Winners Announced: 30-Day Challenge

We wrapped up our contest a while back, and we have our winners! I've kept you waiting long enough, so let's get right to it.

Segment one winner: 

 HANNAH W.!!! (on the right)

Our dear sister had her debut here and made speedy plans to be the first person to complete 5 of the 30 challenges.

Hello!
On Tuesday, 5/11 - I hugged Corrie Park at Study Hall.
On Wednesday, 5/12 - I took pictures with brothers and sisters I adore at the Campanile.
On Friday, 5/14 - I told you and my class sisters that I love you guys!
On Saturday, 5/15 - David and I went on a special date to SF for our 2 years' anniversary.
On Sunday, 5/16 - I called my mommy.

Andd I've been praying for Kathy getting married and you and your Mister in some of my prayers in the last week. DOES THIS MEAN I WIN??????? 

I don't have a diamond ring for her, but Hannah's prize package includes: one of my favorite "girl books," Feminine Appeal by Caroline Mahaney, a fun tank top for the summer, and a rich toffee chocolate bar to share with her sweetie. Congrats, Hannah!


Segment two winner: 

 CARRIE S.!!! 

You won't believe (well, most of you will) how much I was "awww"ing over her submission of the most pictures/videos. This cutie pie got to doing all of the following (that's right, y'all, a baby beat the crowd) with Mommy's help.

Day #17 - Hug a '10 brother (for the guys) or sister (for the gals)

- this one may not count since it was during senior banquet... 

Day #21 - Take a picture with someone you adore

Day #25 - Give a child a hug

we weren't able to take a picture of them hugging... but they did that day.. =)
Day #8 - Go on a "date" with someone dear to you- do play dates count?? =D

sorry it's so blurry.. the one with nomi is at dragon rouge... the one with all the kids is at the park

Day #9 - Jump on the bed (but not for too long)

- the in action pic is blurry... so i added the other one after she finished jumping..

Day #10 - Eat a salad

again, the "in action" pic is blurry... so i added the other one

Day #2 - Call/visit your parents

she's calling daddy.. =)
Day #4 - Make someone laugh- she just grabbed the sunglasses and wore them.. in the middle of eating!  of course, i started laughing.

Day #12 - Learn something new

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkYAQFVtfKo (eating by herself)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHBg_LAltUo (some new animal sounds)

Whew! Little Carrie's prize package includes: Spot's Little Book of Fun: At the Beach, pink leggings, and a little ducky friend. Congrats, Carrie (and Narae)!

Honorable mentions:

• Mr. J. Hong - Mr. Hong finished 5 of the challenges, I believe starting with Sushi House, just one day after Hannah's submission.
• Kevin - Nish showed great ambition in wanting to achieve all 30 challenges. I commend him for setting his goal high, and starting off with 8 out of the 30. Only 22 more to go...

Oh, what fun! I'm liking these contests (and subsequently shopping for prizes!). Though the contest is closed please consider some of the challenges, such as praying for others and finding ways we can serve others (#30) in the body. In the meantime, I'll work on scheduling contests to better fit my teaching schedule so that prizes will be given sooner. Thanks for your patience! :)

A friendly reminder to all those who voted in Ice Breaker Contest, please pick up your prize as well!

Ice Breaker Contest Prizes

Back in prehistoric times, Mr. Woo won a brand-spankin' new (with engraving!) Bible. Some of you helped him get there.

Awww, he looks so happy! Wait... Husband, are you smelling this new Bible???

Yes, he definitely has his nose in the book (literally).

But what's in it for you, right? ;) This is what I wrote to our voters, and I quote:

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO VOTED

You are receiving this e-mail because you have voted in the Ice Breaker Contest!

Mr. Woo has chosen to receive a copy of the ESV Bible. As a token of appreciation to the participants, we would like to present to you your very own buttery new copy of the ESV Bible filled with weighty content. Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery of your prize. The holiday season is quite the busy one for this newlywed couple.

Thank you.

