I admit, I never thought that ordering a single mocha from Art of Espresso would have tremendous impact on the earth. I used to love displaying my all white plastic coffee cup with a sleeve as I carried it to class because it was differentiable from the common and everyday Starbucks logo branded on the cups of every other passing student. Mine was unique and I was a nonconformist!

As I became a more frequent coffee drinker, I began bringing my own reusable coffee cup (my tumbler). If you've ever gone to a small/ independently owned coffee shop or coffee cart, you know that generous discounts are given to customers who provide their own non-disposable drinkware to persuade consumers to be more eco-friendly and for the business owners to cut down on the cost of purchasing material.

On occasion, I would not bring my tumbler for the sake of convenience and thought little or none about my coffee. After all like most consumers, I was only focused on enjoying myself. Little did I know, that my cup of coffee actually allied with the eco-nemesis side of the battle for a greener earth and since I buy some kind of coffee drink everyday, going through the frequent buyer Espresso Passes like they're kleenex, I was helping pollution win this war. I finally read on Sustainability is Sexy.com that coffee cups actually contribute to greenhouse gases and forest degradation (aka, cutting down trees to make cups) and are nonrecyclable contributing to an accumulation of waste.

UCSD Students: Art of Espresso, Perks Coffee and Sierra Summit (Muir Commons) gives discounts when you bring your own tumbler! Last summer, I took a huge advantage of that fact. I would get a coffee everyday before I went to OChem (you must understand why) and bring my tumbler with me to reap from the benefits. Except, tumblers are actually designed for hot drinks but since this was the summer time, getting a hot drink in the afternoon in 80 degree weather seemed kind of stupid. So being the genius that I am, I would get blended drinks in my tumbler. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but I just thought it would be more aesthetically pleasing and feel more normal if I had a reusable cup for cold drinks instead of a tumbler. So I thought about creating a reusable tumbler for iced drinks, one that looks like the clear plastic cups that iced drinks come in. However, none of this planning was for the benefit of the environment, just for the benefits of my own selfish desires. So I was on a mission to find this specialized tumbler for my iced/ blended coffee drinks!

Fastforward a year later, two weeks ago, I was on my way to my dad's office and I stopped by Starbucks (I conformed) to get a drink and while I was waiting, I was looking at coffee cups on the sales racks (I love kitchenware). I look at the cups, their new metal water bottles (which I bought) and their tumbler section. And behind the tumblers, my eye catches a clear plastic tumbler with a screw on cap and a built in straw that looks EXACTLY like a Starbucks cup for cold drinks! My initial reaction was extreme excitement after a year of searching, that I have discovered the mother of all cups by chance. My second reaction was extreme bitterness that Starbucks totally stole my idea!

Here it is:

The mother of all Cups

So this entry is totally not going where I wanted it to go. Basically, my goal was to write an entry/ review on the new Starbucks insulated tumbler specialized for cold drinks but I just thought that I would throw in a little 411 for the environment. After all, one of God's commands to Adam was for him to take care of the land that God loves and created for us to enjoy.

This is semi relevant but I thought I should make a break just to show that its not completely relevant.

Kairos is asking the congregation to fast and to pray for our missions teams this summer. My vice is definitely buying drinks like Starbucks and Tap Ex. I have a horrible, horrible, uncontrollable disease that causes me to compulsively and impulsively purchase coffee drinks whenever I pass by a coffee shop. So this summer, I am fasting from purchasing any type of drinks that is prepared (mostly coffee and boba because those are my favorite). So I was so bummed that after I bought my tumbler, I went on this fast because I wouldn't get to use it when I go to Starbucks because I CAN'T GO TO STARBUCKS. So, my second option was to make my own iced coffee drink. I have to say, it turned out pretty good.

4 tbsp coffee grounds
1.5 cups of water (for coffee machine) [Minna thinks its weird that when I handwrite down ingredients for a recipe, I use H2O instead of water...really?]
1 tsp sugar
3/4 cups of milk
Coffeemate french vanilla creamer (to your own liking)
ice
New Starbucks Coffee Tumbler for iced drinks!

Make the coffee using coffee machine instructions. Add sugar into hot coffee and stir to dissolve. Add ice and milk into tumbler. Slowly pour in coffee-sugar mix. Add vanilla creamer. TADA! Simple pimple. Easy squeezy. Saves you $4 for a grande iced latte (Sigh. I miss those).

This is absolutely random. But I like Taylor Swift. :)

Oh and I like Aaron Yu too. :)

Random:

Molecular Bio is totally getting to me. When I was gchatting with Joanne yesterday, I wanted to write "jeans" but I wrote "genes" instead

:) He makes me happy.

I need to be more consistent in writing entries. So far, my new years resolution isn't going very well, but at least its the second month and I'm still trying. Maybe part of it has something to do with the fact that I don't want to write anything unless I have time to process and sit down long enough to get everything out. But right now, I'm just free writing and I gotta admit that free writing works too. So I've been trying to challenge my women's group (and myself) to journal more because when we reflect on things that happened in our lives, God's hand print becomes more evident and we're able to remind ourselves and even physically see God working in our lives.

Kairos. I definitely pushed myself a lot last quarter like taking five classes, volunteering at Salk Institute and doing ministry. I pushed myself to the point where I ended up not passing a class. But over winter break, I just felt like I wanted more. I want to be more involved in Kairos, I want to develop friendships, I want to know people's personal stories and I want to love people the way God loves them. But I can't do it on my own. Last friday during small group when we were discussing why fellowship was so hard at our church, I realized that I just don't love the people there the way the Acts 2 church loved each other. I used to think that just by doing that stuff, praying and worshipping together, breaking bread together, eating meals and living life together was enough. I have no problem doing that. I can worship with people during service, I can eat meals with them after service or before bible study, I can pray with them during wednesday night encounter, but beyond the tangibility, beyond the almost superficial layer of the "act" of worship, I can't say that I love them to the point where I can even say that I love God if I don't even love people or things that BELONG to Him? I'm not at a point where I'm self-condemning but this definitely hit me enough to stir my heart. DAH, loving people is so hard. How does He do it?

BTW, I really, really, really, really, really, love how God moves at Kairos. My heart may not be completely invested in Kairos but the more I serve there, the more I get to know the people and the more plugged in I get, the more and more (much much more!) I see God moving within the church. I love that Kairos is determined and focused on being a gospel centered church and that they always remind us how important and life giving the gospel message is.

Women's Groups. I have to confess that last quarter, I really put the sixth college women's group low on my priorities list, but this quarter, I'm determined to have us super, super invested in each other. I've learned a lot through GPAD that I didn't expect to learn, like what true fellowship really is. I like that our friendships were not limited to a Perk's table on Fridays or Marie's couch in ERC on Sundays. Even though we didn't really see each other through the week, its nice to know that there's someone out there thinking of you and praying for you. I liked that our friendships weren't define by the amount of time we spent with each other but that because God was the foundation of our friendship, we were able to get closer without having to physically see each other all the time. I love that when we meet, it doesn't seem like an obligation or not just "another women's group" but that its a space where we can pour out into each other and get poured into and it's always refreshing in the end.

Relationships. I like Aaron. The End. :)