I’m moving out of !!! Thanks to Tina, I’m finally getting my own domain!! Woohoo!!! I’ll be importing my old posts to the new one. I can’t wait to learn CSS and do my own themes!!! Weee!!! I’ll be blogging at aupoleiana.com from now on! See yah all there!
What’s for dinner? February 8, 2009
Yash preached at the One Way event of the Forerunners of TFI Pasig. We were done by 8:00 pm and we were soooooooo hungry after that we decided to have dinner at Greenhills before going home. We had burgers and onion rings at Big Brother’s Burger, I would have taken a picture but I was so hungry that I forgot I had my camera with me; I was done by the time I realized it.
We were on our way to Starbucks for coffee when we saw Cheesecake,etc and decided to just have dessert there. I was too full by that time and just took a bite from what Yash ordered.
Yash's Cheesecake
It was good but I still like the one from The Old Spaghetti House better. Anyone know where else can I find good cheesecake?
Welcome dinner February 7, 2009
Last Saturday, the Primemovers (our church’s ministry for young professionals) had a welcome dinner for the incoming Primemovers this year. We had it at Regali Kitchen, somewhere in Tandang Sora (I can’t remember the exact address). It’s actually a house that is converted to a cozy dining area. We had a great time just having fellowship with each other. While we were eating their amazing food, we were also being entertained by songs rendered by Tim and Carlo. We got to meet the Cada family who owned the house and found out that they do this kind of thing about once a month. They call it the Dine and Jam, and the guests get to eat food prepared by the chef (who is one of the sons), and entertained by an in house band.
I really liked the idea that we got to welcome the Forerunners (youth ministry of the church) this way. we’ve been wanting one for a long time now. You see there was always a difficulty in the transition between being a student and a professional. Having connection events like this would help ease the transition.
Anyway, we hope to go back to the venue again, I already know of some people who are planning to book it again for birthdays and such. Here are some pictures from the event.
Kamille outside Regali Kitchen
My dinner - sarap!
Loving the band
Tim and Carlo
Naki jam din kami - hehe
Lana's sleepy already
More pictures here.
My Portion and my cup February 3, 2009
5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
God is just really good. With all the things that have been happening to me, and around me,He never fails to reassure me that I need not worry because no matter what happens, He holds my world in His hands.
Last Sunday, I got to lead worship at church again. When Yash told me the night before, I immediately started thinking about what my line-up would be. Immediately the song Healer came to mind, I’m not really sure why. We’ve never really sung it at church yet, although not really because of the whole scandal involving its composer. I guess it just wasn’t time yet. But last Sunday, God really moved in such a powerful way.
He reminded all of us that in the old days, among the 12 tribes of Israel, the Levites were not given any portion because as God said “I am your Portion”. Grabe noh?! What security! What an assurance! To know that God is our portion! While we were singing the lyrics, it was like we were all making a declaration that despite all the difficulties that we were facing or that we might face, God is our portion and we will never lack. And the best thing was that we weren’t just declaring it over our finances, true, most were probably claiming it as a promise over their finances, but it was more than that. We were declaring it over our families, our jobs, our businesses, our spiritual lives. We declared healing over relationships, and even on our country.
Before singing I shared the above verse to the congregation. This was the verse that God gave me at the beginning of the year. And I’m claiming it everyday. I will not be shaken by what I see or hear or feel, because He’s with me. I will not worry about what tomorrow may bring, because all I know about tomorrow is that He’s got me in His hands =).
Updates! January 31, 2009
I have been a bad blogger! There are so many things I could have blogged about this past 2 weeks but I just haven’t had the energy or the motivation to do so. Add to that the fact that we didn’t have Internet at work also for 2 weeks now, and by the time I get home from work, I find myself being too exhausted to think of what to blog about. But since today is Saturday, I thought I’d just go and bloga about all the things that have been happening to me for the last 2 weeks.
- TFCA’s E.P.A.L. ( Employees Play and Leisure) Fest ‘09 > at the school where I work, we usually have a Sportsfest during exam days for the teachers, sort of like a stress reliever for all the deadlines we all had to meet before the exam. For the past years we would usually play games like volleyball, and basketball (yes, even for girls, although the usual rules don’t apply to us). This school year we didn’t have one for the 1st and 2nd quarter but this 3rd quarter we did something different. We called it the “Fractured Sportsfest”. We played volleyball but with the big exercise ball, Patintero, Agawan Panyo, Day and Night(my first time to play this game) and Touch Ball ( I won this game – yay). It was the best sportsfest yet because we all got to participate, especially for people like me who only like watching games and not playing it. Unfortunately also for people like me, waking up for the next 2 days was harder than usual, becaule of all the bodyache that resulted from all the jumping and stretching and running. Man was I exhausted especially after the second day, I played in all the games! But I won in Touch Ball! Iwas the only one who didn’t get hit by the ball! ven I was surprised by that, but grabe ha after that game I couldn’t breathe. I crawled from the center of the court to the side because I thought I was going to collapse, haha. But it was all good though…that was probably the most exercise I’ve had in a year…hehe, it was a good way to start my goal of losing weight this year. Here are some pictures of the games.