If you don't care to hear my excuses, skip to the next section. Otherwise, proceed. Yes, the holidays were a busy time of the year for the Woos. I began planning and making the first part of your prizes, but there were a couple of hiccups along the road. (1) Not all of what I ordered came the way it should have. I didn't want to go through the hassle of returning, reordering, etc. so the e-mailing/waiting ate up some time. (2) I left some supplies at school, and kept forgetting to bring it home. That's my bad. If it makes you feel better, I hardly bring home any work from school as well. (Don't worry, I do my work at school.)

So now I'm pleased to present to you your prize: your very own ESV Bible! Though the outer appearance is different from the one that Mr. Woo won... the inside is different as well. But yours comes practical in another way.

It has an eraser and a pencil sharpener! Pretty nifty, eh?

On a first come, first serve basis please come find me at church to claim your Bible. If you're out of the area and would like me to pass yours along to someone else to give to you, just shoot me an e-mail. Happy sharpening (pun intended)! :)

30-Day Challenge: Part V

We're at the last leg of the challenge! It's been fun hearing about some of your excitement in wanting to take all in both categories. We'll definitely need to do this again in the future - preferably not around finals time, I hear ya. In case you're just joining us: Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV.

Note: Deadline for picture upload/submission is 5 DAYS from today on 5/23. Winners will be posted soon after!


Day #26 - Go fellowship with your Homegroup
I love our Homegroup. I also thoroughly enjoy our lively discussions about various topics and leave encouraged by the brethren. If you're not part of one, you're missing out. If you're looking for one, come check out ours!

Day #27 - Have someone tie your shoelaces for you
Some of my Homegroup-ers were at Trader Joe's when I bumped into another student of mine (they're every where! cf. Day #25) and his mom. After he told me everything he did for his mom for Mother's Day, he had to retie his spankin-white, new shoelaces. He was so cute in announcing, er... showing me his new shoes.


Day #28 - Study at Borders
You'll find many of us lounging/reading/studying/disrupting/chilling at Borders. Due to incidents like Day #27, Mr. Woo will no longer be found wearing his PJs outside of the home. He once saw a student there and had to avoid contact at all costs. And if you know how much he loves our students, you know how big that is for him.


Day #29 - Finish reading a book from your bookshelf
Sometimes I feel like a "tree hog" but the teacher in me really likes collecting books. But I have to be the first to admit that I've only read about half of them. They've become reference books on the shelf. In college I would always have a book in my bag to read while waiting for class to start (Band/guard geeks know that "To be early is to be on time is to be late is to be dead!") Since then, I've either got papers and red pen in hand while I wait, or I'm living out the "teacher blessing/curse" of constantly thinking, 'How can I use [whatever I see/hear/think] into my lesson plan...' I can't wait until summer vacation to take them off the shelf and tackle them one by one!


Day #30 - You decide on this one...
It's been busy, and I'm told that life only gets busier. But in the midst of school, work, family, etc. a question I'd like to pose is: How are you serving and/or carrying out your commitment you made to your church family? As members you and I both made a commitment to the church body (and to God) that we would love with Christ-like love, that we want to spur one another on toward love and good deeds. It doesn't have to be an "official committee under the leadership of so-and-so and headship of Pastor John". But I do wonder if everyone stepped up to their familial responsibilities, out of love and not mere obligation, would we have so many brothers with a lot on their plate? More than that, I desire for us to not waste our time on earth but to labor in love and expend ourselves to high callings - for the Lord's glory, not our own. So I ask again - How are you loving God's people today?

30-Day Challenge: Part IV

From what I hear there's some fierce (but friendly) competition going on. I can't wait to post our two winners - one for the first to do any 5, and another for sending in the most pictures! (See Part I, Part II, and Part III.) Time's a-ticking so I'm posting 10 today rather than 5. Ready... set... GO! 


