About Me

  • About Me: Just a girl trying to be a woman, somewhere between where I've been and where I'm going . . .

Books

  • Favorite Books: Chronicles of Narnia, Les Miserables, Brothers Karamazov
  • Favorite Authors: Madeleine L'Engle, CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien . . . at the moment also J. Piper, S. Lawhead, A. Dillard, K. Norris, R. McKinley. My favorite authors change every year depending on what I'm reading. Lewis has been a constant since 2nd grade - L'Engle and Tolkien since AP English.
  • Favorite Genres: Fairytale, Historical Fiction, "Prose-Poetry"/Reflection, Poetry
  • Favorite Characters: Edmund from Narnia, Ivan Karamazov, Javier and Eponine from Les Mis, Maia (Till We Have Faces), Beauty (and the Beast).
  • Favorite Quotes: "You will not turn out a coward or a craven if in your youth you have gods to escort you" - Homer (The Odyssey) "Let us take the adventure that Aslan sends us" - Lewis (The Last Battle) "You were only an ass - I was a traitor" - Lewis via. Edmund (Voyage of the Dawn Treader) "If you are a plant, be sensitive, if you are a stone be strong. If you are a man - be love." - Hugo (Les Miserables) "Welcome to the land of expectations. Do you think it will rain?" - Juster (Phantom Tollboth)
  • Recent Reads: What to expect when you're expecting - Murkoff, Eisenburg, Hathaway; Foundation - Asimov; The Gospel for Real Life - Bridges

Travel

  • Places I love: The maple tree in front of Founders, The 4th floor hall at Alliance early in the morning, A view of the mountains across Cumbaya valley, my grandma's garden, sunlight through the living room window, and the fiction or poetry stacks at a good library.
  • Places I've been: USA, Mexico, Ecuador, Canada, Bolivia, Panama, South Korea
  • Dream Vacation: Trip around the world - visit various places around Asia; then Israel, Turkey, Greece, and Italy; a few days in Spain; a visit to Wales; across the ocean to NYC for a play; visit family and friends in the US, and up to Canada to visit our honeymoon spot; down to Ecuador for a nice long visit home; back to Korea via. a few days enjoying the beach on a pacific island.

Style

  • I like to wear: med-high heels (even with jeans - latin style), long pants (over my shoes - hence the heels) or capries, just-past-the-knee skirts, button-up blouses or thick sweaters.
  • Can't live without: hoop earrings, scrunchies to pull my hair back, my black sandals (best walking shoes I've ever had - 6 years and counting!)
  • Guilty Pleasure: sandals as soon as humanly possible and for as long as possible - even into December and as early as mid-February.

Food

  • Favorite Cuisine: Italian, Mexican, or Chinese
  • Favorite Dishes: Dad's meatballs, Mom's Chicken Broccoli Casserole
  • Favorite Desserts: Just about anything Rich and Chocolate . . .
  • Favorite Restaurants: Hong Kong, Xenia China Inn, the American-Chinese place in TDC, (are we seeing a pattern here?) I also love a good Mexican place like Eduardo's or El Coyote.
  • Foods I hate: Brussels sprouts, ketchup, seafood, Cincinnati chili

Music

  • Favorite Artists: at the moment, Caedmon's Call
  • Favorite Genre: Musicals, Jazz, Soft Instrumental, Hymns/Praise Songs
  • Favorite Songs: Somewhere Out There; 100 Years to Live; One Day More; A little fall of rain; The Prayer; See below for more
  • Favorite Lyrics: He Is; We Delight; Thy Mercy; Before there was Time
  • Songs for Roadtrips: Newsies, Les Miserables, "Consider the Lilies," "Trust his Heart."
  • Songs I hate: anything with my name in it . . .

Movies

  • Favorite Movies: "Resonates with my soul" - An American Tail; "In the mood for something light" - Princess Bride; "In the mood for something serious" - Life is Beautiful; "Action/Suspense" - Ocean's 11; "Best adaptation from a book" - the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (followed by the LOTR extended edition trilogy); "Best Chick-Flick" - Beauty and the Beast (Cannon Fairy Tales).
  • Favorite Genre: Fairy Tale, "Thinking Movies"
  • Favorite Soundtracks: Newsies

Television

  • Favorite Shows: heroes, trading spaces
  • Most Addictive Show: 24

Video Games

  • Games I Play: Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Star Ocean
  • Favorite Characters: Riku, Axel, and Namine from Kingdom Hearts; Kimahari, Yuna, Vivi
  • Proudest Achievements: I earned the extra movie on KH2 (and my husband didn't)

More About Me

  • Nicknames: Mina, Philomena, Ace
  • Nationality: USA (with heart-ties to Ecuador)
  • Heroes: mom, dad, and grandpa
  • Interests: reading anything with words on it, cooking, scrapbooking
  • Expertise: Math and (they tell me) Spanish
  • Occupation: HS Teacher
  • Industry: missions/education
  • Website: www.open-dialogue.com/mandm

College

  • School Name: Cedarville University
  • Status: Alumni
  • Class of: 2006
  • Major(s): AYAMA
  • Minor(s): Honors Program