Agawan Panyo with Team Galapong!
Pastor Sunday and Pastor Bong
Day and Night – this game was confusing!
- Teachers’ Day ‘09 – we celebrated late because there was not enough time for preparations. But it was fun. Yash and I were announced King and Queen (Male and Female Teacher of the Year for the High School). Unfortunately, we had to dance like we were the Prom King and Queen, it would have been fine except we were on stage and in front of the whole school =). But still the Student Council did a good job.
Happy Teacher's Day!
I ♥ the full moon! January 12, 2009
The moon looked beautiful last night! I’ve always loved looking at the moon when it was at its biggest. I was waiting for it all day because the news said that it would be the biggest moon for the whole year.
Too bad I couldn’t take a better photo, between cooking dinner last night and preparing for my lesson the next day, I only had a few minutes to take pictures.
I’ll just wait and prepare for the next full moon!
Goals for 2009 January 6, 2009
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Happy New Year everyone! I can’t believe it’s 2009! When I was a kid, I always thought that the world would end by the year 2000, you know that Jesus would come and everyone I know would go to heaven, well anyway, that didn’t happen.
I didn’t post my goals for 2009 right away because I had to think hard about what I really want to achieve this year. I didn’t want to make goals just for the sake of making them. When I met with my lifegroup last Sunday, we had time to write down our dreams for this year, we plan to make a dream board for the whole group so that we could track other’s progress, and give each other a push when we slack off. There’s no motivation like having close friends aiming to do the same thing you are doing.
- Be consistent with my devotion and Bible reading. This is my priority for the year. I need to reconnect with God this year. I felt misplaced last year, used up, even though I barely did anything, but this year, I know that God has so much in store for me, I just need to let go and let God.
- Pray and fast. This has always been my waterloo in my spiritual life. But this year, I’ll make up for all those mini-meals I used to sneak in (shhh) during our scheduled fastings at church.
- LOSE WEIGHT. I’m not the only one who wants this to happen. My dad is so determined to make us lose weight that he bought us an exercise machine, and telling my mom to plan our menu for the whole week so that we can have balanced meals. I basically need to lose about 40 pounds (yes 40!!!) to have normal weight. This needs a complete lifestyle change for me!! Less rice (ugh), less French Fries (double ugh), less of all the food I like eating. But then, as the Witwicky motto says, “No sacrifice, No victory.”
- Read 40 new books this year. If you know me, I really read a lot. So this year, I’m challenging myself to read 40 new books, and make reviews of all them! New meaning I’ve never read them before, meaning I can’t include all the novels I read about thrice a year (like Pride and Prejudice and This Present Darkness).
- Bring my small camera with me all the time. I’ve missed so many opportunities to take photographs (like when Y and I eat at a new restaurant), so when I blog about them, I have no proof of all that I’ve done.
- Take photography lessons. My dad bought a new Nikon D80. I haven’t had the time to really maximize its features but this year, I’ll be taking photography seriously, I’ve been looking at a couple of classes but so far I can’t fit them into my schedule, so I’ll self-study for awhile and maybe take classes this summer.
- Go back to graduate school. Now this I really have to do. I’ve been putting it off for too long. But this year, I’ll just go for it! But first I have to decide if i’ll continue my MA in Literature or transfer to Educational Management…
- Satisfy my wanderlust. Basically I want to travel again. I was planning to go to Pagudpud this coming April for Y’s bday. I’ve already contacted different resorts, but this afternoon, my mom said she didn’t want us to go, so scratch that, I still have 3 months to convince her to change her mind though.It’s also been 10 years since I went out of the country. That’s too long don’t you think??? So this year, I’m planning to go with my parents to Singapore for the G12 conference. I just need to renew my passport first so we can book our flights right away. And as a bonus, I thought I would be missing the Delirious? concert here at the Philippines, but as it turns out, they’re a special guest at the conference!!! How cool is that?
- Finally, finally learn to drive. So I need to get my student’s license again…
- Expand what I know about cooking and baking. My goal for this year is to learn all my mom’s recipes.
- Be consistent in meeting my lifegroup. I handle a bunch of really amazing, passionate girls, but I haven’t been able to meet them so much last year. That will change this year.
- Reconnect with old friends. I haven’t seen my college barkada in a really long time, hopefully we can schedule a day out this year. Plus, it’s been 10 years since my high school graduation! It’s time for a batch reunion!
Okay, that’s it, I think, if I think of more, I’ll probably just edit it. So Happy New Year again everyone! Oh and check out what my dad bought me when the family went out last week! I have the best dad in the world!
My first pair of Nine West Shoes
Where the Echoes Stop January 6, 2009
Where the Echoes Stop
by Erwin Raphael McManus
I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Far past where sound has abandoned thought.
Where silence reigns over redundancy.
Where once well said is more than enough.
I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Where words must be born to be heard.
Where speech is a gift and not a curse.
Where there is more of the unique and less of the mundane.
I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Where meaning is rescued from noise…
Where conviction replaces thoughtless repetition…
Where what everyone is saying surrenders to what needs to be said.
I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Where the shouting of the masses falls silent to the whisper of the one…
Where the voice of the majority submits to the voice of reason…
Where “they” do not exist; but “we” do.
I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Where substance overthrows the superficial…
Where courage conquers compliance and conformity…
Where words do not travel farther than the person who speaks them.
I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Where I only say what I believe.
Where I only repeat what changes me.
Where empty words finally rest in peace.
I want to stand where the echoes stop.
“Be still and know that I am God…” -Psalm 46:10a
2008 in retrospect December 31, 2008
I did this last year at my old blogdrive account, so I thought I’d make a yearly thing. Here is my whole year summarized in 40 questions.
1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Plan an out of town trip for me, my bf, my sister and husband. I did the research on where we could go, I’m looking forward to our next trip this summer!
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don’t make resolutions, they never made sense to me because I’d either forget about it or ignore it.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
yes, my sister gave birth to their 3rd baby, my nephew Jaden! We finally have a boy in the family!
Jaden Christoffer
4. Did anyone close to you die?
None, thank God.
5. What countries did you visit?
Once again, I didn’t go anywhere this year but I’m hoping to go to Singapore by March next year, then I’ll be planning for a trip to Hongkong and Macau by December!
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A savings account.
7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
December 15, 2008. I can’t say why because it’s very private. =)
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
No lates, no absences, no delayed submissions!!!
9. What was your biggest failure?
I didn’t try to enrol in my MA classes, or be more active in trying to form my lifegroup, I’lll be making changes this year.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope, just the occasional fever and colds, and really, really bad dysmenorrhea
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My new laptop!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
hmmmm…. that’s a little tough to answer right now.
13. Whose behaviour appalled you and made you depressed?
Some people from church
14. Where did most of your money go?
hay…food as usual, and paying for my laptop.
15 What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The trip to Anawangin and Capones Island.
16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
CS Lewis Song
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? sadder
ii. thinner or fatter? thinner…crap.
iii. richer or poorer? hmmmm…the same
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wish I’d saved more money
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Procrastinate!
20. How will you be welcoming the New Year?
The usual, we’ll be at my mom’s side of the place, my cousins will set up the place so we’d have a live band and we’ll sing our hearts out until the countdown. But this year, I’m going to Y’s place at Bulacan before going to Pampanga! I’m excited! But nervous at the same time…
22. Did you fall in love in 2007?
I fell in love with Wicked the musical!!!
23. How many one-night stands?
None!
24. What was your favourite TV program?
Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, Pushing Daisies!
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nope.
26. What was the best book you read?
Chasing Daylight
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Idina Menzel, I heart her!!
28. What did you want and get?
To buy a camera,have a laptop, enjoy my job and be happy
29. What did you want and not get?
lose weight.
30. Favorite film of this year?
hmmm….i honestly can’t think of one right now…
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I went with Y to Greenhills, we ate at Pasto, he bought me an EDGE card for my DS, he got me a CD and a card. We had the midweek service where I was prayed for by my dad!!
32. What is one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
being able to accomplish the goals I set for myself, and yes that includes losing weight…
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
anything that makes me comfortable
34. What kept you sane?
Y
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Johnny Depp
36. Who is your real-person crush?
duh?
37. What political issue stirred you the most?
Since it’s the latest, this one.
38. Who did you miss?
the most important persons in my life were always a phone call away
38. Who was the best new person you met?
never met them in person, but I’ve beenreading some good blogs lately.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
If I change, everything else changes,
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year
‘Cause my comfort would prefer for me to be numb, and avoid the impending birth of who I was born to become. – CS Lewis Song, Brooke Fraser
*****AND LASTLY!!!
1) GOALS/DREAMS FOR THE NEW YEAR:
I decided not to answer this since I’ll be making my a separate blog post for this one.