Day #16 - Run for at least 16 minutes
Our 15th month of marriage has come and gone; we are now in our 16th month! Time sure flies, doesn't it? Just over a year ago, we had these table numbers (I'll show you 15 and 16 since we're commemorating) sitting atop our reception tables in the Fellowship Hall at church:

Day #17 - Hug a '10 brother (for the guys) or sister (for the gals)
This year's Senior Banquet was one of my favorites. Not only is this class very special to me, but the presentations were wonderful (I knew we'd eventually have a Wicked re-make!) and the Junior class did a great job coordinating the event. I can't believe c/o 2010 are done with college! It was just yesterday that I served this class their freshman and sophomore years!!!


Day #18 - Put a ring on it
Lots of weddings coming up this summer and I'm anticipating lots of engagements too. Though we're all to be content and happy with our bling, some of us need an upgrade (yes, that would be the balloon string wrapped around Hannah's finger):

Day #19 - Pray for engaged couples / married couples / families
She's one of my nearest and dearest, and I'm super excited about her wedding. Duum, duum, da, duuum... God's design for marriage and families is a beautiful one, but if we try to do it on our own we're going to fail miserably. Charles Spurgeon said, "No man can do a truer kindness in this world but to pray for me."


Day #20 - Google Video Chat with someone
Mr. Woo and I didn't really know how closer Kerns was to Nolie - until we went to the county fair together. Then we saw more of with some Google video chatting. Since then, Kernan has been a welcomed addition to our family.


Day #21 - Take a picture with someone you adore
It was only right that we take a "family picture" together. We've long adopted Kernan:

But, wait, is that 5 heads that I count? Oh yes, in the back. How could we leave out the loyal family puppy, Edward? He happily greets us whenever we see him and is always bounding with energy. (He also brings out the "crazy" in me - I think it's the energy.)


Day #22 - Tell someone you love them
I love these guys:

Day #23 - Practically serve someone in a manner that makes them feel loved
It's easy for us to show love in ways that we feel loved. For example, one may like to use words to write encouraging notes to others. While that is kind and loving, the recipient may be more uplifted with a batch of their favorite cookies that you made note of and later baked for them.

(I've seen Mr. Woo make lots of faces but never the one on the left!) Y'all know we do like Hedder...


Day #24 - Go to a street/county/quilting/etc. fair
We were excited to see the roads blocked off  (for yummy food, oh yes) and made a detour to find parking. Strolling up the street we were lured with the smell of otherwise unwelcome pungent deep fried oil. It was an easy and quick decision to munch on the crab garlic fries (I know!) and lime calamari, both of which we highly recommend. We declined the buttered yellow corn on the cob, husk and all, because it's hard to justify paying $5 for it when you can get 5 for $5 on sale or 10 for $5 on a great sale. The live band played some popular Tina Turner and more flashbacks to rally a lively crowd. There Mr. Woo spotted someone eating a plate of Chinese food and was inspired. Round 2: Chinese for him, Greek gyro for me. Personally, I couldn't down the pork but the egg roll, fried rice, and chow mein was good. The chicken gyro was ginormous and had too much meat, if there is such a thing. I wanted the super-sized bag of kettle corn, but Mr. Woo wisely refused.


Day #25 - Give a child a hug
At the fair, we ran into one of my current students (eating the $5 corn on the cob) and a former summer school student. We actually see quite a few of our students as we run errands. The first time it happened, Mr. Woo let go of my hand. :(  But I love the students. (And he'll hold my hand again once they're out of sight.)

Just one more installment left in our 30-day challenge. Keep watch! :)

30-Day Challenge: Part III

It's the third segment of our contest to give out prizes! (Here's Part I and Part II.) We're just about half-way in our posts of challenges. Here are some more!


