found this article in my archive. the date creation stamp was march 2003. i wasn't single then... maybe that's why i didn't post this in my blog... it's a worthwhile read, whether you're with someone or single like me... could be helpful... just in case... who knows, maybe one day in the future, you could find yourself single yet again. unfortunate, and maybe unlikely which is good, but possible. im not sure who the author is. whoever wrote it deserves a lot of thanks from me.
All your life, you had specific dreams about what your family life would be like when you finally married. You were so intent on what you wanted, you even made a list of qualities and characteristics you were looking for in a spouse, in a home, in your job, in your children.
But time passed, and that person you were so intent on didn't come along.All of your friends married, had children, had beautiful homes. And still you were single. You prayed and prayed and prayed for that person to come along, but nothing happened. You had a good job. You served in your church. You spent daily time with the Lord in prayer and studying the Word. Youdedicated your life to serving God in every way possible, but still nothing.
So you decided to take matters into your own hands, and you began an active search for a mate. And within a short period, you met someone who almost fit the bill. Almost.
Sure, there were a few things missing, a few rusty spots in that person's character. But, after all, no one is perfect. Maybe your goals were toohigh. Maybe you'd been asking for the impossible. Maybe this was the person God wanted for you so your character could grow through dealing with his or her failings. Even though it often seems that God is slow to answerprayers, no matter whether it's about a mate, or a job, or our children, or our finances, or anything else, we have to remember that God doesn't wear a watch. Nor does he look at our human calendars. He sees with eternal eyes. He operates on an eternal timetable, according to His plan and Hisschedule. If God seems to be running late, don't get impatient and run ahead of him. Wait for the Lord's timing in everything.
To the single folks out there (like me), this is for you.
Single means you have the time to grow and be the person you want to be.
Single gives you space to grow. Sometimes, it is harder to grow when you are too close to someone. Trees are planted far apart so they can spread their branches and become strong as they mature.
Single means learning to live by yourself. However, that is no more difficult than learning to live with somebody else.
Single means freedom. You are free to spend a week's vacation on the beach, to take computer courses, to work late on an interesting project, to spend the day in bed with a good book or simply with a person who has read one.
Single means learning not to need a man/woman to make your life meaningful but learning to live with a man/woman because you want to be with him/her.
Single means that sometimes you will wonder why you will bite your lip and feel wistful and wonder if marriage is better. Ironically, yet quite happily, single is feeling good about being in control of your life. It is liking and respecting who you are and why you are.
Single is realizing that being married is not necessarily better, it is merely different.
Single means that there could be something wonderful around the corner and you can take advantage of it.
Being single means you are free to love again.
God Bless!
A Fascinating Story
Nope, this is not a true story... but fascinating just the same if it were indeed real. i looked it up and found out it was fiction. the true version can be found here.
A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband,dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston , and walked timidly without an appointment into the president of Harvard's outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Cambridge .
She frowned. "We want to see the president," the man said softly. "He'll be busy all day," the secretary snapped. "We'll wait," the lady replied. For hours, the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away.
They didn't. And the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted to do. "Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they'll leave," she told him.
And he sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn't have the time to spend with them, but he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office. The president, stern-faced with dignity, strutted toward the couple. The lady told him, "We had a son that attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. And my husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus."
The president wasn't touched, he was shocked. "Madam," he said gruffly. "We can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery". "Oh, no," the lady explained quickly. "We don't want to erect a statue.
We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard." The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical plant at Harvard." For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. He could get rid of them now. And the lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a University? Why don't we just start our own?" Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. And Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto , California where they established the University that bears their name, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.
"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them." -Malcolm Forbes
A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband,dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston , and walked timidly without an appointment into the president of Harvard's outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Cambridge .
She frowned. "We want to see the president," the man said softly. "He'll be busy all day," the secretary snapped. "We'll wait," the lady replied. For hours, the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away.
They didn't. And the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted to do. "Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they'll leave," she told him.
And he sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn't have the time to spend with them, but he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office. The president, stern-faced with dignity, strutted toward the couple. The lady told him, "We had a son that attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. And my husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus."
The president wasn't touched, he was shocked. "Madam," he said gruffly. "We can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery". "Oh, no," the lady explained quickly. "We don't want to erect a statue.
We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard." The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical plant at Harvard." For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. He could get rid of them now. And the lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a University? Why don't we just start our own?" Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. And Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto , California where they established the University that bears their name, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.
