"The trouble is you think you have time" - Buddha

Growing up I loved Diet Soda, Diet Pepsi to be more specific. I was only allowed to have it on special occasions and days when my grandparents came to visit called for Diet Pepsi. I would be excited all day knowing that later that day I would get to see two people who loved me more than I loved Diet Pepsi! I was lucky as a kid to grow up near my family. My other grandmother still lives in the same town as my parents, my grandparents lived in Santa Clara which seemed farther away as a child riding in a car, than the 45-60 minutes driving as an adult. Our dining room table was in a front room in the house with a giant window that I was tall enough to stand in front of and wait for their car to arrive. I felt like I would stand there for hours waiting for my grandparents to arrive. One time in particular my mom reminded me of the common phrase "a watched pot never boils." She would make me do something else and eventually the dog would bark and I knew the moment had arrived and my grandparents were here!! I would run out the front door, usually barefoot, to give them both hugs, ask how the drive was and walk with them back inside.

My grandparents were married 61 years, exactly. A year ago this Sunday my grandmother passed away after having a stroke and further complications. A year ago I wasn't able to speak at her funeral. I couldn't find the strength to stand in front of a packed church full of friends and family members who loved and adored my grandmother to speak about the woman who had such a tremendous influence on my life.

My grandmother was full of compassion for others. She was constantly doing things for other people. As one of five grandchildren, I was continuously reaping the benefits. I know people say their grandmother's cooking was the best, or their grandmother's recipes were incomparable; but my grandmother made the best cookies. She was famous for her chocolate chip cookies. These were not your ordinary chocolate chip cookies. She would add several ingredients that would make her signature cookie! She would mail each grandchild a bag of cookies a few times a semester when we were away in college, I think she knew we'd have plenty of friends around while we had cookies in our room. I was fortunate enough to go to college in my home town and was able to go and spend the weekend with my grandparents. One Saturday afternoon we got out the cookie sheets and cooked until we ran out of supplies. I continue to make her cookies and think of the afternoons we would fill the kitchen with cookies and how my grandfather would wait with great expectation knowing there would be fresh cookies when he got home from playing tennis.

I think one of the things I am most grateful to my grandmother for is the way she raised my dad. Given that Father's Day is also on Sunday I will take a moment to praise a man who I love with all my heart. Thank you for teaching my dad the value of a dollar, he has passed this along to my siblings and me and begrudgingly I have been saving since 16!  Thank you for teaching my dad how to love his family well. My dad coached every little league, soccer, and basketball team; if he happened to not be coaching he was certainly the loudest parent cheering in the stands. He always told us how much he loved us and was proud of us. After every heart break or disappointment he reminds me that he is always there for me and that I will accomplish everything I set my mind towards. I truly feel as if I am the luckiest girl in the world for having him as my dad.

I'm not sure which is harder: remembering all of the wonderful times together or thinking about all the moments I won't have my grandmother around for. I feel so incredibly blessed to have had twenty-three amazing years with my grandmother. She cared and loved me as if she was my own mother, but there was always something special about our time together. I don't know from first hand experience but I could imagine that the role of being a grandmother is similar to being a fairy godmother. Seeing my grandmothers growing up I was always excited knowing that I was going to be loved well and encouraged to chase my dreams. My grandmother always made it point to tell me how much she loved me and I can still hear her voice at the end of our conversations, I would say it first, "I love you Grandma" and she would say it back, "Love you." I'll never forget the way she said it, it wasn't in response to me saying it first, rather she said it as a fact. A fact that she would love me forever and always.

I hope as those moments come to pass without her by my side that I would continue to feel her love and be reminded of how proud she would be. My grandmother was kind and gave without expecting anything in return. I want to continue to live to serve others like my grandmother did.

I love you Grandma.

I'm going to be an Aunt!!

I am so excited to announce that Kingsley and Grant are expecting a little one this November!!

See their amazing video below...

http://www.lifeasgriki.blogspot.com/2013/05/were-expecting.html

The Brilliance

Last night I had the privilege of attending the Matt Maher concert held at Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church. I first heard about this concert because Elizabeth Hunnicutt was going to be opening up the show. Elizabeth is a beautiful artist who I have been listening to since I met her while attending Open Door Church in college where she leads worship. Her music is a must listen, she writes from such an honest place that anyone can relate to; not to mention she is an awesome person!

As Elizabeth opened the show I knew I was in for a spirit filled night of music! The church was packed with families, groups of high school kids, and young adults all coming from different local churches and denominations. I was expecting to enjoy music from Elizabeth and Matt as advertised online...little did I know I was in for a huge surprise.

Matt Maher was performing with the band The Brilliance. Lead singer David Gungor is brother to the lead singer of the band Gungor, Michael Gungor. Talk about a musically gifted family! Matt left the stage during his performance and allowed The Brilliance to perform their own songs for about 20 minutes. To say I fell in love with their music would be an understatement. Their music both lyrically and instrumentally was food I didn't know my soul was craving. Traditionally backed by a full string quartet they were playing a stripped down versus in honor of the lent season. With a cello, violin, piano, drums, and a guitar they moved me to tears. Their music is based on the liturgist calendar. Many of their lyrics resonate with common prayers I grew up reciting in church. Two songs that I would like to share are "Does Your Heart Break?" and "Now and At the Hour of Our Death".  Earlier in the week I prayer that new music would be given to me that I could use to stay focused in my busy days and to play in moments of grave difficulty to be reminded that our God is right there with me. All I can say is thank you for delivering on a prayer I simply said in my head!

David Gungor (lead singer) and John Arndt (pianist) above promised to be back in the Bay Area this May! I can hardly contain my excitement!

Family and Baseball

Two things I love: my family and baseball, well the San Francisco Giants! This past weekend I traveled with the family (all six of us) to Arizona for Spring Training. I knew it was going to be a great weekend filled with laughter and warm weather!

There are too many stories to share so I have picked some of my favorites!

Friday night we landed in Arizona and were consumed by the warm air! This was a welcomed change from the cold weather that had rolled into the Bay Area as we were leaving! As the sweatshirts came off we learned that our rental car for the weekend was going to be a minivan!! Anyone who grew up in the 90s can understand our excitement! This brought back memories of the blue whale we grew up in! The silver bullet would be our limousine for the next 48 hours!

Kingsley found a sushi restaurant online that had great reviews and made reservations for Friday night! She was hoping the food would stand up to the critics but had no idea we were in for such an entertaining night. We arrived a little after 9pm and the place was packed! As we ordered way too much food and waited with what felt like empty stomachs we noticed that the table behind us was there to celebrate. What appeared to be a group of business men enjoying dinner turned into rounds of sake bombs. As the night went on one gentleman in particular had out partied himself and appeared to have fallen asleep. Leave it to my brother to capture the whole thing! Shortly after the photo below was taken he fell out of his chair and woke up! Thankfully we were close to leaving, it was hard to contain our laughter!

After finally sleeping in Saturday morning after what felt like months of early mornings we headed to the ballpark. Having never been to Spring Training I was eager to see what the hype was about. Giants fans all around! Black and Orange and a little green for St. Patrick's day, it was everything I imagined! I didn't know the games were played in a such a small stadium, maybe 10,000 people. Compared to AT&T park it felt like a college game! This could be my new favorite vacation, baseball games during the day (and some night games) and a great little downtown to explore! Old town Scottsdale is filled with boutique shops and fun restaurants. Don and Charlie's was my favorite, from the moment you walk in you are surrounded with sports paraphernalia.

Two baseball games, two sushi restaurants, an entertaining night at BLT Steakhouse at the JW Marriott and we were returning to the Bay Area. Thank you Mom and Dad for a wonderful weekend amidst all of our busy schedules. I am so lucky to have such amazing parents who never get tired of three (now four) kids with a non stop sense of humor! I am so excited for the season to start and hope the Giants have another great year!!

I think I can, I think I can

Today I get to check off an item from my bucket list: I finished my first 5k! I couldn't have done it without my amazing running partner Chelsea! We woke up bright and early this morning, fought the traffic and then the lines to be in the first heat of the race! After avoiding the volunteers eager to douse us in colored corn starch we made our way through the "Color Run!" As we rounded our way to the home stretch I mustered up the energy to sprint to the finish line! Hand in hand with smiles ear to ear we finished the race!

Griki Returns!

I am so excited to announce my sister and brother in law are moving home to California...tomorrow! Around 4:30pm tomorrow afternoon Kingsley and Grant will land on California soil and I could not be more thrilled.

The above picture is from my visit to Tennessee in June 2011! Can't wait to spend time with you both!!!

I love you guys so much!

What are you afraid of?

I am blessed with friends that encourage me daily via calls, texts, facebook posts, etc. this is a text I received today and loved the truth in it:

I will be more afraid of spirit unrest, of soul disturbance, of any ruffling of the mind, than of earthquake or fire. When I feel the calm of my spirit has been broken by emotional upset, then I must steal away alone with God, until my heart sings and all is strong and calm again. Uncalm times are the only times when evil can find an entrance. I will beware of unguarded spots of unrest. I will try to keep calm, no matter what turmoil surrounds me.
Prayer for the Day:
I pray that no emotional upsets will hinder God's power in my life. I pray that I may keep a calm spirit and a steady heart.