Day #11 - Make a "hot foods" breakfast (none of that sugar-high cereal stuff)
On check-out morning, we made our way to the cafe for a fantastic continental breakfast. I always thought that term was code for "buffet," but Mr. Woo kindly informed me that it was usually meant as a pasty-filled meal, not so much the hot food items we were greeted with. By the time we were finished, it looked like three people had eaten at our table, which I felt a little self-conscious about seeing that most of the people there were wearing gym/workout clothes. :(


Day #12 - Learn something new
Never did I once think that by being a teacher I would have to learn how to riverdance. For International Day the third grade classes were assigned the country of Ireland. They were to open the morning's line up of presentations, so we had them dance on in from the back. It was cute seeing them hopping to and fro. Being nominated to teach them how to riverdance in a couple weeks was a daunting task (we're not talking ballet nor jazz), but the Lord was gracious and I danced and taught. Who says YouTube can't be educational?

Day #13 - Pay half-price for an appetizer (because full-price is over-priced)
I feel like I had a week-long banquet for my birthday this year (cf. Days #3, 5, 7, 8), but to add a cherry on top, dear Nolie wanted to take us out to eat. Who are we to refuse? We decide on Skates on the Bay as none of us had dined on the waterfront before. The Happy Hour slashes appetizer prices in half (if you sit on the side near the bar), so we feasted on many of them. Thanks, Brother!

Day #14 - Do a Woo-Two(TM)
The Woo family enjoys eating. That' why we have our Woo-Twos(TM). A Woo-Two(TM) may be Panda Express + In-n-Out. It might also be Sushi House + McDonalds, as the we did with Nolie previously. It helps when the restaurants are close in proximately (read: walking distance). The venture with Nolie was not pre-planned, however. We were just eager to eat and impatient in waiting for our to-go order (must have been the Lion King Roll holding it up).

Day #15 - Go to a concert
With my third graders and Mr. Woo's middle schoolers, we're often invited to many extracurricular games, concerts and/or shows. It's fun to see them out of uniform and applying aspects of what we teach them in their "real world" lives (fruit of our labor).


We're off for now, but we'll be back with more of the challenge and what we've been up to! How are we doing on the 5 tasks? :)

30-Day Challenge: Part II

We're continuing our 30-Day Challenge. (Go here for Part I.) To clarify the contest a bit, there are TWO prizes and TWO divisions to it.
 

One - Complete 5 of the 30 challenges. No more than 1 challenge per day (so it should take you at least 5 days to do). First person to reach any 5 wins a prize!

Two - Take pictures of yourself/yourselves completing any of the challenges. No more than 2 pictures may be submitted per activity (so if you do this for each day, you will have a total max of 30 pictures sent). The person to send the most (out of the 30 possible) also wins a prize!


Day #6 - Drop your business card in a raffle drawing
At our school we're given a box of business cards after being hired. I'm able to hand some out to parents but have been left with plenty. Now I keep a small stack in my wallet so that anytime I spot a raffle drawing at a restaurant/store, I'll drop one in and encourage Mr. Woo to do the same to double our chances. Since marrying Mr. Woo, who won't admit it but is very good at winning these drawings, a few winnings have been rubbing onto me too. Recently, I won $100 worth of Jamba Juice for the school. I ordered smoothies (all split into two cups for the little bodies) for my students and a lot of yummy tea for the staff members.


Day #7 - Bake cupcakes for somebody
I was outside taking pictures of my kids enjoying their Jamba Juice (see Day #5) when all the third graders started singing "Happy Birthday." I thought it was for a student in the other class but they sang it for me! My co-worker (whom I'm very fond of) had baked cupcakes for the classes in celebration. How sweet of her! After our kids had plenty of sugar, we sent them off to their Mandarin class.

Day #8 - Go on a "date" with someone dear to you
My birthday fell on a Friday this year, so Mr. Woo had me pack a bag for an overnight trip. Friday afternoon I was surprised to a "bouj, bouj" hotel in the heart of Santana Row. After the front desk clerk told us that our room was not above the (very loud at night) pub, we went down to ask again. This time we were upgraded to another room on the floor above (on the quieter side). From the balcony I could the rows of stores/boutiques and were in line with the glimmering lights which hung from the palm trees below.


Day #9 - Jump on the bed (but not for too long)
Something about my excitement and a huge bed reminded me of the Glee episode "Mattress."
My recreation of it:

My failure:

Day #10 - Eat a salad

One food I can't live without is salad. The fresh and crisp lettuce and/or spinach with the hearty texture of garbanzo and pinto beans. The tanginess in the bell peppers, the sweetness in the corn, cancer-fighting broccoli, and vitamin-rich fruit. Mix it with some tri-tip and you've gone to Pluto's and back - the restaurant, that is. Mr. Woo and I favor this place so much that we ate it for two of our three meals during our stay. I would sign a petition to bring one to our neighborhood. (Try the "Garlic Potato Rings," aka garlic fries, too!)

We'll be back with more of our 30-Day Challenge. Stay tuned! :)

30-Day Challenge: Part I

It's been a time of hibernation in my cave as we teachers are now in the final stretch of this school year (eek!). To make up for lost time, allow me to bring you a glimpse of what I've been up to. To make it more interesting, let's make this a CONTEST!

Out of the 30 items I post, the first person to complete 5 of them will get a prize!

I'm giving out more prizes at school so why not here? Feel free to e-mail pictures of yourself in action with each task. The participant with the highest number of pictures submitted will also get a prize.

That's TWO chances to win!

The fine print - Upon completion, you must comment below indicating your triumph. (1) You must complete 5 of the challenges, in any order, honesty policy. Challenges done on or after today's date will be validated, no prior dates. Limit 1 activity per any given day. For those working in teams, one person may not do all the work. OR (2) No more than two pictures may be submitted per activity. Along with the pictures, please indicate if you would not like your images published on the blog. There will be no transferring of "points" or cheating. Failure to comply will disqualify such participants.


Day #1 - Complete a jigsaw puzzle
Mr. Woo and I finally finished our penguin family puzzle! Of course, the 1000-piece artwork would not be in the condition that it is today without the help of our dear friends. You see, we don't have many magazines for people to read while they wait (for whatever reason) at our home. Instead, we've had a puzzle on top of our coffee table for guests to contribute to. What started as a rainy day activity became a collaboration between family/friends. Thank you to all those who left a piece of their visit! :)


Day #2 - Call/visit your parents
My parents came up for a brief visit to drop off a few things. It's funny how my mom is gradually making more and more food for us. When I first started college she didn't much of, "what should I make you the next time you come home?" but now she asks frequently. It's a strange feeling when I try to put myself in their shoes and attempt to think the way they do about my being out of college, living out of their house, being married. But I do actually get "homesick" at times and have the urge to go and lie on their couch, taking in the quiet sounds. We try to talk at least once a week, but there's nothing like just being in the presence of loved ones (as is the same with our heavenly Father).


Day #3 - Go eat at Sushi House

As a pre-birthday celebration, Mr. Woo and I went to eat at Sushi House. We ordered the A's Roll, Island Roll, and Hwae Dup Bap (and out came miso soup and salad before it). That combo was slightly different from our usual trio but nevertheless delicious. The best part of the meal? When we asked for the check, we were told that it was already taken care of. Happy birthday to us.


Day #4 - Make someone laugh (I understand that humor is subjective, but just try.)
While we were eating our sushi dinner (see Day #2), our dear friend Mr. H texted us to let us know that he would not be able to join us. These were his exact words:

I doubt he did it intentionally, but if laughter is the best medicine we need more Hs around.



Day #5 - Wake up an hour earlier to do something productive

Mr. Woo totally surprised me with an early morning birthday breakfast with co-workers this year saying, "It's the only way I could surprise you." (True. Last year's "surprise" was well-planned but poorly executed.) Unless I'm going on a trip somewhere, I'm usually not up at 6 A.M. but Mr. Woo insisted that we go on an extra date. Seeing that our Date Nights have been sporadic, I rolled out of bed to happily, but sleepily, oblige. I didn't suspect a thing until I saw a co-worker come out of his car in the parking lot. "Hey, look! It's (name). What's he.... ohhhhhhhhh" (wide awake by this point). Thank you to everybody who made the morning extra special! (If he missed you on the invite list, please don't be offended! I do most of the administrative work in our household, so he was reaching out of his comfort zone.)

Check back again for the second segment of the Challenge/contest! :)

Ice Breaker Contest Results

They asked for votes, we asked for your votes, and the results are in.

Mr. Woo's entry was one of the winners! WOOHOO! :)

Here's the e-mail that he forwarded to me:

Congratulations!
Congratulations! The votes from our Ice Breaker Contest have now been tallied and you're one of the lucky winners!

Dear Member:

We really appreciate your involvement in this contest. What a blessing to receive so many responses, and to see the interest in voting. Our goal was to create some excitement over the act of giving away Gospels of John and your entry helped accomplish that. People liked yours enough that it placed in the top 3 of category votes!

We'll be posting a web page shortly with all the details so you can see how your entry compared to others. But we wanted to let you know right now that you're one of the winners, with no further delay. We'll also be sending out a broadcast message to our members next week with additional information and listing the first names of the winners and their hometowns.

I'd like to know if your involvement in this contest helped to encourage you to share more boldly or more effectively. Just reply back to me with any thoughts you might have. I'd like to include some of these responses in our message to members, so please understand that these responses might be used in our member communication.

Also, we need to know what version you prefer for your Bible. You can choose from NIV, KJV or ESV. Just reply with your choice and provide a physical address for us to send to, and your phone number (in case you don't have one on file or it's out of date).

May God bless your sharing efforts, and thanks again for being involved.

"For I know your eagerness to help...

and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action."

- 2 Corinthians 9:2

The e-mail even came with an attachment to make it seem official:

Cute.


FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO VOTED

You are receiving this e-mail because you have voted in the Ice Breaker Contest!

Mr. Woo has chosen to receive a copy of the ESV Bible. As a token of appreciation to the participants, we would like to present to you your very own buttery new copy of the ESV Bible filled with weighty content. Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery of your prize. The holiday season is quite the busy one for this newlywed couple.

Thank you.

Won by a tad

In honor of Tadamus' birthday, I find it a very appropriate time to announce our winner of Poker Night #5!

Remember the contest I was going to hold? Here was the challenge: Crack open 3 pistachios that barely have a sliver of an opening. It all happened so fast that all I got was a picture of the end result:

Thanks to Tad, I could finally(!) eat those long-awaited 3 pistachios. Now, you might think I had an ulterior motive to the challenge, but I like to think of it as a win-win situation.

Here's what our friend won:

After a cornbread chili casserole, we started the game. (Note to self: Maybe we'll save the ultra lean meat for burgers instead of the chili...)

And again, Tad won. Here's his second prize, the wrapping courtesy of Mr. Woo:

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

 

Still waiting for it...

 

 "What is this???" (insert Mr. Woo's hysterical laughter)

Maybe it's the fact that our dear brother had played pranks on others in college, but it's just so funny to pull one on him. Too bad secretly putting bugs in his food is not going to phase him... Go ahead, ask him why not. :P

Moving on, here's his real prize:

 

Check out that dimple. It's a crater because he's so happy!

Okay, the night was not all about Tad, and I'm done embarrassing him. Let's introduce the other contestants who get an 'A' for effort. (Who made up that line because it's Effort, not Affort. Wait a minute... Is it "You get an 'A' for trying so hard" and not a trying-to-be-clever saying???)

Community turkey leg, community sunglasses - same difference. Come to think of it, JRitzi - why dost thou not join the passing of the shades?

So there it is folks. Another player in the Hall of Fame. Oh, and to keep y'all informed, there is talk about extending one more player into the Championship game.

The Woo Society's Hall of Fame:

1. Mrs. Woo
2. (J)onny/Mrs. Woo
3. Freddy
4. Mr. Woo
5. Tadamus
6. ???

(7. ???)
Champion: ???

Until next time,