"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them." -Malcolm Forbes
exactly 3 years ago in my history
these are photos from emie's wedding from three years ago. some photos were taken before the ceremony as we waited for our turn to be prettied-up while some were taken long after the marriage vows have been exchanged. these are my friends from college and we've lived together for almost 18 months under the same roof, at mabait corner mahinhin street in UP Teacher's Village. Because we were sharing the same residential address (and for some, even bedroom), we tried to get through everything together semester after semester... we budgeted our allowances together, bought groceries together, ate breakfast or dinner together, reviewed for exams together, finish our thesis together.... exchanged school, life and love notes together. sometimes we even fought and cried together.
from three years ago, from the day these photos were taken, most of us have love lives to talk about and boyfriends to introduce to the group, but now for some odd reasons, except for emie here, who has been married for exactly 3 years now, most of us are single again. i wonder why... from the photos above, we look normal naman, haha!
oh well... i hope everyone's doing great wherever they are (one is in china, the other one in korea, and yet the other one, in baguio). sana we can all spend time together this christmas... kahit over dinner lang din just like before elena left for korea. kaka-miss lang talaga :)
the one where i blog about movies
so i feel like blogging again but without anything to blog about. as ive mentioned in my previous post, whenever i would feel like this, ill try to post a "top 5 list". so here goes...
here's my top 5 list of movies i saw this year on DVD/VCD. they are not necessarily released this year, but this year was when i saw them. at home, on DVD/VCD. by myself mostly.
1. the holiday
2. sleeping dogs lie
3. stranger than fiction
4. miss potter
5. the painted veil
criteria for being on this list is the number of times i saw the movie again or portions of it. i think the first one on the list, i saw more than four times already. really good movie. and the rest at least twice. there is one i should put on this list as well, which is "under the tuscan sun", starring one of my favorite actresses, Diane Lane of "Jack" and "Must Love Dogs". saw this movie twice as well. however, the genre and theme for "tuscan" is very much similar to "the holiday" so i thought that putting "tuscan" on the list would make it a bit redundant and lacking in variety. i also have an "issue" with one of the scenes in the movie... where Diane Lane was dancing alone in her bedroom... it was a little over-acting. actually "the holiday" had a similar scene as well... also, a little OA.
in any case, that's it for now. let me know what you think of the list :)
here's my top 5 list of movies i saw this year on DVD/VCD. they are not necessarily released this year, but this year was when i saw them. at home, on DVD/VCD. by myself mostly.
1. the holiday
2. sleeping dogs lie
3. stranger than fiction
4. miss potter
5. the painted veil
criteria for being on this list is the number of times i saw the movie again or portions of it. i think the first one on the list, i saw more than four times already. really good movie. and the rest at least twice. there is one i should put on this list as well, which is "under the tuscan sun", starring one of my favorite actresses, Diane Lane of "Jack" and "Must Love Dogs". saw this movie twice as well. however, the genre and theme for "tuscan" is very much similar to "the holiday" so i thought that putting "tuscan" on the list would make it a bit redundant and lacking in variety. i also have an "issue" with one of the scenes in the movie... where Diane Lane was dancing alone in her bedroom... it was a little over-acting. actually "the holiday" had a similar scene as well... also, a little OA.
in any case, that's it for now. let me know what you think of the list :)
my top 5 things you can do to save this Christmas
so i came up with an idea to list down some "top 5's" whenever i feel the urge to post something to this blog while not quite being sure about the topic yet... today, i will write about my top 5 things to do in order to save up on some money and energy this Christmas. im not very big on savings myself, lately so this is actually for me as well:
1. eat well before leaving the house and bring bottled water with you when you go to the mall. having snacks at the mall every now and then would eat up budget that you could otherwise use to buy gifts or small tokens for acquaintances.
2. make a shopping list and figure out if you can buy items together from the same store as there could be discounts for a bigger purchase. or free items such as calendars or planners :)
3. utilize the free gift wrapping services of the malls. saves you gift wrapping cost and time.
4. shop with friends! it's more fun, and you can share cab afterwards :)
5. aside from going to the malls, consider other gift sources such as tiangge and bazaars. buying christmas goodies from friends or your other relatives maybe a good idea too as they are usually even cheaper than bazaar prices and sometimes better-tasting too. you not only save up yourself but you also help others earn during the holidays :)
that's it. if you like this post and have a thing or two to add you're welcome to comment on the post.
1. eat well before leaving the house and bring bottled water with you when you go to the mall. having snacks at the mall every now and then would eat up budget that you could otherwise use to buy gifts or small tokens for acquaintances.
2. make a shopping list and figure out if you can buy items together from the same store as there could be discounts for a bigger purchase. or free items such as calendars or planners :)
3. utilize the free gift wrapping services of the malls. saves you gift wrapping cost and time.
4. shop with friends! it's more fun, and you can share cab afterwards :)
5. aside from going to the malls, consider other gift sources such as tiangge and bazaars. buying christmas goodies from friends or your other relatives maybe a good idea too as they are usually even cheaper than bazaar prices and sometimes better-tasting too. you not only save up yourself but you also help others earn during the holidays :)
that's it. if you like this post and have a thing or two to add you're welcome to comment on the post.
christmas weeshlist
to my APC family -- yaya, manang, tita and mother -- here is my weeshlist for our kris kringle thingy :)
- polarizer for my lens (so i can take better-looking landscapes, diameter is 52)
- oven toaster (so i can re-heat leftovers, hehe. preferrably black)
- coffee press from starbucks and ground coffee beans (weeee!)
- bath towels (sometimes you can never have enough!)
- Lonely Planet (so i can imagine myself going on trips and hopefully, be in one again)
salamat! hope you don't have a hard time finding the items above. kayo rin, post na oki??
merry christmas everyone!!!!
the one that comes after chaos
the one on the left i painted after learning that my friend is heading for a beach somewhere in thailand. i guess it's an impression and an expression as well. i was feeling "beachy" that day. the one on the right i painted while listening to up dharma down's "the world is our playground". that's why it's playful. and very peach.
these paintings took around 10 to 20 minutes to make. i really just wanted to make something out of what i was feeling. if they don't mean all that much to you, i'd really understand :)
the one with the chaos theory
took a picture of one of my paintings (oil on canvass) and played around it with adobe lightroom by changing tint and temp. i call these chaos theory 1, 2 and 3. they reminded me of rotten things, torn flesh and blood and of fire. i sent these to a friend and he told me they reminded him of sunsets :)
i guess people could be looking at the same things and see them very differently.
the one with the long weekend
last night i met up with friends who just got back from their two-week long vacation. while most of us had to deal with deadlines and work issues or the manila peninsula mutiny, my friends went back-packing around visayas and had the chance to visit and take roughly 900+ photos of exotic places and pristine beaches in cebu, boracay, bohol to name a few. ive missed my friends while they were gone and im glad to see them back in manila, safe and just a little bit harmed :) they brought not just stories and photos with them back from their trip -- they also have pasalubong for me :) from "yaya lorie" i got a pair of earrings and from "manang mavic", a cellphone charm made from sand art. both from boracay, a place i've never been to by the way.
upon seeing me both of them asked how i have been and at first, i can only say that ive been okay... i was trying to think of something more exquisite than that but nothing came to mind... i guess i was hesitant to say anything because surely, none of what i have accomplished or done lately can compare to their amazing trip. eventually, i finally came up with a few. so lately, these were the highlights of my life most of which happened during the 3-day weekend:
1. with my friend kitkat, i was able to take a two-hour tour around the marikina shoe expo and found interesting thrift and antique shops, quaint accessories and clothing boutiques selling mostly hand-made accessories and retro outfits, bookstores and art/coffee galleries show-casing local works such as lomo photos. there was even a bazaar going on that day and several artists from the group "ang ilustrador ng mga kabataan" were there selling their artworks drawn or painted or printed in practical items such as shirts, wall clocks, notepads, bookmars, pins at a somewhat fair enough artsy price. my friend bought me bookmark :)
2. i was able to visit trinoma for the first time (yay) and had so much fun. the mall has really well thought of landscapes (complete with fountains and wooden bridges and ponds and cooling mists) and very spacious interior... the activity center is much like the glorietta mall and at some point you can't help but feel a bit of dejavu. there's a huge landmark store at one side of the mall that makes shopping even more convenient. lots of restaurants to dine in and dessert/coffee places to try afterwards. my friend and i loved the "bananalicious" dessert from conti's. parking can be a little difficult, but that's something you have to deal with sometimes almost anywhere else right? in summary, trinoma is definitely a cool place to hangout with friends or family especially this christmas. im hoping to bring my parents here sometime soon especially at the fourth level where they held free shows every saturday night. not to mention fireworks too :)
3. had a little bit of gastronomic adventure too. at marina, i tried steamed oysters with hot sauce. at dr. pepper steak, well i tried beef pepper steak with lots of pepper on the rice. pepper steak i like. steamed oysters, not so much. in any case, im glad to have friends who are adventuruous with food. i realize im not much like them and the only time i am able to try new things is when im with them (or during team-buildings). i usually just order what i already know i like. you know, like sinigang :)
4. i was able to watch a disney movie wherein the lead character had a name the same as mine. "enchanted" was really fun. watch it if you haven't.
5. was able to help my dad with removing virus from our PC. there were 33 viruses and one trojan. tsk tsk. no wonder the browser would hang after opening just around two sites returned by search engines.
6. i was able to teach my dad how to use Yahoo! Messenger, Chikka Messenger (PC to Mobile Phone), compose an email as well as reply to an email. this is supposed to be something big for my parents who had spent years being afraid of the computer and moreso the internet. really huge step.
