre-Thanksgiving dinner, the Chan family got together with the Huangs for our feast. We had the traditional turkey, Honey Baked ham, stuffing, etc., and of course, Asian foods. There's always enough to feed an army! I'm glad we're able to celebrate Jason's birthday too! Happy Birthday Jason!!! We always have so much fun watching all the cousins interact. Ahhh, the joys of childhood!!! It's great to be young, and young at heart!!!

Thanksgiving Day, the SooHoos' tradition is to meet in Las Vegas and pig out together at one of the hotel buffets. We wanted to eat at the new "M" hotel, but the wait was outrageous. Normally, we eat dinner around 5:30pm, so dinner after 8pm just didn't sound appealing. We decided on the buffet at Mandalay Bay Hotel. I was happy we got in by 6:30pm to enjoy the variety of delicious food. But most of all, I just treasure our time together.
P1090499 The Palazzo
P1090525 Party in our room!
P1090516 Swimming anyone?
P1090540 .
P1090541 .
P1090542 .
P1090543 .
P1090550 .
P1090551 .
P1090552 .
P1090553 .
P1090554 .
P1090555 .
P1090564 .
P1090522 Creme Brulee..Yummy!
P1090572 Wow, that's a lot of pennies!!! Congrats!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grace organized a group of us to join her at Huntington Library. We had a great day of dim sum, relaxing in the gardens, and pigging out at dinner too. Thanks for the memories Grace!!! I had a great day hanging out with your family!
P1090584 .
P1090589 .
P1090591 .
P1090602 .
P1090605 .
P1090607 .
P1090615 .
P1090618 .
P1090626 .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stevie Wonder's House Full of Toys
(website: http://www.kidscrookedhouse.com/)
December 12, 2009 at the Nokia Theatre
P1090710 .
P1090712 .
P1090928 .
P1090756 .
P1090800 .
P1090843 .
P1090869 .
P1090884 .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P1100010 .
P1100011 .
P1100012 .
P1100014 .
P1100026 Before
P1100028 After
P1100031 .
P1100033 The line up
P1100034 Side view

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

During the Christmas season, we were busy with many gatherings, but so grateful we were able to attend most of them. Mostly, I'm thankful for Jesus' birth over 2000 years ago. Without him, there would be no salvation, nor would we have the ability to talk to God directly. I am so thankful that we live in America, where we can freely worship our Lord. Please pray for the persecuted. Give praise and thanks for our freedom. And may he bless you and your loved ones with a very Merry CHRISTmas!!!

P1100039 .
P1100046 .
P1100050 .
P1100054 .
P1100055 .
P1100058 .
P1100059 .
P1100061 .
P1100062 .
P1100066 .
P1100069 .
P1100082 .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P1090631 .
P1090633 .
P1090634 .
P1090639 .
P1090640 .
P1090649 .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The BFF (Breast Friends Forever) is a group of breast cancer survivors, who got together to support one another. We're meeting on the first Sunday of every even numbered month (Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug, Oct, & Dec) for meals and a ton of laughs too. In December, we had our 3rd BFF Christmas celebration. I really appreciate all the sharing that goes on throughout our meals, but it's even more important to care for each other in between meetings. It's amazing how fast our group has grown! I'm really looking forward to our next Be My Valentine meeting.
P1090658 .
P1090659 .
P1090661 .
P1090662 .
P1090663 .
P1090665 .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, I can't believe it's the end of the year already! Time flies by so quickly. And I'm glad to still be here!!! Having been off of work for nearly 3 years, my days seemed to have lasted longer. But what happened to those years? They've slipped past me again!!! I'm still worried about the chemo fog problem. I hope it clears up soon. My short term memory is shot!

Even with chemo brain, I'm having way too much fun going here, going there, going everywhere, anytime, getting myself into trouble. I've been praying for a part time job (to cover my AMEX and to help my brain), but I didn't get any good offers. I wasn't worried about it because I knew God was in control. Then out of nowhere, BOOM!
BERDA SOOHOO IS OUT OF RETIREMENT!!!
Yikes, huh? Once again, God had a better plan for me! Now I'm working full time with Pacific Coast Realty Services, Wang Partnerships, KMJ International, etc... I'll tell you all about it, let's meet at my new favorite coffee shop:
It's A Grind
4754 E. Pacific Coast Hwy
Long Beach, CA 90804
(562) 986-9766

(website: http://www.itsagrind.com/)
I'm just so excited about working here, I just love it!!! It's so different from the telephone company. It's a new year, a new decade, I've got a new job, new faces, with many new experiences to be had. I'm going to miss my life of leisure, but this is very exciting adventure!!! This should jump start my chemo fog, eh? God is soooooooo good!!! ;-) May God bless you with a prosperous Happy New Year!!! Enjoy 2010!!!

No comments: