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Last night Mariham showed me a dress that I have been looking for awhile. I emailed my mom to tell her what I have been looking for and she emailed me back with this response:

Dr (Candidate) Dinh,

The style is very elegant :). Good for the Dr to be. I just remember when you were young you had couple dresses similar to this dress and you were look real good on back days with those dresses. Now I know what abjectly you have been looking for, I will pay more attention when I'm shopping may be I will find this dress for you.

About the clubbing, of course you can take a break from studying but not in before midterm or final. Why don't you go after midterm?

Will see you this Saturday,

Love
Mom of Dr (Candidate) Dinh.

Haha, I don't know what I find more amusing. The fact that she refers to herself and me as "Dr (Candidate) Dinh" or that I'm still trying to figure out what "abjectly" means. My mom is a fob.

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Snippets of this past weekend:

After 3 grueling long hours inside Faye Spanos, the PharmD Candidates of 2013 emerge to the bright, outside world where we were surrounded by loved ones. Here's my freshman and sophomore roommate from undergrad Anna aka Roomie.

My favorite Pacific Copts and I saying "GIBNA!" to the camera.

My #1 supporters, through thick and thin, and oh how I love them.

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Spent the afternoon in good company and eating delicious homemade curry and macarones. My friend and I got to talking about our families, which brought me to tears. It's amazing how much our parents struggle for us no matter what they went through.

When I came home, I asked my mom about my dad's past. This is what she told me: "When your daddy was young, he was very poor. His dad was killed when he was very young. He had 7 siblings. His parents gave him away because they couldn't afford to take care of him. He lived with different aunts and uncles from month to month. He spent half his time in Vietnam living in a Buddhist monastery. One of the nuns, who was his aunt, stored up enough money for him so he could escape the Vietnam war.

He will never stray from Buddhism, no matter how hard you try Antoinette, because of this".

That Buddhist Societies class I took my freshman year never really gave me any deep understanding as to why my parents were raised Buddhist, but in the brief 10 minutes I spent with my mom, I understand now.

My eyes tear up whenever I think about the struggles my parents went through to become the people they are today. I'm always grateful.

Dad and I in Banff, Canada (2008)

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Ever wonder why you were given the name you have? I used to hate my name for the longest time because it was so different from all the other kids.

This is the story of why my name is Antoinette:

When my mom was a young adult, she had to escape Vietnam during the Vietnam War in the 1970s. She escaped by means of refugee boats where she spent countless weeks out in the open ocean, forced to drink her own urine at times to survive. When she finally came to the United States, she lived in Mobile, Alabama with a sponsor family. She then moved to New York where her cousin was currently being supported by a different sponsor family. This family was part of a church and it was in this church where my mom met the pastor's wife who helped her with life skills and English. This woman's name was Antoinette.

Somewhere down the timeline, she met my dad. They decided to get married and start a family resulting in me. My dad wanted to name me Vicki after Jill Whelan's character on the Love Boat (LOL) but my mom said otherwise and named me after a wonderful, beautiful, caring pastor's wife.

After gaining more perspective on why I was named so, I've learned to love my name.

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It feels so good to be blessed with wonderful, caring, and supportive parents like mine. It has been a long road on this faith journey and it will continue to be so. This is a little praise post for the Big Man upstairs and to mom and dad.

During dinner, my family and I got to talking about my trip to Egypt and how I would be determining whether if I wanted to do the kind of work in Egypt in Vietnam or something.

My mom started saying how angry she got at my aunt who was discouraging her saying things like, "Once your kids graduate, make sure they get a job right away!" "Egypt is way too dangerous! Why are you sending her there?"

To which my mom replied, "I know she's my only child but if she doesn't go, who will?" and then my mom told me, "I'm really proud of you Antoinette". I almost wanted to cry. I'm tearing up a little right now even haha.

Even though my parents and I believe in different faiths, I am grateful we agree on the value of doing good for the world's poor and giving back to the community.

♥♥♥