7. i had a guest who watched 'under the tuscan sun' with me and who volunteered to wash dishes for me later on. sweet :)
8. maybe last but not the least, we had a reflexologist (a really good one) come over our house for a massage. my mom was having sinus and throat problems lately and did not want to take medication until she's tried other organic, natural way of healing such as reflexology. the massage was very relaxing and helpful. ate gildred has been doing reflexology massages since the '70s and have doctors as her patients as well. i was diagnosed as having UTI and high sugar level in the blood (must be all those iced tea and the bananalicious thing), then was advised to eat at the right time and not skip meals, to drink two glasses of warm water each morning and to wait for 15 minutes before drinking liquid after each meal. that last item should help me digest food properly. of course, lessen intake of sweets.
so that's it. story of my life while my friends were gone. not bad, huh? i had planned to do a few things more during my long weekend but that did not push through... i guess we can all agree if i say that, truly, long weekends are never long enough :) but still worth looking forward to each time :)
upon seeing me both of them asked how i have been and at first, i can only say that ive been okay... i was trying to think of something more exquisite than that but nothing came to mind... i guess i was hesitant to say anything because surely, none of what i have accomplished or done lately can compare to their amazing trip. eventually, i finally came up with a few. so lately, these were the highlights of my life most of which happened during the 3-day weekend:
1. with my friend kitkat, i was able to take a two-hour tour around the marikina shoe expo and found interesting thrift and antique shops, quaint accessories and clothing boutiques selling mostly hand-made accessories and retro outfits, bookstores and art/coffee galleries show-casing local works such as lomo photos. there was even a bazaar going on that day and several artists from the group "ang ilustrador ng mga kabataan" were there selling their artworks drawn or painted or printed in practical items such as shirts, wall clocks, notepads, bookmars, pins at a somewhat fair enough artsy price. my friend bought me bookmark :)
2. i was able to visit trinoma for the first time (yay) and had so much fun. the mall has really well thought of landscapes (complete with fountains and wooden bridges and ponds and cooling mists) and very spacious interior... the activity center is much like the glorietta mall and at some point you can't help but feel a bit of dejavu. there's a huge landmark store at one side of the mall that makes shopping even more convenient. lots of restaurants to dine in and dessert/coffee places to try afterwards. my friend and i loved the "bananalicious" dessert from conti's. parking can be a little difficult, but that's something you have to deal with sometimes almost anywhere else right? in summary, trinoma is definitely a cool place to hangout with friends or family especially this christmas. im hoping to bring my parents here sometime soon especially at the fourth level where they held free shows every saturday night. not to mention fireworks too :)
3. had a little bit of gastronomic adventure too. at marina, i tried steamed oysters with hot sauce. at dr. pepper steak, well i tried beef pepper steak with lots of pepper on the rice. pepper steak i like. steamed oysters, not so much. in any case, im glad to have friends who are adventuruous with food. i realize im not much like them and the only time i am able to try new things is when im with them (or during team-buildings). i usually just order what i already know i like. you know, like sinigang :)
4. i was able to watch a disney movie wherein the lead character had a name the same as mine. "enchanted" was really fun. watch it if you haven't.
5. was able to help my dad with removing virus from our PC. there were 33 viruses and one trojan. tsk tsk. no wonder the browser would hang after opening just around two sites returned by search engines.
6. i was able to teach my dad how to use Yahoo! Messenger, Chikka Messenger (PC to Mobile Phone), compose an email as well as reply to an email. this is supposed to be something big for my parents who had spent years being afraid of the computer and moreso the internet. really huge step.
7. i had a guest who watched 'under the tuscan sun' with me and who volunteered to wash dishes for me later on. sweet :)
8. maybe last but not the least, we had a reflexologist (a really good one) come over our house for a massage. my mom was having sinus and throat problems lately and did not want to take medication until she's tried other organic, natural way of healing such as reflexology. the massage was very relaxing and helpful. ate gildred has been doing reflexology massages since the '70s and have doctors as her patients as well. i was diagnosed as having UTI and high sugar level in the blood (must be all those iced tea and the bananalicious thing), then was advised to eat at the right time and not skip meals, to drink two glasses of warm water each morning and to wait for 15 minutes before drinking liquid after each meal. that last item should help me digest food properly. of course, lessen intake of sweets.
so that's it. story of my life while my friends were gone. not bad, huh? i had planned to do a few things more during my long weekend but that did not push through... i guess we can all agree if i say that, truly, long weekends are never long enough :) but still worth looking forward to each time :)
everything in its time
the river runs and the river hides
out to the ocean and under the sky
i promise you the answer will come
hold on to patience and watch for the sign
everything in its time
out to the ocean and under the sky
i promise you the answer will come
hold on to patience and watch for the sign
everything in its time
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